Who Are the Millennials?

Last week, I wished you a week of reflection on whether or not your personal and/or work environment is holding you back. If the answer was yes, did you check the list of 10 and see which areas are in your control to make the environment a positive one? What did you learn about your environment? Did you decide to take action on making a change? If so, what specifically did you decide to do?

Thanks to my niece, Jessica, I listened to a 30 minute podcast from Heather Zempel one of several preachers from the DC area. Jess lived in DC for a couple years and happened on the church which was housed in a movie theater on Sunday mornings. After moving back to Wichita, she was searching for a similar experience. Not finding what she was looking for, she tuned into these podcasts. After listening to one, she sent the link on to me. POWERFUL!

So, thank you, Jess, for adding to my learning and growing each day. I hope to share some of these ideas through my blogs over the next two weeks.

Many of you are aware of the book iY Generation which I have referenced many times. This particular podcast focuses on millennials. We all have people in our lives in their 20’s whether it be a relative, an employee, a student, an athlete, or a friend. Take a look at a snapshot of the various generations as an overview:

Traditionalists: born before 1945

·       WWI, WWII, Depression

·       Called the Greatest Generation

·       Strong work ethic

Baby Boomers: 1946-1964

·       Went through critical times in history

o   Civil Rights Movement

o   Woodstock

o   Vietnam War

o   Watergate

Generation X: 1965-1980

·       Atari MTV, Aids Crisis, Missing children on the milk boxes at school lunches

·       Respond to everything in our culture either with cynicism or parody

Rise of the Millennials: 1980 – 2000 Largest generation today

·       Saw things like: Columbine, Y2K, explosion of the spaceship Challenger, Sept. 11^th

·       These all drastically changed their world

·       First generation to see social media and technology define so much of their lives

·       Technology is NOT a second language – they are natives

In Time magazine, an article was written about the generation that had trouble making decisions, they’d rather climb the Himalayas rather than the corporate ladder, they had no style to call their own, they crave entertainment but their attention span is short, they avoid marriage because they dread divorce, and sneer at Range rovers, Rolex watches, and red suspenders.

It goes on in the articles to say that this generation holds dear to family life, national parks, mountain bikes, possess a hazy sense of their own identity but seem to have a monumental preoccupation of all the problems preceding their generation that they will need to fix.

When I first heard these descriptions, I was sure the article was talking about the Millennials. However, that’s not the case. The Time magazine article was written in 1990 and was referring to Generation X!!  WOW. 

I think this brings up a point that Heather had in her sermon. “We need to all be careful not to confuse what’s true of a specific generation with what is just true of a certain age.”

So, what are the distinctions that make millennials unique:

1.    First generation to get participation medals for just participating

2.    They’ve always gotten a toy in their kid meals

3.    They’ve had instant connection and information at their fingertips

4.    They’ve never had to ask a preceding generation how to do something because they just Google it. (This has caused fracturing of the generations.)

5.    They’ve become accustomed to “leveling up” when they master a certain skill. (I was blown away by this realizing the connection that this has had in their lives especially once in a job.)

We need to all realize and understand that these young people are a product of the culture we handed them. Words like lazy, entitled, and privileged are oftentimes thrown out to describe this age group. Obviously, this is not true of every one of them so we need to be careful with our labels.

As this part of the sermon continued, Heather related a conversation when asked about which movies she watched over and over as a kid. She didn’t have a quick response since her family didn’t have a DVR until she was in the 5^th grade. Today, kids can watch their favorite cartoon, show etc. any time they want and as many times as they want – much to the chagrin of their parents and grandparents. “Life on demand.”

I will add that in the iY Generation book, Tim Elmore separates the millennials into two groups those born in the 80’s from those born in the 90’s. It’s those in the 90’s who are more apt to exhibit the above characteristics that I’m referencing. A few other descriptions to help you “get the picture” of this generation:

·       Doing things as a “tribe” is important

·       Where’s my prize? It’s expected to “level up” when a skill is mastered. (Showing itself in millennials expecting to start as a manager and not have to work their way up or that a raise is expected when skills are mastered.)

·       Email is snail mail

·       Communication and technology are linked

·       They are passionate and are out to change the world; they want to make a difference

 (That’s also an age thing not just this generation)

Heather, in her sermon, referred to Paul talking to Timothy, “Don’t give people any room to disrespect you – be an example.” In Heather’s words, examples are referring to patterns. Timothy was told to establish good patterns in his life so his life would become a pattern for others to follow…what you say, how you live, your love, your faith etc.

“Be an example in what you say, speak intelligently. Being an example means elevating your language. The Bible talks about not using foul or abusive language. ‘Let everything you say be good and helpful so words will be an encouragement for those who hear them.” Words contain tremendous power to either build up or tear down. Words can either breathe life or breathe destruction.”

This week I wish you a week of observation. What are you seeing and hearing from this generation? How are these young people impacting our world both in a positive way and in a way that we may question.

In addition, I wish you a week of reflecting on YOUR words. Remember, words contain tremendous power.

Next week will be a continuation of this topic and my thoughts.