In today’s Baptist Press there was a thoughtful article titled “What Millennials want in leaders”. In this article, Thom Rainer reviews research conducted to further understand America’s largest generation.
He offers several ideas and attributes to understanding, but his second point caught my eye.
2. Gentle spirit. This category is easier to describe by what Millennials do not want in leaders. Divisive, loud and acrimonious persons turn them off… They are repulsed by business leaders with harsh and autocratic spirits.
As I read this, I thought about the role of a Drill Sergeant or a Platoon Sergeant in the training environment—harsh and autocratic. This is the way we have always done things in the Army. In some ways, the Platoon Sergeants must instill a sense of autocracy and harshness to prepare Soldiers to follow under harsh environments. This is a very important part of the Soldiers training and development as the Soldier learns to submit to authority and respond instantly to commands.
But are these skills being learned through the same communication techniques with this generation?
One of the biggest fears in looking at this “Gentle” concept is to err on the side of softness. But gentle does not always mean soft. Sometimes, the hardest decision is to be gentle—especially when everything in your body wants to react with harshness.
As we interact with this next generation of Soldiers, there is a balance that we must learn. On one hand preparing them for harsh and autocratic environments, but on the other hand communicating through gentler means designed to get our point across.
The context of this article is focused on Church Leadership and interacting with the younger culture as it pertains to seeking more involvement in Religion. Knowing this, however, should not take away for our understanding of how the Millennial Generation operates. Nor, should it take away from our application of the information given. The Church and the Army are both interested in communicating things, although different things, to this segment of the population. As an Army, we must learn new techniques in communication techniques in order to be understood by our youngest Soldiers.
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Views expressed in this article are solely the views of CH (CPT) Keith Andrews and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Army or the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps.
Photo Credit: www.army.mil