Millennials Are Struggling at Work
Bosses the world over are struggling with their millennial employees – they say we confound leadership, are self-entitled, narcissistic, lazy and tough to manage.
But according to motivational speaker and author Simon Sinek, this is the result of our parents’ “failed parenting strategies.”
After the astounding success of his video on millennials in the workplace, which has had over 56 million views on Facebook alone, Sinek spoke to The Independent about how our parenting, combined with social media, working environments, and our impatience have created a generation plagued by low self-esteem, and what we can do about it.
Current Prices on popular forms of Silver Bullion
According to Sinek, 43, parents of millennial have now realised that their well-intentioned parenting strategies may have backfired.
They told us we were special all the time and could have anything we want in life. We got medals for coming in last and if we didn’t get into the best clubs, our parents complained. This meant entering the real world was a shock and our self-images were shattered.
“It was a time when greed was good and parents raised their kids encouraging them to be individual and put themselves first,” Sinek explains.
“Whilst really great in theory, parents were also pushing their kids to get the top grades, focus on rankings and make money, which left them conflicted.”
Sinek knows of millennials who’ve gone to their bosses asking for a promotion, but openly saying they only want the title, not a pay-rise. The reason is that many millennials feel the need to show on Facebook and LinkedIn that they’re rising through the ranks quicker than anyone else – seeing a peer get a promotion inevitably creates stress that your career isn’t progressing fast enough.
And another problem is that we’ve been brought up to focus on having a healthy work/life balance – “the message is correct, but it seems to have been exaggerated and misinterpreted,” Sinek explains.
He believes the pendulum has swung too far the other way – while older generations may have felt chained to their desks, many millennials leave work on the dot of 5pm every day and refuse to answer work calls or emails over the weekend. This attitude is one of the reasons we have a reputation for entitlement.
Studies may show that the millennial generation reports having high self-esteem, but that largely includes narcissism and extrinsic rewards: “Reporting that you’re self-confident and being self-confident are not the same thing,” Sinek points out.
The post Millennials Are Struggling at Work appeared first on LewRockwell.
Leave a Reply