EntreLeadership - #295: Struggling to Lead Millennials? from EntreLeadership Master Series 2018

Episode Date: December 3, 2018

Millennials are now the largest demographic in the workforce, meaning one thing: They are here to stay. And the future of your business may very well depend on them, which is exactly why millennials were such a hot topic at EntreLeadership Master Series this fall in Nashville. Tune in to hear Ramsey Solutions leaders Sarah Sloyan, Jason Blake and Luke LeFevre answer attendees’ questions about how to successfully lead and motivate this new generation of workers, as well as how to navigate common challenges (entitlement issues, anyone?). If you lead millennials, this is a can’t-miss episode for sure. entreleadership.com/podcast EntreLeadership Master Series The Intentional Interview Checklist Marketing to Millennials from Infusionsoft   Want expert help with your business question? Call 844-944-1070 and leave a message or send an email to [e-mail]. You could be featured on a future podcast episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Millennials replaced Gen X as the number one demographic in the workforce in 2017. So they're here to stay. Welcome to leadership. Helping business leaders grow themselves, their team, and their profits. This is Andre Leadership. Now, here's your host, Ken Coleman. Coming to you from the Music City, this is the broadcast of leaders by leaders for leaders. Thank you so much for joining the conversation.

We're going to talk about millennials this episode, and I know there's a good portion of you when you just heard the word. You started to shake, you twitched a little bit, you rolled your eyes. Some of you touched your stomach because the indigestion pang revealed itself. And I'm going to challenge that a little bit later. That's right. I'm going to challenge you leaders that you're actually copying an excuse. It's a cop out to kind of label all millennials as problem children. I'm fed up with it. So I'm going to address it. That's coming up. But first, we're going to take you to our Entree Leadership Master Series, really our boot camp for Entree leaders. And I was on a panel along with some of our leaders. And we took questions from the audience about leading millennials. And then I'm going to share my rant. Oh, that's right. I'm going to rant. So be prepared for that. And then we're going to give away a tool based on my talk at Entree Master's series, the intentional interview checklist.

So first, we're going to give you our panel, Sarah Sloane, our fearless vice president of Entrace Leadership, Jason Blake, our vice president of our endorsed local provider real estate services, and Luke Lefevre, our senior executive creative director and yours truly. Here's a portion of that panel. Well, I like to say if people knew better, they do better, right? Have you all heard that before? So oftentimes, I find that in both my parenting and my leadership, a lot of times they haven't met that expectation because either I have not explained what I'm looking for,

clearly enough, or they just don't know. And this took me a while because my first reaction, because we're running so hard, it's usually like, what are you doing? What is going on? And I realized, well, that's not helpful because if they knew what they should have been doing, they would have been doing that. So I have really learned to kind of slow down and say, man, I must not have done a very good job here. I'm sorry. Let's take a step back and talk through exactly what would have been the best way to do this. You did a great job, but there's a few things that if we had done them would have really knocked it out of the park. And that has, I think, helped me a lot and helped our team a lot instead of just a like, brazzled exclamation.

As a fellow high D, I tend not to lead with too much grace. It's a lot more clarity and directness and not so much come back around. I forget the empathy a lot of times. And to me, it feels like you're slowing me down if I have to stop and explain something to you. And I thought I hired you because you knew what you were doing. and the honest truth is a lot of times, especially recently for me, as I've learned to slow down a little bit more, and I've got some good coaching above me that's leading me well, teaching me to slow down a little bit and give that clarity. And we all know this is true. We go so much faster when we slow down

to help them understand what needs to happen. I had an opportunity a couple weeks ago where I have another person on my team that loves to drive things forward, loves to what Dave would call the bull in the China shop. And the reality is the vast majority of people, that we're communicating with are either a high C or a high S, which means they don't necessarily like the direct conflict. And so when we lead with a lot of directness and a lot of conflict, we're leaving a lot of people in our wake. And so just to teach somebody that the people you're communicating with, more often than not as a high D, the people you're communicating with do not retain things the way you do and do not listen or understand things the way you do,

the more you can learn about that, the more you can learn to craft your communication, the better off you're going to be. Hi, guys. I'm Amanda Jacobs from Columbia, Missouri. I do residential property management. My question speaks towards entitlement. We have come across in the hiring process quite a bit, candidates that I would consider to be a rock star, but then it comes out through that process that there's a big entitlement mentality. Dave kind of speaks to that in FPU about us wanting to have the house of our parents that it took them 40 years to get there. But I'm curious, as many millennials as you have, How do you work through that?

