Carry your weight, be a millennial​


Who are these millennials? Customers, employees, and leaders. Being a millennial is a state of mind, an approach to living and competing. Jeff Bezos of Amazon is a millennial. Larry Page of Alphabet is one. Elon Musk is a millennial. Jack Ma, of Alibaba, is a millennial. And of course, the first generation to come in the new millennium are millennials.
The millennial generation (the largest generational group in the history of United States) is comprised of those born between 1980 and 2000. There are over 84 million of them including 39% of the US workforce (50% by 2020). According to a PEW their top priorities are being a good parent (over 30% are already parents), having a successful marriage, and helping others in need. They are more educated than any generation before. They influence major family decisions. A technologically savvy group that exercises more and likes to They look for passion in their jobs and want to work for a company they believe in. They are capable of doing many things at once—they are considered athletes position players.
In a 2016 article, Jeff Clifton, Chairman CEO of Gallup, suggests that millennials are profoundly different: i) they don’t just work for a paycheck—they want a purpose, ii) they are not pursuing job satisfaction—they are pursuing development, iii) they don’t want a boss—they want a coach, iv) they don’t want annual reviews—they want on-going conversations, v) they don’t want to fix their weaknesses—they want to develop their strengths, and finally, vi) they don’t see employment only as a job—they see it as their life.            
“To some, millennials are perceived to be selfish, lazy, and narcissistic. They expect instant gratification and upset when they don’t get what they want,” according to Scratch, a division of Viacom, a list of not so flattering stereotypes. Anne Hubert’s research at Viacom shows that millennials do not seek to rebel against authorities but rather like to work with them. About 72% of them are “afraid they are not living to their potential,” while 84% are confident that “they will get where they are going.”
Hubert’s research also shows that this generation does not have a problem unbundling (picking and choosing) the services they receive from different vendors as long as they get the experience and results that delight them. They are not easy to please and demand more from life, society, companies, products, and services. They also expect more from themselves. They are “the first generation of digital natives
. . . their for technology helps shape their behavior”, suggests a Goldman Sachs report.
Millennials are a “confident” generation—they expect more, believe they deserve and don’t mind changing, switching, and evolving to get what they deserve. To win, be a millennial, seek innovation all the time, believe that you deserve more, be confident that you can get more, be comfortable with technology and change. These millennial characteristics are shared by today’s CEOs. Be a millennial, increase your chance of success. 

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