Towards the Future: Millennials and the Changing Face of Leadership

• In Event: Leading Across Generations and Races: Ideas For Leaders Who Embrace the Challenge!

Short Description

A theory of organizational leadership as it relates to the major generations currently in the workplace will be shared. The presenter will argue how it could fundamentally transformation how companies organize their hierarchical structures and infrastructures, while also affecting how the concept of leadership is viewed.

Detailed Abstract

Towards the Future: Millennials and the Changing Face of Leadership

The world is seeing the continued emergence of the Millennial Generation, those born between 1982 and 2004, into positions of responsibility and leadership in the workplace, communities. and society This generation, one whose members are coming of age during a time of difficulty and crisis, has begun to and will continue to coalesce into a generation that is concerned about their community and society first, and themselves as individuals second. To this generation will be entrusted the hopes and dreams of the world over the next twenty to thirty years.

The theory that will be presented here is one that the presenter has been formulating through research and observations over the last several years. This theory takes into account the three primary generations in the workforce: Boomers, born between 1942 and 1960; Gen Xers, born between 1961 and 1981, and the aforementioned Millennials.

Boomers, a cohort with an approximate United States population of 80 million, are quickly moving into retirement age. Yet they are choosing not to retire but to continue working in their professions. For many, this is a matter of choice and not necessity.

Millennials, an even larger cohort of approximately 96 million, are quickly entering their adult years, moving into the workforce in greater numbers every year. They are ready, eager, and willing to take on positions of responsibility and are unwilling to wait for opportunities to open but to seize opportunities now

Gen Xers, at about 49 million, a much smaller group than either the Boomers or the Millennials, are getting squeezed between the two. With organizations having flattened over the last quarter century, the Xers are finding themselves with nowhere to advance within their organizations. But as a risk-taking generation, Xers are primed to expand on their entrepreneurial spirit and create numerous new organizations.

What will happen will impact the workplace in substantial ways. The direction that the Gen Xers will take and the effect it will have on both the Boomers and Millennials and in generations to follow will change how we view leadership, and how these changes will be positive ones for all three generations involved.

The result will be a fundamental transformation in how companies organize not only their hierarchal structure, but their physical plants and infrastructure as well, and how they conduct business. It will require a reflection and willingness to adapt on the part of older Boomer leaders. It will affect how the concept of leadership is seen and how past theories may or may not be relevant, with new thoughts of what leadership really means being put forward. It will not only impact those in North America and the West, but in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania as well. Finally, it will provide insight into who the Millennials are and what they are quickly becoming, which is the 21st Century’s Greatest Generation, and how Boomers and Xers will work in partnership with this emerging cohort of young leaders.

Participant

• Stephan P. Belding, Millennial Consulting Group