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Millennials: Don't Be Squashed

Millennials, the belittlement and exclusion you feel in the workplace is proportionate to the threat response you trigger.


Fact, Millennials are the most powerful generation in history. As customers you disrupted the music industry and you are revolutionising television.  Corporations are scrambling, readying themselves for the day that corporate governance built only on profit maximisation is discarded. Before too long, you will flex your power as investors, civic and political leaders; now, you are in workplace.


Meanwhile, leaders are being told that success in the 21st century demands leaders who will facilitate participation of diverse networks, anticipate change and shape responses.  


For a generation steeped in competitive individualism, the concepts are mind boggling; it demands that leaders graft new behaviours onto values founded on competitive individualism? And then there is you ... Millennials imbued with the values that fit: collaboration, win/win solutions and fairness.


The revolution in the entertainment industry foreshadows the inevitable disruption of the workplace. The petty belittlement and exclusion you experience is a sign of the threat you pose.


I only discovered why when I separated. I decided kindness and dignity would ease the pain between us. I didn't anticipate the reaction of so many people; I didn't visibly fall apart, it gave license to be corrosive. As consumers, Millennials are having none of it; you demand companies align their product and message. Commit to the same degree of alignment in your life and relationships.

A Millennial friend helped identify the problem as “squelchers”. They are everywhere ... political, business, civic leaders, managers, colleagues, acquaintances, friends and family. They divert human creative energy by posing roadblocks and saying “no” to new ideas. 

Build up your resistance to their power. Create an inventory of how they do it and how you get sucked into their dynamic. Without this work, the Millennial vision will be thwarted.


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