Did you know that millennials surpassed the baby boomers as the largest age group in the United States, in 2019? And that millennials, Gen Z and younger make up 50.7% of the population, in other words 166 million people?
Millennials are those born between 1981 and 1996 (yep, that includes me!)
And Gen Z are those born between 1997 and 2012 (most of them are “adult” enough to enlist, vote, buy age-restricted products and may be in college)
Now, let me ask you…how many millennials do you have on your Board of Directors?
How many millennials are in a decision-making position at your company?
How much of your marketing and advertising dollars are in places, or better yet, spoken in ways the millennial ear will hear?
How many millennials, or Gen Z, do you count around the table at Council meetings, neighborhood association meetings or running for office?
How many of you have been trying to put the shifting tide off for as long as possible?
Here’s the thing. This post is not meant to shame anybody about where their gaps in inclusion are or to point fingers about who might still be living in a way-back time machine. The point of this post is to bring *awareness* to the fact that the largest group of decision-makers in our country are largely, vastly underrepresented in positions of leadership and future-facing decision-making in our communities.
And this is concerning.
Not just for me, as a millennial that has seen looks of my elder counterparts when I’m the youngest one in the room, or at the table…or as I’m building my own table. Intergenerational leadership should be the norm. And in fact, with Boomers and Gen X still at work, it is eventually going to be inevitable. But there is value in seeing what we can learn from one another and building together.
The old narrative about millennials being lazy and apathetic just isn’t true anymore. And from my perspective, never was. Instead, I ask you, how are you calling millennials and Gen Z IN? If we’re not busy enough, or engaged enough, or don’t seem to care enough, by all means, please give us more to do. The future is now. What we leave undone, the younger ones will have to carry.
Debunking Millennial Myths