Hi, Amanda. Welcome back. I just am very honest with people. So the analogy that I use is we are a college football team. So we are here to drive value for our guests and our clients. And that is the attitude which I expect you to come to work every day. If you come to work every day and you are a pro athlete and you keep asking about how this business can serve as a vehicle for you, that is not what we're here for.

And if you are not client-oriented and all about driving value for our clients and our team, we just had a team meeting the other day where we're kind of slowing down and educating and kind of doing the coaching, not because anything was broken, but because we're trying to proactively get ahead of some of this stuff as our team gets bigger and they've never encountered certain situations. And so we have started using that as opportunities to educate them proactively on, you know, the purpose of the business is not here to drive value for you. There are four filters with which we used to make decisions.

So the first one is our clients. The second one is our mission. The third one is the team. And then the very last one is the individual. And sometimes that individual means me. That means I'm last. And so just kind of taking a minute and explaining that to them is how I have just addressed it head on and has been successful for us. The millennial generation is a dopamine-filled generation.

We like quick hits. We like quick wins. We expect to come in day one and then all of a sudden be a VP in two years. We really do believe that that's our path and we think that's going to happen. because that's what we've been conditioned to believe all through growing up and a lot of the things we're doing. So dopamine is the same chemical that's released for drug and alcohol, for gambling. It's the same chemical that's released when you get a text or get a like on Facebook. And so we've grown up with this entire lifetime of getting what we want really quickly.

And so I believe the reality is it's on you to coach them on that. And I don't think you're going to get away from that general entitlement or that general millennial feeling like they're going to get their a lot quicker than it's going to take them. The onus really is on you to coach them, to teach them that it takes consistency over time in order to get your way. And Sarah laid out a really good model on how to do that well. Was he actually a rock star? Like, before he came to you? He didn't make it. Oh. Well, what made him a rock star? Through the interview process, he already had some industry experience. So that was a plus. Probably honestly, through the interview process, because he was a high eye. And I know that because we had already run the disc profile on

him very outgoing and we were looking for a leasing specialist person so very personable very friendly and yeah i can sell but as we went through and we then started talking about compensation and ability to move up in the company we are a team of six so there's only so much room you know in the team right now and it was kind of like well i really want your job and i was like why own the company so well you got that thing hogan was talking about replacing yourself So it did come out in the interview process, but unfortunately what he probably was perceiving as really good drive was a real setback for us because, you know, you get on the block. Well, from my experience as a creative director here, we deal with a lot of hiring creative directors

and they come from an agency world where their reputation is of being jerks and knowing the answers and all of this stuff. And so in the interview process, I oftentimes, and I think I've scared a couple of good candidates away with this, so I don't use it sparingly. But I will say your experience before this is all really good. Like I want all of that to very much help. That's why we're hiring you. But honestly, it doesn't matter here because this is the mission we're going after. And if the mission is first and you want to help us do this thing, then you can use all that experience over here.

but if you're coming in and you want to be the biggest, coolest creative director or biggest best salesperson in the world first, and our mission in this company is second, then you're not going to like it here. You're just not going to like it. And so I will just make sure that I want your experience, but I don't really care. Like I want you to come in and help us do this better, not show me how cool you are. That's how I've worked through this sometimes. And for the millennials who we've heard that as missional work is very important, they want the work to matter. They actually like that. And then, you know, you've made it very clear in the interview process too. All right, do we have another question? All right, so here's where we're at. I asked the room, how many of you lead millennials, a lot of you, okay? Then I asked you how many of you love it and half of those people raise their hand, put their hands down. So what are your frustrations?

What are your questions? How can we help you? That's why we're here. You put your hand down for a reason, why? Because they're a great group of people. Let me give you a piece of data. Millennials replaced Gen X as the number one demographic in the workforce. in 2017. So they're here to stay. What are your frustrations? How can we help? How you doing?

My name is Greg Carrow. I own a collision repair shop in New York. And I have a mix of millennials who are coming up and learning, working with a mix of 40, 50-year-old men. And it doesn't work very well because how do you get a millennial to come into work on time, number one? And how does the sniffles keep you out of work? Because I've never seen a generation that gets sicker, easier, and can't get up on time. And it's always the damn alarm clock's fault. And when I was going to work, I worked for my father. And if I didn't get up on time, well, I just got sent home. So the problem is I can't do that because I need them there.

