Changing of the Guard: Millennials Support a New Leadership Model
There are already more Millennials in the U.S. labor force than any other generation. By next year, one in three American adults will be a Millennial and by 2025, Millennials are projected to make up three-quarters of the American workforce, according to Brookings. I was talking with a client this week who is already experiencing the “Millennial effect” firsthand, as this cohort comprises 90 percent of their business’s revenue stream.
There’s more to this shift in demographics than customer buying trends, however. Members of this group—which includes younger workers born in the decade after 1983, who are between the ages of 23 and 38 in 2019—are moving into senior and executive leadership positions with increasing frequency. Nearly all Millennials surveyed (91 percent) by the Pew Research Center aspire to leadership roles during their career.
As a growing percentage of our leadership teams becomes mixed with Millennials, business as usual—and more specifically, leadership as usual—is changing. That’s because research has proven that Millennials don’t lead the same way that preceding generations—Baby Boomers and Gen X—have led. These younger leaders care about different things, which means the evolving leadership in Corporate America is starting to support a new model of leadership that turns the traditional old-guard style on its head. In short, SHAMBAUGH has noticed that the integration and transition of generations in leadership roles is resulting in a “balance is better” approach to today’s new world.
This changing of the guard from a leadership and market perspective is driving the necessity for organizations to examine and awaken to the hard reality that what worked in the past is not the best model for the future. SHAMBAUGH has identified the following trio of new leadership traits that are front and center with Millennial leaders:
- Transparency. Countless studies have identified transparency as a top value for Millennials. One report found that nearly a quarter in this group point to a CEO’s transparency on social media as a determinant of whether or not they would want to work with that employer in the future. It makes sense when you recognize that Millennials have a high comfort level with social media, which they ranked as their top communication choice for transparency. The secrecy of the old boy’s club for C-level execs is being replaced with an expectation of much fuller cultural openness and sharing of information across levels.
- Collaboration. Millennials have been dubbed the “collaboration generation” for their emphasis on collective problem-solving and crowd sourcing opinions. This generation has leveraged mobile technology and social media to expand the boundaries of collaboration far beyond face to face, gathering global intelligence in seconds. This predilection affects the Millennial’s leadership style, which eschews top-down directives to ensure that everyone has a voice in decision-making. In fact, one survey found that within the next decade, the way that the CEO role is currently structured “will no longer be relevant,” with 83 percent opting for companies with less management hierarchy.
- Inclusive work culture. It’s an understatement to say thatMillennials value diversity; they go far beyond lip service to the concept and are willing to make organizational changes so that work cultures become and stay more inclusive. Research has shown that Millennials also view D&I from a different lens than older generations, seeing it more in terms of differing perspectives and backgrounds, rather than primarily as head count and equal representation. This is why it’s so important for leadership teams to find ways to ensure all voices are heard at the table—Millennial leaders will be prioritizing this approach even if your company isn’t doing it yet.
As you think about the future of your own organization, it’s time to start asking yourself a few critical questions:
- Is your current leadership team successfully adapting to this shift toward a “balance is better” approach?
- How is your leadership team bringing in new thinking that reflects a wider range of intelligence, talent, and cognitive diversity?
- Has your organization found ways to crack the fatigue around D&I initiatives, instead showing decision-makers how a better blend of individual talents and approaches improves collective business results?
As this next generation of new leaders steps into unfamiliar roles as managers, directors, and executives for the first time, their lack of experience also presents Sticky Floors that must be addressed before they can lead their teams and organizations on a path to success. It’s going to take the combined efforts of every generation of employee and executive to make a smooth transition into this new, more balanced leadership model.
SHAMBAUGH partners with companies and executives to address the whole system of an organization, unlocking and leveraging the full potential of the entire company. To learn more about our trainings and customized programs in leadership development that help create inclusive, high-performance cultures, contact me at info@shambaughleadership.com.
Rebecca Shambaugh is a leadership expert on building inclusive and high performance cultures. She speaks at major conferences and to executives on an inspiring vision and roadmap for driving greater levels of innovation and performance through a unified voice for leadership. Rebecca is the Founder of Women in Leadership and Learning, a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, and blogger for the Huffington Post. She is author of the best-selling books It’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor and Make Room for Her: Why Companies Need an Integrated Leadership Model to Achieve Extraordinary Results.
SHAMBAUGH’s Mission: We’re on a mission to develop high-performing and inclusive leaders who transform workplace cultures so everyone can thrive.
Find out more about us at: www.shambaughleadership.com
