One of the reasons I started this blog is a lack of mainstream advice for Millennial Leaders, even by researchers who theoretically are experts on the topic.  While scrolling through my LinkedIn feed the other day an article popped up that summed up what I’ve been seeing (or not seeing) so I thought for today’s blog I’d critique it to highlight the challenge I face in getting high quality advice.  The Jan. 6, 2017 article is titled Top Employers Say Millennials Need These 4 Skills in 2017 and the author is Caroline Beaton who according to her bio is, “an award-winning freelance writer and speaker covering psychology, culture, social trends and millennial careers.”  I should add that I don’t know Caroline nor have I researched her other work.  I also haven’t interviewed more than 100 top HR managers, recruiters, and CEOs as she did for this article; rather, my critique is based on a) being a Millennial and b) my own observations over my decade+ career.

Foundation

The article’s main point is to uncover skills that entry-level job seekers need to display.  Right off the bat I question whether Caroline even knows her target audience.  If you read my 2nd blog Picasso you’d know that a Millennial is roughly 21-37 years old.  Assuming most people graduate with a 4-year post-secondary education around the age of 23 and giving them a generous 2 years to find their first role in their preferred field or complete further education/training, a typical Millennial would be in that entry-level position by 25.  This means that a large majority of Millennials aren’t currently looking for entry-level positions; they’re well past them!  This article is only useful for ~20% of Millennials at the tail end of the generation.

The article then goes on to highlight four skills that Millennials need so they can secure that entry-level position so let’s see how many of these are skills that apply more to Millennials.

Skill #1: Attention

I do somewhat agree with this one.  While generalizing, a typical Millennial has grown up in a world with more screens, notifications, devices, global social media, etc. relative to previous generations so being able to focus on one thing for many consecutive hours is not an innate skill.  The students that work for me along with me, to be fully truthful, always have a mobile device in our hands whereas I don’t observe that potential for distractions in some of the Gen Xers or Baby Boomers I work with.  This doesn’t mean that Millennials aren’t able to be very successful though so I wonder whether the absence of this skill is directly linked to job performance.  Perhaps it’s just a different style of working that prior generations aren’t used to?  I’d argue that when given a task or project, a person of any age would need to apply the appropriate level of focus and attention to get it done on time.

Skill #2: More than college

Putting aside that this isn’t really a single skill and is very industry specific, the author states that, “curiosity and commitment, not college, will be among the most important skills for millennials in 2017 and beyond.”  This is true but it doesn’t just apply to Millennials.  Given the rate and pace at which industries are being disrupted and the impact of new technology in every aspect of life, everyone in the workforce is going to need curiosity and commitment if they want to succeed at work.  How useful is a college/university degree gained 20+ years ago relative to one gained recently?  Sadly both are probably equally as useful.

Skill #3: Agility

I found this section confusing.  The author provides many definitions of agility such as,

• “the ability to overcome.”
• “not getting stumped at an early stage.”
• “‘athleticism’: individuals who demonstrate resourcefulness, goals-driven behaviour, team player mentality and relentlessness.”

Huh?  I stepped back a bit to see the point that’s being made and my conclusion was that the author is really talking about persistence or tenacity as the skill.  Maybe it’s because I work in high-tech but to me agility is being able to successfully pivot your focus/priorities quickly to something different, whether that’s quickly learning a new skill, changing the scope of a project or deliverable, or reinventing something.  Definitions aside, while valuable advice for Millennials I’d argue again that this applies to everyone in the workforce given all the change going on.

Skill #4: Humility

I strongly disagree with this section!  To be clear I don’t disagree with the point—all employees need humility—but that this is being focused at Millennials is a little frustrating.  This section starts with the following sentence: “Not taking yourself too seriously, admitting when you don’t know stuff and asking for help when you need it are some of the most advanced skills of all.”  It ends with this: “On a day-to-day scale, people who think they know everything aren’t trainable, nor are they good collaborators. Admitting you’re a beginner, over and over again, takes practice.”  This is the exact advice I give to people who are mid- or late-stage career because I find they’re less humble or less willing to listen to different ideas or perspectives relative to early-stage career professionals.  I’m sure everyone can think of those one or more individuals who have been in their role for a long time, don’t change, don’t listen, and talk down to less experienced colleagues.  I recently had a colleague tell me that they have 20+ years of experience at multiple companies and because I am junior in years they wouldn’t take my advice (note: I’m at a higher job level so technically I outrank them), and have had a few similar situations throughout my career with longer-tenured colleagues.

Conclusion

The article is geared towards entry-level job seekers which encompass the tail-end of the Millennial generation and the leading edge of Generation Z.  I think having the word “Millennials” in the title is a bit misleading or maybe just click-bait-lite.  It should probably be titled Top Employers Say Entry-Level Job Seekers Need These 4 Skills in 2017.

It also talks about skills that for the most part apply to the entire workforce.  Imagine for a moment that it was only Millennials that needed these skills.  You’d have part of your workforce being highly focused, agile, be more than just their degree, and humble while the more mature part isn’t any of that—obviously that’s not the intention.  This is just generally good advice for anyone.  So maybe the title really should be Top Employers Say People in the Workforce Need These 4 Skills in 2017.

So what is the relevance for a Millennial Leader?  It means that we need to dig deeper to find meaningful and specific advice that can help us grow into better leaders.  It means analyzing the advice you’re given to determine whether it’s just generic advice dressed with a Millennial-labelled bow on top.  It also means that your leaders probably don’t even view you as a Millennial which could lead to differences in perspectives that can then lead to misunderstanding.