I’ve been thinking lately about how Millennials will change leadership in the next decade or so. The reality is, we don’t really know how they will lead. The oldest Millennial is about 30 now, and most haven’t been given significant leadership opportunities yet (I don’t count crewchief at a fast food restaurant as significant). But how will they lead?
Millennials value growth opportunities in their lives. They look at their career as an intricate tapestry that will (hopefully) paint a beautiful picture of a life well-lived. They believe that the corporate ladder is actually a labrynth, with no clear linear way to get to the top. And perhaps the top is over-rated anyways. Is a Lexus worth divorce, heartache and heart attacks? (I drive a Saturn, so I really don’t know if it is 
)
This innocent enthusiasm may be dampened by unexpected events in the future (major recession, world war etc…), but I’m not so sure it will. I think the Millennial leaders will force tapestry-type career planning into their followers. They will recruit eclectic interesting people to work for them, that they would want to be part of their social network. They will probably ignore HR’s warnings about fraternizing with the peons they lead, and fraternize anyways. I have no idea how they will fire someone who is also a Facebook friend as well (do you delete them as your FB friend before or after you fire them?). But their intricate abilities to build social networks will create a complex web of business and personal relationships. This web is their lifeline, and I don’t think that will change once they get leadership positions.
The Millennials are going to confound some older followers, but will also provide a refreshing breath of family into the corporate life. They will work with people they enjoy working with, and who they want to be around. If they don’t enjoy that, they will leave, leadership position or not. The Millennial leaders are here, and they may change our perspective on leadership, perhaps just when our society needs a fresh perspective.
Tim Vanderpyl is a Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP) with Canada’s largest catholic healthcare organization. He holds a Master of Arts in Leadership from Trinity Western University and is working toward a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership at Regent University.
The thing I l like most about Tim’s post is his premise – Millennial Leaders. Take a look at the average age of CEOs today vs. 30 years ago. Back in the 80′s, a young CEO was a person who reached the corner office by 40. Today, with the web-based economy, we have CEOs in their 20s, the entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg who started something from nothing learn (or will learn, in the case of Zuckerberg) to lead on-the-job. Sure, Jobs had a hiccup in the early days when his “traditional” Board wanted a professional manager as CEO, but Jobs was soon back . . . learning, growing and becoming one of the most successful CEOs of all time. Why? Because of his insatiable thirst for learning and leading. Millenials will do the same, and in the process set an example for the next generation to follow.
Hi John, a bit of a late reply, but I’m back from vacation now and trying to catch up. I wonder if CEOs like Zuckerberk and Jobs are anomalies. They became CEOs because they were there at the start of the company…not because they were most qualified to be one. They didn’t work themselves up the corporate ladder or pay their dues like everyone else.
I am really curious to see how a Millennial will lead a major corporation that has been established for many years. This probably won’t happen for a few years (is Chrysler going to let a 30-year-old run the company), but will be extremely interesting to see how that “insatiable thirst for learning and leading” will change an established company. We’ll get to see that firsthand in a few short years.