I'm dumping $150,000 to $200,000 in training in some of these kids. And I know my older guys are with the company. They're with me and they're with my business. But the millennials seem to be what's in it for them? How can they get what they want? And then as soon as they got what they want, where can I go and make more money? and you just spent $250,000 training me, well, screw you because I just found somebody who's going to pay me $20,000 more a year. And that's what I'm seeing, and it's very frustrating.

All right, so hold on one second. Hold on. I'm going to let you answer that. But I'm just judging the room. How many of you show of hands, same group that leads me to those feel some of the similar frustrations? Raise them up. Keep them up. Okay.

That's what I thought. Now go. Jason? I got something for you, too. I start in the interview process. I just tell people, look, these are going to be my expectations. You can fake it through an interview process. You know, anybody can sit through several 30-minute or hour-long segments and put on a happy face and be perfect.

But here's the deal. I'm going to tell you what it's really like. And when you show up two weeks in, you're going to be miserable if you have just faked your way through this. So here's what my expectations are. You're going to show up on time. We are a team. So we are in it for each other. And I am just very black and white.

And it's a very interesting. It's like a one-way interview. Like, I'm just going to tell you how that, that is a part of my interview process. I'm going to tell you. And this environment is either going to help you to thrive or you're going to feel suffocated. So you're going to go home tonight and you're going to think about, does this sound exciting to you? Do you think you're going to thrive in this? Or are two weeks we going to be sitting in here having another kind of conversation because you're going to be miserable in this environment?

So that doesn't solve it. They still have to bring it. But that's where I start with it. I just tell them from the get-go that this is what's going to be like. And one of those things I would say for you is you are going to be here on time. Ken was sharing with us earlier that there's really two main things that matter to millennials. The very first thing is, can I excel at this job? And the second one is, what does this job mean to me?

Like, how does it connect with what I believe? And so talk to me a little bit about what your mission is. How do you help connect them to your company? Okay. Well, when I hire a millennial, I'll usually hire somebody who knows nothing at about $25 an hour. which is pretty good for where we are. And that's nothing. And that's just going out and basically learning how to use a piece of sandpaper.

Once they start getting training under their belts and OEM certifications from the manufacturers, and they have weld certs and everything else, I tell them that they can make up to $100,000 a year. All you're talking about is money. What's your mission? Like, why are you that? You're talking about money. Okay.

So I didn't say money. I said, what is the mission? My mission in the shop is to do the very best collision repairs that can be done. That's our mission. And the ultimate customer service. And all we do is work on high-end cars and deal with very, very high-end people. But why is that important? Why does it matter the quality of your work?

Why does it matter what? Can I ask it this way? Yeah. You got an older guy in your shop? I have a few, yes. Do they love their work? Yes. If I were sitting with them right now and I said, tell me what you love most about this

a lady's car that comes in and it's beat up. Right. And when you get done with it, she's happy, you're happy. What would they say? Why do they love the work? Well, they like I love restoring a car that's been destroyed that somebody thinks they can't be restored. Okay, bingo. Sorry, Sarah.

I'm interrupted. I'm so sorry. No, that's good. I'm going to try this in. Luke said this and Luke is right. You've got to get this. Millennials are people too. They're not a separate breed of humans.

You got a hard sell out here, Ken. The reason you laugh is because you've wondered that. Now, here's my point. The same thing that moves the 55-year-old guy will move a 25-year-old, but you as a leader of God to find the 25-year-old who loves working with their hands, who loves restoring things, and therein lies a connection. That's what we're talking about. and I'm going to get to another point in a minute,

but keep going, but that's what they're driving at. It goes to then the connection leads to a relationship. Yeah. And then you've got a bond that isn't just about what you can train or give them before they jump ship. There's something special about you and your company

that gives them the connection to they want to stay. My answer was going to go towards a relationship side of it. If you're just looking to them to check a box and make a widget and pull the thing down, they're going to leave because they're looking. for more than that, you know. So what are the questions in the interview process that he can ask that would sort that out? I'll tell you, when you got somebody coming in like this, you need to ask them, so what

interests you about this job? Because if they give you the mail-in answers, then you can ascertain pretty quickly whether or not it's just $25 an hour, and I just need a job because my mom's telling me to get out of the house and I don't want to go to college. Now, let me tell you something. If you're willing to be patient and you find a kid who doesn't want to be a job, you don't want to go to college because he knows he doesn't need to go to college because he knows he can be in the trades and he can make $100,000 a year, which by the way, you can show him that path, but you tell him

