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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1525170
few years of added education. Instead, they note they are short on experience. We found it interesting a few weeks ago when a TV news interviewee said, “Millennials, or ‘echo boomers,’ have the world in their hands. Maybe, it's time to focus on leveraging more of our millennial team members instead of viewing them as a totally different breed from a far-away planet. Duuhh! They’re children of baby boomers. They grew up with doting parents who praised them and said they could accomplish everything they put their minds to (just like you). Their experiences and opportunities were probably broader than yours because they had the Internet and smartphones. Your experiences/activities were just…different. Your folks said you were comfortable with who you were; others labeled you as cocky. You liked to break/work around rules; others said you had no respect. Now the lines between your personal and professional life have blurred … dramatically. Jeezz, you’re a millennial! Well, not quite, because you didn’t graduate with a mountain of debt and your life doesn’t totally revolve around your social media and selfies. But every generation that enters the workforce feels they’re unique and the generation or two before them looks at them and says, “Weird kids we’ve got to choose from in this batch. They think they’re entitled and they’ll never fit in.” It’s a never-ending cycle. You just forgot. People who have been in the workplace for a long time, and those just entering, want the same thing – to be treated with respect, do stuff that is meaningful, have an impact/make a difference. They want to be given the room to succeed or fail without being stepped on and they want to be able to ask for assistance/advice without being put down. They may be socially, religiously, ethnically and/or politically different; but that may not be all that bad. The tricky part is being able to manage the cross-generational team, so they work to the competitive advantage of the company. That’s the most difficult job in the organization. But you can succeed, even though you may have to remind yourself at times what Jules said; “So we were always told we could be anything, do anything. And I think guys got, maybe not left behind, but not quite as nurtured.”