If you read news online, by now, you’ve almost certainly stumbled on an article by a writer desperate to make millennials seem lazy, entitled or narcissistic. The borderline insulting trend has even spawned a Chrome extension that replaces “millennials†with “snake people,†just to make the Internet more palatable.
It’s easy to be led astray by pundits pushing a narrative about millennials, but according to a Pew Research survey, 53.5 million people aged 18-35 (millennials, if you’re not paying attention) now make up the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. Based on sheer numbers alone, that makes it likely that eventually, you’re going to have a millennial for a boss. And when you do, you might want to prepare for how to how to handle it.
Master New Skills
Maybe you’re a recent college grad realizing that what you learned about corporate culture doesn’t apply in the real world, or you’re a longtime professional looking for advice on how to best get along with your new boss. Either way, there’s one key that will help you connect with your millennial boss – and more importantly, impress them – and that’s the willingness to go above and beyond by learning and perfecting new skills that may not necessarily fall within your job description.
If your millennial boss sits you down and asks you if you can take on a new challenge or come up with an inventive solution to a problem the company is facing, the only wrong answer is, “That’s not part of my job description.†There’s no shame in not knowing something — in fact, your boss most likely knows that you don’t have a full grasp on how to solve that problem — but that’s not the same as not wanting to know.
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Angela McCrory is the co-founder of Rukkus. She is the UX and design lead for web, iOS, and Android development.
BusinessCollective, launched in partnership with Citi, is a virtual mentorship program powered by North America’s most ambitious young thought leaders, entrepreneurs, executives and small business owners.