all of that after he realizes, I just always love fixing stuff with my hands. When I was a five or six year old kid, I was just always out building something. The lady who cuts my hair about two miles away has got a seven-year-old kid named Gage. She's always telling me about Gage. Every spare minute Gage has, Gage is out in the back, building stuff with wood. Now, do you think Gage is going to want to go work in some corporate setting? Probably not, because the kid at seven gets juice taking crates apart and building something. You've got to find the person who gets the restoration part. You're absolutely right about that. Now, I have found many of them, and they're very good. The problem is, is I still can't get them out of bed in the morning.

The older manager technicians and me are pissed off when they're rolling at 8.30 instead of eight. Why it's important for them to be on time? Why does it matter if they're on time or not? Why do you care? It's important for everybody to be on time. If one person's not on time, then why should everybody else show up on time? So it's a perception issue. And then what about scheduling your work that needs to be done? If they're not on time, how do you schedule that? And then you're disappointing the client, right? Correct. You've got to tie in that why, and then you've got to turn the heat up and turn the heat up until they either get it or they get a box. Right. I know. It's difficult. Believe me. I'd say the most difficult part is changing some of your verbiage around because like your sales pitch to me was you're going to make 25 bucks an hour. I'm going to train you up. You're going to make 100,000. But what I really care about is almost against point is you get to craft these amazing. Like we only deal in high-end cars. You get to craft these amazing cars as part of your job. As a bonus, you're going to make good money and I'm going to train you well. But really why you're here is to make these cars.

new again and then showing up on time. I think that's just leader, like you as a leader setting the boundaries and setting clarity, but you can do it with some empathy and a little bit more of like changing your rhetoric is you have to start with the why a little bit on like, why do you need to be on time? To you, it's like, I don't need to freaking explain this to you. Show up on time because I said so. Okay. Period. I had a guy. This is an amazing story. He was late all the time. Yes, it happens even at Ramsey Solutions. He was late, and then he would have something come up always at the end of the day, you know, this kind of thing.

And we were as nice about it. And I was like, hey, hey, get here on time, 8.30, you know, leave at 4.30. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. Well, one day I was walking through the hallway and I see him, you know, we're on the third floor of my desk, and I see him through the glass. And it's like 846 or something. He's just moseying in. And I'm just like, oh, my goodness.

Okay, so pull him up. And he had a leader between me and this guy. So I went ahead and I was like, let's just go have a talk. So we pulled him in and I was like, listen, I'm going to be very clear. It's 830 to 5. Be here right before 830 so that you're here at 830 and then leave at 5. Yeah, okay. All right. All right. The next day, there was like something at lunch. where he comes and finds me, he's like, hey, my wife and her mom are at the mall, do you think I could go meet them? And it was like 4.30. And I was like, no. We just said 8.30 to 5. Oh, right, right. Like, just build it in and just keep saying it every day. And I'm going to call you on it tomorrow when I see you late again. And then if it's two weeks of it, Hey, if you do this again, we're going to start having the conversation about you not working here. And then actually follow that through.

This guy doesn't work there anymore, by the way. I love what Alan Malali was talking about this, and it came up when we were all getting together. We show up at 830. We would love for you to be a part of we. It's a team, yeah. We show up at 830. And then it's their choice, right? You can either choose to or not.

Are you having these conversations? Have you had similar ones, like where you talk about bring your box if you don't show up on time type of thing? Numerous. Yes. Do you let them go then if they don't do it? Yes. So it's just really is that you're thinking the generational. It's a generational thing and I definitely have seen it getting worse over the years.

I'm 40 and the kids who are my brother's age, they're much more into computers. The other thing is I had to seize all cell phones because. I'm walking around the shop and I see everybody with the things in their ears doing this. They're polishing cars, they're grinding. I said, what happens if one of those gets caught in your ears and rips your ear off? I'm getting sued. No more

cell phones. They all go in the box. So from when you come in, you put it in the box. When you have break, you can take it out. When you have lunch, you can take it out. They were very upset to lose them, but I didn't really care because the cell phone doesn't belong on the floor while you're working. I'm sorry. You know, I mean, it's just problems. older text at and they're like, fine. They lock the thing up. I don't see it. It's the dopamine

hits that they're missing out on that they were addicted to, though. I guess. Well, let me just say this. We've got to move on to another question. How many of you have seen Simon Seneca's viral video on leading millennials? Raise your hand. Not many of you. So go Google it. Those of you that have seen it, it's a nice little wrap to this, but I do want to say this real quick. Welcome to leadership. That's, okay, like, here's the deal. You got to get rid of the bad ones. you got to do what they said. Well, there you go. That's your option, too.

