Leading millennials II

Following on from my last post because the evening was in two halves it seemed to make sense to do the same with my reflections.

We started this part looking at a model of leadership with relationships at the heart. It was made very clear that this model of leadership was not just specific to millennials but to all generations.  This reminded me of a conversation I had with another head about how she so valued the servant leadership model with love at the heart of all she did both with, alongside and for the staff and pupils within her school. Get those relationships right and the results come well. Underestimate or get relationships wrong and you may not even get to action let alone results.

Because they look back...we move forward

We discussed how anything that is considered static or institutional is not regarded positively by millennials and the impact of that on people’s perceptions on religion. Compared to perceptions and positive views on anything that seems dynamic or impactful. The great increase in people’s views on spirituality with over 50% of millennials believe in miracles yet would not state they are religious.

Having values at the heart of the company which are lived out by all leaders- those who walk the walk and talk the talk. These things are becoming more and more important to the next generation. I find this fascinating because the language is so alien in community schools. For over 10 years I’ve never taught or lead in a school where we’ve talked about values (other than British values but these are different I would suggest). Now in a church school setting this language is normalised and fantastic. I don’t think it is something I could ever let go of no matter what the setting I go on to in the future. Knowing what’s important to me and the qualities for a school that I lead is vital but how do I demonstrate that day to day. I had a really interesting conversation in a primary school leaders group where several heads suggestedey change their whole school values regularly. I found this again something else to consider. In the school where I am now they are so known, loved and embedded to take one away and replace it would feel odd. But maybe that is healthy and allows them to reflect the current children in school. It will be interesting to see if my feelings change over the next few years.

How we deal with conflict was discussed when relationships are so important. We need to ensure that conflict is managed effectively. It’s ok to make mistakes and conflict can be dealt with in a positive way. To allow truth to come out and be discussed. Millennials, and I include myself in this, generally try and avoid conflict. Especially face to face conflict. So when we have millennials leading millennials both wanting to avoid these situations is a potential disaster! In order for this situation to be dealt with appropriately requires sensitivity, affirmation, feedback and encouragement. But ultimately it will be powerful to learn by doing. 

We then finished by considering the generation z- those who will come after millennials. They want to create not consume for example Generation Y watch you tube where as generation z want to . This creativity needs to be harnessed, we need to find ways to release it and use it in positive ways as leaders. This will require teaching and coaching in a different way for each generation and discernment for the right way to do this. As generations concentration span decreased finding ways to support them and get them to stop or slow down is going to be a challenge.  I love this quote that was shared about the difference in changing how we read: