On April 19, 2016 Toronto hosted its first ever Millennial Leadership Summit.

The objective of the day was to assist organizations in better understanding the younger generation of employees that are now taking over the workplace.

You see, the problem at hand is that each generation is conditioned by a certain societal culture. Over time, these cultures evolve, but never as drastically as it has for the Millennial Generation. According to one article, technology has grown more over the past 5 years than it has in the previous 50 years before that. This rapid expansion is creating significant differences in ideas, expectations, behaviours and opportunities that Millennials have which were unthinkable to previous generations.

At the summit, we aimed to give organizational leaders a better understanding of these cultural shifts and how to adapt to them within their own organization’s culture.

The day started off by stating the obvious differences that existed through pop culture and technology.

From there, we translated these differences into the workplace culture.

People were incredibly engaged as they began to realize that it’s not that Millennials are entitled, lazy or narccastic, but rather conditioned to see and experience things differently than other generations were. When Amazon delivers things to your doorstep in less than a day, expecting things right away becomes the norm. Or when there seems to be an app to make everything easier, it’s not surprising they are driven to learn to do less.

While the day was full of debates and discussions, ultimately it was discovery that prevailed.

We are all the same, just a product of the environment we’ve been accustomed to.

That day, over 150 organizations took the next step in bridging the generations gap so that everyone can win in the workplace.

 

About The Author

Ryan Coelho became fascinated by the mind in early 2011. Formally educated in Aerospace Engineering, he decided to use his analytical strengths to help people logically understand how the mind works and how it influences their motivation and behaviours. Ryan has become a highly regarded and in-demand coach, trainer, and speaker on the topic of motivation. He also consults organizations on how to increase employee engagement, especially amongst the Millennial demographic.