He wants to cash out. Here's the point. You got to coach them. Are there some idiosyncrasies that we've all discussed and laughed about in the last five or six minutes? Yes, but you've got to coach them and lead them through that. Constant coaching. Yeah, this just isn't a pass because here's what's going on. I get the frustration.

You're going, why don't have to tell them this? That doesn't even matter. The fact is, you got to tell them. So you better lead them or it's going to be all this frustration. In the back? What do you feel is an appropriate amount of time for, say, office staff members to be on the phone, personal time? I mean, they are used to using it. Obviously, his probably works.

Put it in a box. That's not necessarily going to work for everybody. But what have you found works an appropriate amount of personal usage of computer time or devices? I find it's really hard to give people black and white answers to that. At the end of the day, what I try to do is give people guiding principles. by how I expect their behavior to match up. And if they are using those filters that we talked about earlier and getting their work done for what the client needs,

there needs to be a trust level. I don't want to have to sit down every day and say, okay, I need to see your phone. Have you been using less than 30 minutes of screen time today? I don't have time to micromanage you like that. I wish I could give you like a black and white. Here's what I would do. But I find that if you can explain the guiding principles,

these are how I expect you to make decisions at work. this is how I expect you, including your phone usage, to make decisions. That's what I find to be more effective than saying a hard and fast, like you get 15 minutes every five hours. Because the reality is work-life balance is really tough. Sometimes you've got a little bit more life going on and sometimes you've got a little bit more work going on. So that kind of allows for that ebb and flow and they know how to then make the decisions appropriately even when they have an emergency situation going on one week.

What do you guys do? Just tell them to get off the phone. Like, there was a... Are phone breaks the new smoke breaks? What? Like, our phone breaks are the new smoke breaks? Like, if I walk by someone's desk and they are just constantly scrolling and then I don't see it, hey, put the phone away.

Put the phone away. It's okay to tell people stuff they're not going to like. There was... Can I tell another story? Yeah, go for it. There was this, at the last place I worked, this is not a Ramsey solution's problem. There was this guy. who met this girl and he was on the phone, no joke.

My office was here. His office was here. He was right next door to me. He was on his phone with this lady like three hours a day. I could hear it through the wall. And I heard some of the conversations. And I was just like, my goodness. A couple days later, the owner of the company comes in.

He goes, hey, Luke, we're going to have to eliminate cell phone usage from everyone's, you're not going to be able to use your phone. And in my brain, I knew it was because of this guy. The small business, which was nine people company, took cell phones away from the whole company because he didn't want to deal with the conflict of telling this dude to get off his phone. Get off the phone. So this is my favorite part. I said, I see what's happening here. And I respectfully decline your request.

You do what you have to do, but he's the problem and you should go tell him to get office. phone. Well, I, uh, well, I, and I was like, listen, just go have the conflict with the guy. And so that's what I would suggest, like, just walk in when you see the problem, call it out immediately. You don't have to be a jerk about it. Just say, hey, you're on your phone too much. Knock it off, you know? Well, I, uh, too, I'm paying you to do this thing. Please get off the phone. Like, it's okay. But you can set a bubble of a different kind of place. I really do think you have to create, and it's very hard, a mission, a relational, a place that is different than other places that is not going to be okay being like everyone else. And that's where you've got to get.

And it's hard. Let's see. Now look at this. Here we go. Three minutes to go and everybody's just a real quick point. I imagine if you went to the University of Alabama's football practice today, there's no cell phones out on the field. And you scoff for a second. but I also bet you that Nick Saban, his entire coaching staff,

are on those players like crazy, nonstop. And they're always telling them, do it this way, do it this way, do it this way. We don't do it that way. Here's why we don't do it this way. And either you do it or you quit the team. Now that's the reality, but that's leadership. You can create an environment. You can create a culture.

I don't believe for a second that it's impossible. Ramsey's done it. Dave Ramsey's done it. And how many times tell them how many times you have to repeat things before anybody even starts to hear it. Minimum seven times. Seven times. All right.

