Our Millennials seem very stressed these days. A few years ago they seemed so very balanced, so shiny, so calm and un-harassed at work.
Well, no more. According to the latest Stress in America report from the American Psychological Association, today’s Millennials have sky rocketing stress levels: 52% report increased stress levels and an increasing differential between what they perceive as a healthy level of stress and their own levels. Of course entering the job market in a difficult economy, setting up residence (or living with parents), and thinking about their future is stressful, but is there a correlation between Millennials’ approach to work and achievement and their stress levels?
Often called the trophy generation, Millennials have been on the go all their lives, so many of them scurried from activity to activity and given trophies for just showing up. They have been highly structured and helicoptered – in their play, in their sports, in school. They grew up getting kudos for following the rules. When they get assigned something – they want to know the grading rubric, the ‘glide path’, the rules for success.
Today work and success, especially entrepreneurial work just isn’t like that; life, even less so. There often isn’t a set glide path for how to get ahead, or even how to finish each initiative successfully, let alone a rubric for getting promoted. And what are the rules and guidelines for achieving meaning and success in life and work? Oh, you didn’t get that email? There aren’t any – it’s all about adapting, taking risks, figuring out how to succeed, and figuring out how you define success and the path to it. For a generation accustomed to a lot of structure, this is a sea change and it undoubtedly accounts for some of their stress and anxiety about their prospects for future achievement.
So how do we help this next generation of fine young folk achieve and leverage their talent, energy and creativity? Practically, it makes sense to help them by giving them the playbook for what needs to get done. Never mind teaching them to take initiative, and seek forgiveness later, the current wisdom says to set very clear guidelines and action plans for Millennials in order to help them be productive, successful and less stressed.
Speaking as an entrepreneur I think we have a lot riding on the Millennials’ success in taking responsibility for creating the new rules around successful work and success in life in general. The boomer mother in me chimes in: Time for some tough love. I say, set the goal and make it clear that success isn’t about just showing up or going through the steps. It’s in our National DNA to value cunning, cleverness and the occasional disregard for the rubrics in the face of achievement. No more trophies, no more rubrics. It’s time to sink or swim.