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Inside Outdoor | Spring 2015 40
“The
of a millennial
is a digital
version of what
20-year-olds
have been
the industrial
revolution.”
Managing Millennials
I didn’t know what I was get-
ting into before spending five years
on the front lines finding out what
makes millennials tick. The re-
search I read before I became di-
rector f IMD’s MBA class in 2009
didn’t prepare me to lead mem-
bers of the digital cowboy genera-
tion, those born between the early
1980s and the early 2000s.
We’ve all read plenty about
millennials before: they are used
to being told they are good all
the time from a young age. They
are not ready for real world set-
backs. All they want is instant
gratification. They lack loyalty.
The list goes on.
While some of these charac-
teristics have some truth to them,
they can be said about previous
generations as well. The stereotype
of a millennial is a digital version of
what 20-year-olds have been like
since the industrial revolution.
Here are the six things I
learned that today’s leaders need
to know to really harness the
power of millennials.
1] They learn through ex-
perience. We don’t call them
the PlayStation generation for
nothing. They grew up playing a
lot of video games without us-
ing instructions. They learned
to make it to the next levels of
these games by dying over and
over again. They can be like that
in their professional careers too.
They throw themselves into new
experiences without a lot of plan-
ning and learn by failing.
They expect a leader to play the
role that the walls and cliffs do in a
game. Leaders should be aware of
this and help point out the potential
pitfalls of certain courses of action,
both before and after.
2] Their lives are non-linear.
The world has always been complex
and volatile for this generation.
They have witnessed the Asian fi-
nancial crisis, climate change, 9-11
and the war on terror, the 2008
financial crisis, all before they were
established professionals. This gen-
eration has never seen the world as
a safe and coherent place.
They will have non-linear ca-
reer trajectories and they know
it. A lot of them will go
forth between traditional employ-
ment and entrepreneurship.
For a large part of their lives
they have been reading on the
Internet, focusing on one sub-
ject one minute, and something
completely different the next.
Previous generations learned
in a more linear way by reading
books from start to finish.
For leaders this means that
Gen Y is prepared for complexity.
They don’t know anything else.
Older managers may have a hard
time adapting to the new normal.
3] They ARE loyal. But to
principles and not to people.
This is where some of the accepted
wisdom about millennials comes to
play. They appreciate personal de-
velopment. They love new opportu-
nities. But they will not follow your
lead just because you are the boss.
Instead of trying too hard on
developing loyalty to your leader-
ship or your organization among
your team of millennials, you
should focus more on developing
and communicating the principles
and purpose behind your organi-
zation’s work, no matter whether
ny, an NGO or a
government agency. Millennials
need to know that they are work-
ing to make the world a better
place. They believe that there is no
success without sustainability for
individuals, organizations, society
and the environment. If you can
convince them in an authentic way
that what you are doing is prin-
cipled, they will get behind you.
4] Assumptions about pri-
vacy, boundaries and roles are
fluid and permeable. This can be
good and bad. We have all heard
horror stories of young adults suf-
fering consequences for what they
post on social media, like that
Six things to know to lead the PlayStation generation
by Martha
Maznevski
Comparing Millennials’ Attitudes at the Office
Millennials Gen X Baby
Boomers
Becoming a senior leader is among top career goals 18% 18% 18%
Starting own business is among top career goals 17% 12% 15%
If a team is successful everyone should
be rewarded
55% 64% 43%
Employees should be rewarded for sharing
information and collaborating 55% 66% 43%
I make better decisions when a variety
f people provide input 56% 64% 49%
is important to have group consensus 55% 61% 39%
My organization’s leaders are the most qualified to
make decisions 53% 57% 41%
Source: IBM Institute for Business Value