In this episode of Equal Chance To Be Unequal, Michael talks about strategies you can utilize to engage millennials. You’ll learn about the importance of daily feedback, continual learning, and mentorship/reverse mentorship opportunities. He also discusses millennial statistics, such as there are 92 million in the US, their generation is the largest percentage of workforce, and they make 54% of all online purchases. There are also important trends affecting their path to leadership including baby boomers not retiring, low workplace engagement (according to Gallup), and that health/wellness has become a core interest of this younger generation.

Michael reviews factors that motivate their attitudes about work including experiential learning, personal growth, having meaningful subjective experiences, and that persons who make more than $32,000 annually are in the top 1% of global earners. In his white paper Creating a Leadership Pipeline, he wrote about mass customization and how organizations that offer a la carte menus of benefits to millennial employees are likely to engage and retain them more deeply. Michael also talks about how power in society has moved from the corporation to individual, how important seeking autonomy, mastery, and purpose is to humans, and why connecting your personal mission to the mission of the business is the key to engagement.

One of the most important points in this podcast is when Michael talks about Dr. Shefali Tsabary’s work around parenting and her belief that most parents attempt to make their children idealized versions of what the parent never was. The better approach for parents to take is to help the millennial (or Gen Z) compare him or herself who who he/she was yesterday and ensure that person is 1% better each day. Michael ends the podcast with a reminder that we can be incredibly happy if we choose to “be the person you needed when you were younger”.

Resources Michael discusses –
Every Generation Has Been The Me Generation
Creating a Leadership Pipeline white paper
Holacracy
Meg Jay’s Ted Talk
Jennifer Deal’s Retiring the Generation Gap
Languages of Appreciation
State of the American Workplace by Gallup
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
B Corp
Conscious Capitalism
Drive by Daniel Pink
Mindful Engagement
Dr. Shefali Tsabary
Dr. Daniel Sumrok and ACEs

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