One of the hottest topics for leaders of any organization or business right now is the millennial generation. If it’s not the topic of how to attract millennial customers, it’s how to attract millennial employees and leaders.
That conversation isn’t going away.
As millennials become more and more a part of the work force and gain more expendable income, America’s largest generation will continue to be a target for anyone that wants a successful and growing business or organization.
However, many of these organizations, especially churches, aren’t putting into practice easy and essential things that attract millennials. For starters, if you’re going to attract millennial customers, attenders or donors, you have to have millennials within the leadership structure of your organization – people that can understand the target audience.
How do you get those millennial leaders? How do you attract the current generation?
Here are 3 phrases you need to add to your vocabulary now!
Thank you!
It may sound prideful or self serving, but millennials want to hear that they’re appreciated. Sometimes, this is as simple as a verbal, “Thank you.” Honestly, this one may seem small and crazy, but we’ve had it bred into us that we’re something special. Our parents, many who were without when children, were determined to give us all we wanted and to make us feel loved in ways they were not. As we’ve grown older, we still carry that need to be appreciated. You can fight it, or you can use it to inspire young people.
Learn to say, “Thanks for all you do. You’re valuable to our organization.”
What do you think?
Why hire and recruit young leaders and then never listen to their opinions? Why hire them and discredit them on account of being inexperienced? I see this one too often. You are bold enough or lucky enough to get a young leader or two but you aren’t willing to really give them any decision making responsibilities or listen to their opinions. If you aren’t listening to your young leaders, they’ll never make an impact on your organization and you’ll never have the inside track of appealing to millennials. Even more so, if you aren’t listening to them, they’ll find somewhere to go where they’ll be heard and can make an impact.
Learn to say, “What do you think we should do? Your opinion is going to make a difference in the decision.”
Run with it!
Ultimately, let your millennial leaders run. Give them a project, responsibility, and ownership opportunity. Let them run with the ideas they dream up. I really believe that the reason many senior and older leaders don’t let younger leaders run with things is because they don’t want to do any extra effort in training them to or in cleaning up if they make as mistake. That’s not how leadership is multiplied and not how organizations grow. Don’t get me wrong, pick your moments and don’t hand them the keys to the company, but give them the respect and chance they deserve.
Learn to say, “That’s a great idea, make it happen, I’m here to help!”
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