And those are the sharp people, not the... It's 21 for everybody else. I mean, walk around with a bullhorn for the rest of them, but they'll eventually get sick of it. All right, we got time for, man, we'll squeeze in as many as we can. So I am a director for a Fortune 5 company. I'm head of strategy. and I'm 26 and I oversee hundreds and hundreds of people and make the technological decisions for them in their platform.

So one thing that I found that is when I go to these meetings, I am by far the youngest person there, like by 20 years. But it's because of my experience growing up. I've been blessed with a lot of good experience and I know how to modernize a company tech-wise. my question for you is if you are going into a meeting with a millennial with this kind of title and these kind of responsibilities, do you have any tips? Do you have any insights that you could share with me of like what you expect from me, right, so that I can hold myself up to converse with these folks, right? Because I don't want to walk in and be like, oh, it's a millennial, right?

And especially it doesn't help that I got this title that quite frankly a lot of 50-year-olds didn't get, right, that they wanted. So that's my question. That's a great question. Yeah, I think we actually addressed this a little bit this morning, my opinion. It sounds like you have a very impressive record of accomplishing things. And I think ultimately we're all people and what we really want to know is do you care about other people. And so the number one thing that you could probably do in that is represent the customer well. and make sure that you come across humbly,

that you're there representing the customer and not so much about who you are and what you can do. So everybody will be impressed with your title because of your age and just because you're doing big things. But if you have that humble spirit about you in the room, I think that's the number one thing that somebody could ask from you. Yeah, come into the meeting with the attitude of what can I learn from these other folks every time.

Like if the guys on your team, the younger guys in your team came to those 50-year-olds and were like, hey, how did you get so good? at this. And they had that attitude. If you had that attitude going in every time, and it sounds like even the way you ask your question, you kind of do, but have an attitude of what can I learn from these folks. And then get there a little early, but get there a little early, see who's there and be like, hey, what do you do here? How long you've been here? Like ask a bunch of questions. And then afterwards, stay after and ask them the questions that are in your head so that they are like, oh, this guy

doesn't think he knows all the answers already, because obviously none of us do. Yeah, the reality is I don't expect anything different from you than I expect from anybody else. One of the biggest things that we have been creating on our team is a environment of feedback. It's a lot easier when people solicit feedback exactly like what you just asked for than for me to just add a blue, give them feedback. So the more that we can create that culture and it starts with you asking for feedback like Lucas saying, the more you can create that culture in your organization, it's a lot easier when people are pulling feedback than when I'm pushing feedback on top of you. So that, I think, has been really key in helping me with so many young people on our team. It's just so much easier for me if they get in this habit of asking. And that's something at the end of every check-in I have with my leader, I said, okay, here's

time for my three cheesy questions, just in that exact voice. And I say, is there anything about my personal brand that I'm not aware of that I should be? Is there anything about the entree leadership business that I may not be thinking about, that you're worried might be a blind spot for me? And I just literally go through my questions. So I would say for your specific question, continue to solicit feedback and be humble and be open to, you know, learning from everybody else in the room. For everybody in the room, I think the more you can coach your folks on asking for feedback. And that gives you space to say, be on time.

It'll make your life so much easier. You know, it's exhausting sometimes feeling like you're being nitpicky and you've got to tell everybody all the things. So my number one tip is coach your people to solicit feedback. make space for those conversations, and that will make your life a lot easier because they're asking for it, or there's a holding spot where it's just we all know, okay, this is the time where we talk about feedback. I just want to say this real quick. The question is really brilliant, and it's for the whole room, especially I'm thinking about your 25-year-olds that are coming in, and you've got these 55-year-olds.

Let's be really honest in the room right now. There is a generational gap, and when he walks in the room in those meetings, you feel the tension sometimes, don't you? Yeah, he's shaking his head. So we got to acknowledge that that exists. So here's the deal. Everybody touched on it, but I love this question. If I could teach anything to young people that are coming in in their 20s and they're working with people generations older, likeability, you've got to build relationships first.

And there's something about being young. You're the eager beaver in the tails wagon. And you want to prove that you belong, right? So we long for credibility first. However, credibility is given. I can't make Luke give me credibility. No matter how hard I try, I can't force Luke to think that I'm credible or show me the respect that I think I deserve. What I can do is make Luke like me.

