A Vision Quest

I read with interest an article entitled Young Tories lash out at party in the Calgary Herald on May 27, 2007. It appears that the youth wing of the Alberta Conservatives have grown disgruntled with the senior Tory members, attributed to a perceived gag order by the party and a lack of vision by party leaders (stating that both Ralph Klein and Ed Stelmach lacked vision).

The general reaction of readers likely ranges from complete dismissal to identifying the youths as demanding over achievers demonstrating insufficient respect for political process and senior party members. If you drill deeper, there is a very clear message associated with the discontent displayed by the youth involved. If you are an employer or manage young employees, this will be of interest to you.

The majority of the Alberta Conservative youth wing membership hail from the Y Generation (often referred to as Millennials). Gen Y’s were born after 1978 or 1982 (both dates are used with the Gen Y segment).

Some commonly accepted characteristics of Gen Y’s include:

Community-oriented
Confident, resilient & ambitious
Enthusiastic about and adept at incorporating technology into the workplace
Entrepreneurial; achievement focused
Taught to speak up and question authority
More accepting of diversity than any generation before them
Culture of readily accessible information has contributed to demanding attitudes

For many of us, this is the first real descriptive snapshot that we have of this generation and a valuable insight into what we can expect.

As a reference point it might be helpful to compare the last three generations of workers as presented by Steven Shepard at the TELUS Senior Leadership Forum 2004:

Baby Boomer Generation

Years (1943-1964) Outlook on Life Optimistic Attitudes Towards Work Driven View of Authority Love/Hate Relationship Approach Self-sacrifice Decision Making Team-Oriented

Generation X

Years (1965-1981) Outlook on Life Skeptical Attitudes Towards Work Balanced View of Authority Unimpressed Relationship Approach Reluctant to Commit Decision Making Self-Reliant

Generation Y

Years (1982 +) Outlook on Life Realistic Attitudes Towards Work Looking for Meaning View of Authority Oblivious Relationship Approach Committed to Success Decision Making Good for All

So what are the Gen Y’s looking for from their employers? Well, here are some of the expectations that employers can anticipate from their Gen Y staff members:

Free agents … chasing the deal that best fits them
Reject uniform benefits in lieu of options targeted to individual needs
Enjoy a workplace where social interaction is available
Prefer doing work that is prestigious and regarded highly by others
Less concerned about recognition and working independently
Looking for meaning in what they do

Gen Y’s seek connection and a clear sense of purpose; demanding meaning in what they do for work. Very comfortable with questioning authority, Gen Y’s will not accept a command and control style of leadership and, when faced with an autocratic manager, they will vote with their feet.

So what to make of these young Tories? Well, we now know that they are keen to work with leaders that demonstrate a clear vision and will not hesitate to express their disappointment or contempt when this desire goes unmet. Employers with an abundance of Gen Y staffers would be well served to carve out a clear vision and actively share that message with employees. The key, of course, will be to ensure that your actions mirror your vision. Gen Y’s will have little tolerance for blatant vision disconnects.

As an aside, don’t expect to see many Gen Y’s in the polling stations as you cast your vote in the fall municipal elections. Gen Y’s need to experience a direct connection with incumbents or candidates. To this generation, this means direct access and dialogue; fancy 30 second political advertisements featuring the party leader are not the way to connect with a Gen Y.


Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality– Warren Bennis