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The Top 4 Traits Millennials Look For In Leaders

The Top 4 Traits Millennials Look For In Leaders
Number two may surprise you
by Melaine Curtin

Leading Millennials can seem challenging. Often considered entitled, narcissistic, and suffering from unrealistic expectations, Millennials have sometimes gotten a bad rap in the workplace.

However, at 80 million strong, Millennials (those born from 1980-2000) are already at critical mass in that same workplace. To excel in today's work environment, it's important to understand Millennials and how to effectively work with them.

A recent study focused on "Early Millennials", or those born between 1980-1991, and their thoughts on leadership. Asked what they most wanted from a leader, Millennials listed four distinct traits:

1. Mentoring
Millennials want feedback. But they don't just want to be told what's working and what isn't -- they want to be appreciated for what they're doing well, and coached or trained on how to improve.

As an Early Millennial myself, when I've managed other Millennials, I've done so in the way I want to be managed -- with regular feedback sessions. These don't have to take long: my last employee and I sat down at the beginning of each month for a 20-minute session.

We both came to the meeting with two lists: 1-3 things that were working well with respect to how we worked with one another, and 1-3 things we wanted more of.

I was open and straightforward with what I liked and appreciated about her work and work style, and equally as open about what wasn't working as well. I then offered concrete suggestions for how she could strengthen those things, while giving her autonomy on whether to take them (they weren't orders). Because she was given the same opportunity to give me feedback, we kept the lines of communication open.

Millennials don't necessarily want constant feedback, but they do want regular feedback -- and mentoring to learn, grow, stretch, and improve.

Read full article on inc.