‘Autocracy is dead, long live consensus!’ say millennial leaders
Collaboration, teamwork and good relationships are priorities in the workplace – according to a new study of millennial leaders unveiled at CRE 2018.
More than half (55 per cent) of almost 500 millennials* surveyed selected ‘integrity’ as one of the top three qualities in the most effective leader, with 44 per cent selecting ‘humility’. Ninety-four per cent stated that the quality of relationships in the workplace is ‘important’ or ‘extremely important’.
‘Today’s millennial leaders want to see an alignment between the words and actions of those in authority,’ explained Simon Barrington, founder and director of Forge Leadership Consultancy, which conducted the research alongside CRE 2018 exhibitors Bible Society and Redcliffe College. ‘Integrity was continually highlighted throughout the research with participants viewing the best leaders as those who have this characteristic and can be trusted.’
For a millennial the worst leaders are those lacking these key qualities.
‘There is real frustration with older leaders who publicly come across as having it all together, yet in private their work and actions do not match up,’ said Rachel Luetchford, researcher on the project and a millennial leader herself. ‘Relationships are everything to the millennial and the concept of autocracy is at uncomfortable odds with this. They want to see relationships flourish in the workplace. Collaboration and teamwork are priorities.’
The report presents seven key recommendations for churches, including the challenge to those in church leadership to create collaborative, team-based ministries and to welcome the challenge from millennials to lead with integrity and humility.
The full report, Millennial Leaders: Now is Our Time and this is Our Voice, will be presented on both Tue 16 Oct and Wed 17 Oct at CRE 2018, when the Millennial Leaders website will also be launched. The research took place between September 2017 and April 2018, utilising 50 in-depth qualitative interviews and more than 440 responses to a quantitative survey.
• Millennial is a term given to a specific generation of people who reached young adulthood in the first two decades of the millennium. There is variation over the specific dates used, however for the purposes of this research millennials are identified as people born between 1984 and 2000. This fits in with the majority of millennial classifications.
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