If I'm relational, I'm humble, all the things I talk about. So I think you've got to win relationally before the meeting, after the meeting, beyond the meeting. And all of a sudden they go, here's a kid who's humble, as you said, who's asking questions like Sarah said, and they genuinely like you. And when likability is established, credibility is transferred. But that's how it works. You all know this. You're shaking your head out of me because this is relationship 101.

But we get in a corporate setting and your challenge, as I get it, you want to belong. But I think the best thing you could do is be quiet in the meetings and talk a lot afterwards, right? Relationship, the stew out of those folks. And you'll see that the transfer of trust will come to you publicly and privately. I think that's a really key recipe for young people. And leaders, you need to tell your young people how to do that. Tell us a guy. Now listen, there's a guy named Sam in the workshop, and if you don't get Sam to like you,

it's going to be a really rough time. But let me tell you what Sam likes and what you ought to do with Sam, right? And teach those young puffs how to go hang out with the old wolf. All right? That'll help them win. So again, hey, would you thank our panel for being with us? Thank you all very much. Okay, folks, hope you enjoyed that panel.

Now, I told you that I was going to rant a little bit. You heard me earlier on in that panel make the statement that most of the room just broke out in laughter, when I said they're not a separate breed of human beings. They're not aliens either. But the reason everybody laughed is because there is a tension there, and it was released when I made that comment. And here's the first thing I want to start off with. You need to understand they're not that much different than Gen X or the boomers

or even the greatest generation. Now, some of you go, wait a second, you're telling me that millennials aren't that much different than the greatest generation? No, I'm not. Why? I'm going to tell you, because the greatest generation, and let's throw in the boomers, and let's throw in Gen X. They all have one thing in common with millennials,

and that is they want to do work that matters to them. This is not an exclusive emotional baggage problem that millennials have. This is called being a part of the human race. Everybody was created to do something unique. Now, if you disagree with that, you can stop listening because I have nothing else to say. But I think we can all agree. Wait a second. that we were created to do work and we were created to do work that matters to us.

So that's the entire prose. So when we start there, you go, all right, are there some extenuating generational issues, cultural context that we need to think about? Absolutely. So let's look at that. Do they have a different worldview than Gen X and boomers and the greatest generation? Absolutely. They've never lived the day of their life without a smartphone or the internet for that matter. So that's what I mean by cultural context and generational differences.

Of course they're a little bit different because of the context, but they can't control that. The other thing is, my generation, the Xers, we were the first ones to kind of have to fight this. Everybody gets trophy nonsense. So the Gen Xers, it happened to us, and then now we've made it even worse. And so you take the everybody gets a trophy reality and then combine it with instant feedback all the time. So that's what millennials are used to. Remember, they don't lack for information. Information's everywhere.

They can get it on their smartphone, they get it on the internet, and they can get it all the time. And mom and dad are always giving them feedback. Way to go, Johnny, way to go, Susie, way to go. Did you great, everybody gets a trophy, and they're getting constant feedback. So that's what you have to understand as a leader that you are going to have to navigate. When that millennial comes in to work for you, they need feedback. They just do.

Now, that does not mean that you have to affirm them all the time. walk around going, great job. The way you sent that email, special stuff. Really, really good. No, you don't have to do that. But you do need to understand that they're looking for measurements. They need to be measured. And as a leader, hello, that's great for you. In fact, the Gen Xers and certainly the boomers could learn from millennials on the idea of constantly being measured. Measurements are good. You want to lead people that are go-getters, people that like to be. People that like to be measured. Hey, here's the goal. This is what a win looks like. And now we're going to execute against the goal. And as we're executing against the goal, we're going to look and see how are you doing?

So it's the scoreboard. That's what millennials love. They're used to a scoreboard. So instead of making that a negative, why don't you turn that into a positive? All right? So that's really important. Now, understanding all that context, that they're used to constant feedback, that they like to be rewarded, then you just have to, again, lead that way. But here are two things that millennials say, are more important than compensation at work. Number one, are they good at the role? That's huge. They want to be proficient. They want to be good at it. So if you've got a millennia who's got some great potential and they're struggling on this seat of the bus, you better figure out if there's another seat on the bus where they can feel like they are winning, meaning they're doing a good job.

The second most important thing to a millennial is does the work intrinsically matter to me? So in other words, does the work have some meaning to me? They're very attracted to missional type work. So even if you are a plumber, if you say 25% of our revenue every year goes to local charities, I'm telling you there's a millennial kid out there who likes to work with his hands, you might be able to talk him in to make some really good money. Because he sees, or she sees, a connection to her work or his work, that means a great deal to them.

