If you are in a role of leadership and are not of the millennial generation, guess what?  You have a huge responsibility to be a steward of our future leaders, those who will lead your grandchildren and great grandchildren.  It is imperative to understand the millennial leaders, coach them on the context of their future responsibility, and support and mentor them into increasing roles of responsibility and accountability.  Millennial leaders will be in the C suite and now is the time to hire them into careers to set them up for success for the sake of the hundreds of people who will be led by them in the future.

New research on millennial leaders is provocative.  Jennifer Deal and Alec Levenson, who are the co-authors of What Millennials Want from Work, provide new insight into the career cycle of millennial leaders.  Many millennial leaders are one, two, or three jobs away from being in the C Suite.  The percentage of millennial leaders expected to stay with their current employer over ten years is 48%.  Millennials prefer to select jobs with interesting work, interesting people, pay fairly, and leave time for a personal life.  Their access to technology is unprecedented by any other generation.  Flexibility in their roles is key to job satisfaction so not every hour needs to be in the office.  They want to be measured on the success of their teams, rather than face time in the office, connect with a strong network to advance their learning and contribution, and will often be okay with contacts outside of the typical work day to add value and be a game changer.

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