What kind of military leaders do you think Millennials will become or have developed into?

SSG Carlos Madden — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 10:37:37 -0500

I remember having to develop a different approach when dealing with Millennials than with some of the older soldiers.

What kind of leaders will emerge from our millennial in the military? What leadership styles have worked best?

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Mar 3 at 2016 10:41 AM

SGT Ben Keen — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 10:41:11 -0500

I do not see why Millennials will be any different than those that came before. Each generation faces their own different challenges and approach them based on the surroundings. I believe we will see some great leaders come from the Millennials just as we have seen from other generations.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 3 at 2016 10:49 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 10:49:07 -0500

Whatever we who came before train and develop them to be.
My Vietnam-era mentors didn't give up on me, and it is my solemn duty and privilege to develop those who follow.

Response by SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 3 at 2016 11:17 AM

SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 11:17:40 -0500

I was born in 95..... I do my best to mirror my Father, NCO's and my fellow RP'ers. It's the job of those that came before us to develop us into the future leaders of our military.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Mar 3 at 2016 11:42 AM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 11:42:13 -0500

The military uses a transformative leadership process on all leaders, however millennials have been shown to work very well in coalitional settings as opposed to the traditional Command & Control (directive) settings.

It's not that other techniques and tools don't work, just that the "age culture" is more responsive to "committee style" discussions. From a Hierarchical standpoint it is counter to many Junior Leaders, however from a Staff perspective it works very well. It relies on influence (Charismatic) over direction (Machiavellian) elements. Both can be used to accomplish the same task... however morale is effected differently.

But in reality it's not going to change the type of leaders we have. We already have all types. They are just dispersed different, and we tend to incentivize different approaches based on billet, rank, and even location.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Mar 3 at 2016 3:53 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 15:53:38 -0500

Each successive generation worked less than previous generations. They have cell phone ADD. Many never played sports which pushes individuals to try be the best and win.