So understand those are the top two factors that, millennials love in a job. That's what they're looking for and it's what keeps them around. One other point and then I'm going to give you the leadership points that you need to be thinking about all the time on how to leave these folks. You need to understand that millennials enter your job, enter your workforce, and they expect to work no longer than a year there. That's mind-numbing. However, it doesn't mean that you can't keep them. But they enter into the workforce thinking, I'm going to do this for a year, then I'll move here, I'll move here, I'll move here. you need to understand that's what you're facing. So if you want to keep that talented millennial,

you better show them a path upward. They want to know, do I have a chance to grow? Have you shown that path that you've got a chance of keeping them? Now, let me give you four things. And you heard me mentioned a little bit. You heard this kind of talk all around. I want you to give four key takeaways on how to lead millennials. Number one, you need to ask them. Ask them questions. Hey, where do you feel you're winning. Where do you feel you're losing? Where do you think you could be better? Where would you like some more assistance, some more help, some more guidance? Ask them questions. Know how they're feeling. Know how they're thinking. Number two, listen to them. When you ask the question, actually listen to them. Don't just let the words kind of bounce in and around and off of you.

Listen to what they're saying. Pay attention. They're going to give you some terrific feedback. Number three, after you've asked and listened, now make a decision to intentionally invest in them. Invest, really, truly invest in them. That's where you got the chance to take a millennial and keep them for the long haul because they want to grow. So if you invest in them, maybe it's getting smart dollar from Ramsey Solutions or something like that, where again, you can help them in their personal finances. That's an investment. Maybe it's sending them to an event. Maybe it's buying them books.

again, invest. And then finally, you heard to say this a couple times. Luke Lefevre and I said it a few times, and that is coach them. This is an ongoing thing. Don't roll your eyes at millennials leaders, because it's your job to lead them. Lead them. Show them the way, right? And then go the way for them. Not just show them, you go. Let them see you modeling what you want from them. Don't forget, this is all about coaching and you're never going to stop leading people. So why is it that you think you should get a pass with millennials? It's almost like those people in the room who raised their hand before that panel. I said, how many do you enjoy leading millennials? And only half the room raised their hand. The other half is like, I don't enjoy it. So what, you get a leadership

pass because they're a little bit difficult for you? I think the issue is you've heard millennials become a dirty word in today's society. And it's okay to poo poo all over them. That's right. I said poo-poo, because that's what you're doing, and that's what your leadership is, if you don't get intentional. So I just gave you four keys to leading millennials, and you can do this. But it is not going to be an armchair coach. It is going to be out on the field, blowing the whistle, showing them how to do it, showing them again, show them again, give them feedback, show them again.

It's the process. It's called coaching. All right, folks, coming up here, we've got the intentional interview checklist. Again, I talked about this at the top of the program. Specifically, five questions that you need to ask before you even do the interview when hiring somebody, how to formulate your go-to questions, and then how to use it. Text the word intentional to 33444. That's intentional to 33444.

All right, folks, our friends at InfusionSoft have got a great tool for you. It's called Marketing to Millennials. See how you're handling that word now? Most of you are now, you're feeling much better about the word. It doesn't give you indigestion at all. You're going to learn why small businesses have an advantage with millennials, and you're going to learn what type of content is engaging to millennials. This is great stuff.

Our friends that Infugus off know what they're doing. This is so valuable, folks. When you understand that millennials are the largest demographic in the workforce, which means they're probably your largest customer demographic. Don't overlook this. You can get it by going to the link in this episode showing us. That's episode 295. All right, folks, on behalf of the entire,

Entree Leadership Team. Thank you for listening. We'll talk with you again very soon. Hey folks, I want to make you aware that we have other great podcasts from Ramsey Solutions. Here's a sample of the Ken Coleman Show. According to a recent Gallup poll, nearly 70% of Americans are disengaged at work. If you dread going into work every Monday morning and you're just trying to make it to the weekend, the Ken Coleman show is for you. Everyone has a sweet spot. Your sweet spot is at the intersection of your great talent and greatest passion. We will help you discover what it is you were born to do and then will help you create a plan to make your dream job a reality. You matter and you have what it takes. Join the conversation on the Ken Coleman Show.

To hear full episodes, just search Ken Coleman in iTunes or go to Ken Coleman.com.