Conclusion: A Blueprint for Success
Throughout this book, we’ve covered the many ways in which millennials are, for the most part, anything but problem children or entitled, but rather just like all generations before them, in most regards, for what they want out of work and life, just delayed and impatient to catch up.
The first thing other generations must do when dealing with us is to treat us like the adults we are, listen carefully to us, learn our language and psychology, and then leverage it.
The reason it’s incumbent on companies to be proactive with millennials, rather than reactive and condescending, is simple demographics, plus the stark supply–demand disparity between business needs and the millennial talent available or trainable to meet them.
Just as companies budget for any number of things each year, including certain benefits, a sales team, cost of goods sold, and recruitment costs, providing millennial employees with a superior employee experience need neither break the bank nor simply watch millennial employees leave quickly. The specifics have been laid out in detail earlier on.
To get the best out of us, employers, advisers, mentors, investors, and all other stakeholders in our businesses and lives must focus simply on helping us become the best versions of ourselves as professionals and humans, equally. While this may look and feel quite different to their own experiences as employees just keeping their head down and working hard, a failure to understand and embrace the millennial ethos at work is an expensive mistake to make, simply due to demographics and workplace demand in light of job market supply.
In short, while it requires patience and lots of listening, seemingly coddling millennials with relevant benefits, regular feedback and coaching, dedicated tech and L&D budget, among others, and creating an excellent EX is a benefit to all employees and executives, as well as the brand and the bottom line, not just individual millennials.
In light of the large and quickly growing millennial spending power, businesses catering to millennials have long learned to accommodate millennial tastes, worldviews, and shopping habits. They are now learning, often the hard way, that the best customer experience starts with a great employee experience.
As for millennials ourselves, the kids are alright. You know, sort of, #KiddingNotKidding. <Nervous laugh>
While most of us may be flying under the radar, putting out best face forward to the world, many of us are just doing our best to do work we love, enjoy life through experiences, not smother ourselves with anxiety over maintaining some perceived status, while plodding along in life, hedging, avoiding risk and making difficult decisions, not overly worried about buying or renting a car or house unless truly necessary. There’s always room for optimism, even if we’re feeling screwed already and getting more screwed by the day. Life is full of excitement and adventure, exotic food, trips to new places, plus lots of simple, pleasant things that don’t require a lot of money or stuff to enjoy.
But we can clearly do better than just fly under the radar and hope for the best, while clinging to outmoded career and financial advice in a rapidly changing world. Since we can’t magically fast-forward to a time when we millennials have meaningful political and corporate boardroom power, our focus should, as always, be on taking ownership of our own stories, careers, businesses, and finances, plus embracing the chip on our collective shoulder from being the most bashed generation of all time, prove boomers wrong, get our collective stuff together, and focus on changing attitudes, then policies, then rules and regulations, and ultimately laws to reverse the trend of older politicians eating our proverbial lunch, dinner, and breakfast, too.
We are adults and must act as such, which means taking responsibility for ourselves, our families, and each other, as well as for our present and for improving our lives for our actual or future children’s future.
The life lessons I’ve learned in my experience as an old millennial—one who’s changed careers four times, lived through massive challenges and setbacks, plus met tens of thousands of people and heard and processed their human stories, coached hundreds through life and career transformation—are shared next, in parting.
If you see something, say something. If you say something, make it count. Write it down and share it with others. Gather people together to demand change. Press for it long enough to get it. Start small, but don’t play small ball forever.
Vote with your feet. Own your problems. Fail forward and learn quickly. Take intelligent risks. Be resourceful and learn the rules; then follow them long enough to absorb their importance before you try to break them. Get a coach or five (not a mentor) to help you thrive, not just survive. Demand something greater of yourself than complacency and hope, but don’t be handcuffed by impossible expectations. Don’t look left or right and focus only on your own potential and fulfilling it.
Escape the cage of your thinking and small-mindedness every single day. Rise up like a lion. Be always the head, never the tail.
Be loyal and engaged with yourself and your life mission and values. Share the wealth of your skills and experience with others. Always look to add value to others before you ask for anything. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. Always seek to be part of the solution, not the problem.
Finally, seek truth in all situations, messages, and people, not happiness or pleasure. It’s much harder to find and gather, but carries the greatest rewards in life.
Do your life’s best work now, not mañana, mañana [tomorrow, tomorrow]. Live your best life today, not next year. Strive to leave others better off for having met you than they were before. Think local, act global.
And don’t forget to smell the roses when you’re out there conquering or saving the world.
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Conclusion: A Blueprint for Success—what millennials need to do in order to tangibly improve their lives, careers, and businesses; what employers, investors, advisers, and others need to do in order to get the best out of us, including our energy and efforts, spending power, and engagement and loyalty
THE END