It's not personal.

One of the biggest hurdles across generations is what we believe leadership looks like. For Boomers, hierarchy in the workplace was set in place by the Traditionalists. The sentiment they heard as kids was, “children are to be seen and not heard.” When they raised their Millennial children, they were determined to change this.  They believed that their children should be seen AND heard. Now, the Millennial kids of these Boomer parents are in the workplace.  It is normal to translate our family system values and expect things to run in a similar fashion in the office. As a result, Millennials see leadership as something that is shared. It is a role of facilitation that holds more responsibility but in no way do they have more value.  This is where many older leaders get confused. Leading by authority does not work with younger generations. They expect to have a voice. This is how they were raised. Boomers and Gen X, try to understand why it is different and don’t take it personally when they don’t interact with you in a way that you expect. Millennials, try to understand why things are the way they are and gather the wisdom around you. There is so much we can learn from one another and it is necessary if we are going to navigate this generational shift well.