6 Tips To Become A Successful Millennial Leader
You may have heard of the term ‘Millennials’, but if you haven’t or you are not sure what it means, it refers to “a person born in the 1980’s or 1990’s, especially in the U.S.” (dictionary.com). Here we are talking about millennials in the context of work and leadership.
The Urban dictionary sheds more light on this: “At work, millennials believe themselves to be overachievers who just aren’t understood by their loser bosses. Even Mom said so when she showed up for the interview. They are the only generation in the universe to understand the concept of work life balance and to actually want to find a fulfilling career.”
Aside from some negative traits mentioned above, a unique thing about the millennial generation is that majority of them aspire to be their own bosses, which has led to a frenzy of startups launching. So, if you are a millennial and you want to be your own boss, what is the most important thing you need to pay attention to? You need to develop your leadership skills and learn as much about it as possible.
Become An Expert In Communication
One of the most important qualities of a leader is effective communication. You need to be able to get your point across to different audiences. More importantly, you should be convincing enough to rally people around your vision. Communication is a combination of two skills, speaking and listening. Most people consider speaking to be the entire communication but that’s where they are mistaken. A leader should be a better listener than a speaker.
Sharpen Your People Skills
A leader can’t work in isolation; he must have great people skills so that he can work with the external and internal audiences. Developing people skills doesn’t mean that you should become more social and outgoing. It requires you to understand different types of people and deal with them effectively. By effectively interacting with people and inspiring them, you can rally them around your vision.
Gather People Who Can Execute
Leaders, especially millennial leaders, pay more attention to the ideas and sometimes let execution slip. During the past decade, we have seen a flurry of brilliant business ideas taking shape of successful businesses, but still, there are far too many ideas that didn’t take off because there weren’t ‘doers’ around to execute. Having a great idea is just the first step; you need to have the right people to execute the idea.
There Is No Shame In Asking For Help
Many millennial leaders have a reputation to be cocky and rude; they think that they know it all. But no single person knows it all. Sooner or later you will find situations where you wouldn’t know what to do. Have experienced people, some mentors around and ask them for help when needed. Learning from other peoples’ experiences is a great way of doing things without making unnecessary mistakes.
Build An A team
Scott Jensen, co-founder of Rhythm Superfoods shares this great tip: “Hire the best, most talented, most knowledgeable people you can get to be a part of your senior management team early as you can. Treat them well to keep them motivated. Steve Jobs mentioned something about a small team of A+ players being able to run circles around a large team of B and C players. I see that every day. The entrepreneurs, who hire A players early and get rid of C players early, move faster and more profitably than anyone else.”
Remain Grounded
The new-found success of a business can make you feel you’re walking on clouds. But don’t let the success and the people around you make you lose touch with reality. One of the fundamental qualities of a great leader is humility. As long as you remain humble, you will have the respect and loyalty of your team.
Author Bio: A respected contributor at ResearchPaperTown, William Ford loves to write and contribute his technical writing expertise to well-esteemed online firms. In his spare time, he also gladly offers career consultancy to individuals who require immediate career guidance.