3 Things You Need to Understand the Millennial Generation with Steph Wahlund

Sometimes the millennial generation gets a bad wrap.

A quick google search for “millennial generation” returns immediate results stereotyping this group as, “lazy, selfish, self-centered, entitled, arrogant, obsessed with social media,” and on and on. We may all know a Millennial or two who deserves those descriptors but results further down the page cast this generation in an entirely different light. This generation is also described as "passionate, risk-takers, mission-minded, seeking work-life-integration, and being globally motivated."

These young adults, the oldest of which are in the early thirties, have grown up entirely in the digital age, so their lives, have been well documented online and are easier for us to dissect and criticize. Regardless of what you think about millennials, the fact of that matter is that shortly, they will dominate the American workforce and all of us would benefit greatly from understanding what motivates them.

In 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau released some statistics indicating that Millennials (defined as those aged 18 - 34, again, this was in 2015), represented 75.4 million Americans, surpassing baby boomers to become the largest generation in the United States.

That’s significant, and the reality is that employers aren’t going to be able to motivate, inspire, or engage this generation the same way they have for generations past. So how do we do things differently? How do we leverage what we know about Strengths to get the best out of these Millennials?

On this episode of the Leadership Vision Podcast, Steph Wahlund, our Client Relations and Operations Coordinator, and I are talking about the three things you need to know regarding the Millennial generation, and how StrengthsFinder is one tool you can use to empower and connect to this massively exploding workforce. I’ve known Steph for several years, and I wanted her to share some insights into her generation. We’ll expand on these in more detail, but the three things you need to know about the Millennial generation are: they want to feel known, they want to do something that matters, and they want their leaders to invest in them personally and professionally.

About The Leadership Vision Podcast

The Leadership Vision Podcast is a weekly show sharing our expertise in the discovery, practice, and implementation of StrengthsFinder. Leadership Vision uses StrengthsFinder to work with People, Teams, and Culture. We believe that knowing your Top 5 Strengths is only the be