The emphasis on relationships, purpose, and personal development that are strong core beliefs among Millennial leaders can benefit us all.  ~Dylan Taylor, President & COO of Colliers International

The topic of Millennials has gotten me in trouble on more than one occasion.  Even though by age I’m a Baby Boomer, I seem to align with the leadership philosophy of most Millennials.  And I can become rather passionate about that philosophy.  That passion emerges when I see people of other generations belittle, demean, or devalue Millennials’ redefinition of leadership.

We (the non-Millennial generations) can beat our drum as loud as we want to, but that’s not going to change the evidence, and there’s plenty of it!

Deloitte’s research confirmed the basic theme: Millennials want leaders focused on “soft”concerns such as well-being and employee development.  Respondents’ top traits of “true leaders” were the ability to inspire, vision, decisiveness, and passion.  Only 1 in 10 felt that true leaders are solely focused on financial results.

Millennial respondents also identified what they think their current leadership’s priorities are.  The only alignment was in “ensuring the future of the organization.”  In all other areas, there was a 10 to 20 percent difference between Millennials’ top priorities (well-being and development of employees) and their perception of the senior leadership’s priorities (short-term profit and their own income).

In Virtuali’s 2014 report, Engaging Millennials Through Leadership Development,

U.S. Millennials placed similar emphasis on people-centered leadership, with communication, relationship-building and the ability to develop others as being top qualities.  So-called “hard skills,” such as technical expertise and general business knowledge, ranked lowest.  In a more recent Virtuali survey, 63 percent of Millennial respondents expressed the desire to be “transformational leaders who inspire others.”

According to Dan Schawbel, founder of Workplacetrends.com and managing partner of Millennial Branding, a millennial-focused research and management consultancy:

Boomers have been autocratic leaders that are all about command, control, and policies, such as working nine to five.  Millennials want to create a more collaborative environment where they exchange ideas with peers and accomplish a mission instead of a corporate culture that’s rigid with policies and procedures.

Sooner than we realize – in about 10 years – most of the Baby Boomers will be retired and out of the workforce and this generational leadership clash will be a thing of the past.  In the meantime, I’ll likely continue to get myself in trouble as I join the Millennials in the quest for people-centered leadership.