Dear World,
Nearly two weeks ago, I stumbled upon this article on LinkedIn by best-selling author, Mark Crowley. In it, he references many points worthy of discussion, but most notable being his viewpoint on millennials. “Millennials,” anyone born approximately between 1981 to 2000, "is a generation of workers that rejects traditional ways, and fully expects their bosses and organizations to adapt to them."
Easy with the assumptions, Mr. Crowley. I do understand and respect your intellect here, but I'll go ahead and speak on behalf of the rest of this misrepresented millennial group, myself included, in saying we are not seeking gold stars and participation trophies. We don't expect our future employers to hold our hand and guide us to our seats. While this fact may be true for the majority (and this is a completely subjective "majority"), I would take a safe bet and say there is group hidden from our elders and from you, Mr. Crowley.
Maybe It's Just Me
Maybe it's a combination of how I was raised, military training or growing up in Texas, but I cannot stand when someone automatically labels me as "entitled." I don't deserve anything until I have proved otherwise. Experience and rewards come from grit, tenacity, and persistence. Some of us millennials haven’t forgotten climbing the ladder of success. There's a serious disconnect between the assumptions of my generation and the chances we receive to prove we aren't entitled.
Facing the Music
Yes, we're the first generation to grow up with computers in every home, giving us access to the largest library of information in the history of the world, but that just means we're different, not entitled. Our sense of time is morphed. We expect everything as soon as we hit refresh and open our apps, but can you blame us? That's all we've ever known. Additionally, as millennials we must agree to understand that fact: we're different, NOT entitled. We don't understand a world without wars and terrorist attacks, as they have become ingrained into our lives from a young age. Some of us barely remember 9/11, but none of us can forget the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. We're in the midst of racial tensions that seem to divide this country more and more every day, while some of our grandparents lived through the civil rights movement. We saw same sex marriage and marijuana (in some states) become legalized, and to top it all off we just witnessed a multi-billionaire celebrity, with absolutely no previous political experience, granted authority over the most powerful country in the world.
This is who we are. We’re millennials, we're different, but we can't assume we are entitled to success just because we were born in a different era. Let's make an effort not to negate that. In writing this however, I believe there will be some from this generation that will disagree and counter this whole article. They are proud millennials and believe their employers should cater to their needs. To them I would say, to each their own. As for me and others who agree, we will continue to grind our teeth and work to earn our keep. We seek to kick down the doors of our stereotypes given to us by age.
Lastly, we also want to apologize and ask that you please remember this hidden group of us the next time you experience the entitlement group first-hand. Let us prove that there is still valuable and honest contributors in this generation.
Sincerely,
Hidden Millennials
