If you haven't seen it yet, I would recommend you take 15 minutes to watch Simon Sinek's "Millennials in the Workplace." In this video, Simon discusses why businesses are complaining that "millennials are tough to manage." Understanding that you may not have 15 minutes, however, or perhaps those 15 minutes were interrupted and distracted by technology, I thought it might be prudent to give an overview of some of the key discussion points and takeaways from this conversation.
Simon begins his talk by stating that millennials are accused of being entitled, narcissistic, self-interested, unfocused, and lazy. Leaders of organizations are subsequently so confounded by this profile that they ask millennials what they want in order to be engaged. Millennials respond by saying they want to work in a place with purpose, which enables them to make an impact, and, Simon jokes, with free food and bean bag chairs. Companies then provide those things and yet complain millennials are still leaving the organizations in spite of getting exactly what they want. Simon contests this is because there is a "missing piece," which is largely the result of parenting, technology, impatience, and environment.
Parenting. Simon believes millennials have been impacted by "failed parenting strategies." More specifically, millennials were often told they are "special," could have anything they want in life just because they want it, didn't earn the things they obtained but rather got them because their parents complained, and received participation medals otherwise known as "a medal for coming in last." After being brought up in this way, millennials are then thrust into the "real world" and, in an instant, their entire self-image is shattered. The result is that we have an entire generation growing up with lower self-esteem than any other generation. To compound this problem of self-esteem, this generation is particularly good at putting filters on things; in other words, communicating through social media that "life is amazing" although, in fact, they are depressed.
Technology. Research supports the notion that engagement with social media and our cell phones releases a highly addictive chemical known as dopamine. Dopamine makes us "feel good," and is the same chemical that is released when we drink alcohol, smoke, and gamble. And yet, unlike drinking, smoking, and gambling, we have enabled millennials to have unfettered access to these dopamine-producing devices, such that it is becoming hard-wired.
Simon goes on to say when we are very young, the only approval we need is that is of our parents. As we go through adolescencewe make this transition into also needing the approval of our friends, which creates an enormous amount of stress and anxiety. Technology also hinders our ability to create deep and meaningful relationships - millennials admit their friends are superficial. And so, there is a generation who has never practiced the skillset of forming deep relationships, don't have the coping mechanism to manage stress, and are allowing them to turn to technology as a way to offer temporary relief.
The concern of technology usage and reliance is related to balance. There is nothing wrong with social media and technological devices but rather the imbalance to which we use these technologies. We cannot put it away because we are addicted and, like all addiction, it will destroy relationships, cost time and money, and make your life worse.
Impatience. Millenials have grown up in a world with instant gratification - Amazon, Netflix, and Tinder as three examples. The two things that we cannot have instantly are job satisfaction and strength of relationships; these are are slow, meandering, uncomfortable, messy processes.
It's as if millennials are standing at the foot of the mountain and they have this abstract concept that they want to make an impact, which is the summit, and they are missing the mountain. Patience is required for some things that really matter, such as love, joy, love of life, and job satisfaction. All of these take time and yet this particular generation isn't used to having to wait. Simon's fear seems to be that a "best case scenario" is an entire generation growing up in life and never experiencing deep joy because they are not willing to wait for it.
Environment. Simon states, "We are taking this amazing group of individuals who were just dealt a bad hand and putting them in corporate environments that care about the numbers and the short terms gains rather than individuals and long-term value." He goes on to say that organizations are not helping millennials build their confidence, learning the skills of cooperation, or overcoming the challenges of a digital world. Millenials are the ones who "can't deal," when in reality it is a "total lack of good leadership." It is the companies' responsibility to work extra hard.
Critics of Simon's talk state that this has nothing to do with millennials and instead can be applied to everyone regardless of their generation. That is to say, many of us are the product of failed parenting strategies, are addicted to technology, have been taught to be impatient, and work in corporate environments that don't build our confidence or help us learn the skills of cooperation. Whether or not Simon's talk applies directly to millennials is irrelevant, however. It is always our job as listeners, observers, and critics to understand how we can learn from the message that is being shared. Here are some things that I, a millennial!, took away from these 15 minutes;
- Help set the standard to not allow cell phones in conference rooms. We need to create an environment where we allow for little, innocuous interactions which ultimately lay the foundation for relationships and trust. These relationships, in turn, are what bring us back to work each day.
- Remove the technology of temptation altogether. Try to leave your cell phone at home and charge your phone in your living room instead of by your bed.
- Use social media less. Period.
- Be patient; try to see the mountain. A famous quote that illustrates this same concept is, "life is a journey, not a destination." In Simon's analogy, we need to spend more time scaling the mountain rather than putting an arbitrary deadline on when we should have expected to reach the summit.
- As a leader in an organization, be the person who cares more about the individual and the relationship than the numbers and the short-term gains. I think most all leaders and organizations believe they do this, but don't have examples to showcase this is what is actually being done. Organizations need to be more realistic in their self-assessments and then take responsibility for helping their people become the best versions of themselves they can possibly be.
