I remember my sister got her first phone around the time she went to university. It was an Ericsson if I’m not mistaken. It had an aerial and the works. It’s been 10 years since she used that phone. Heck, I doubt she even knows where it is but it’s interesting to note that how millennials were raised and how technology as well as how innovations affected their lives shaping how and who they are now.
According to a millennial leadership survey from The Hartford, 80% of millennials see themselves as leaders today.Yet only 12% of Gen Y held management roles in 2013; and less than a third of The Hartford’s sample reported that they’re currently business leaders.
Maybe they’re entitled and delusional. Or maybe, explained millennial expert and author of Becoming the Boss, Lindsey Pollak, they have a progressive understanding of what it means to be a leader. “Millennials believe they can lead from whatever position they’re in,” she said. They know they don’t need an official title to impact an organization.
For millennials who lived and live in Europe and the Americas, the story stays the same. The offspring of parents that were overbearing and domineering tend to not be able to be promoted. They are seemingly uncurious and less industrious as they are raised in a culture where everything is done for them. A child would pass because the parents would shout at the teachers if the child failed. Everything is handed to the child on a silver platter.
This leads to having an adult who is disinterested with working and has very reduced chances of being promoted in an organisation. According to USA Today, “Neil Howe and William Strauss, who are credited with coining the term Millennial in their 1991 book Generations, define the group as those born between 1982 and 2000. The Pew Research Center defines Millennials as those born after 1980. The group’s cutoff for the youngest Millennials varies from 1992 to 1999, depending on the study. In his book, Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How to Manage the Millennials, Bruce Tulgan defines two “waves” of Millennials: first wave (Generation Y) born 1978 to 1989, and second wave (Generation Z) born 1990 to 2000. Author David Stillman defines Millennials as people born between 1980 and 1994. He defines Generation Z as those born from 1995 to 2012.”
On the other hand, in Africa, the environment is different and difficult. Parents in Africa tended to be strict with their children. Kids didn’t and still don’t always get what they want. Based on what school you attend, primary and high school, you could have kids being more advantaged than other kids if your parents sponsored sports kits and the like. The general philosophy is that kids in Africa were less pampered and spoilt as compared to their European counterparts.
African kids didn’t have access to the best and newest technology and gadgets. I remember times where my sister used to go to internet cafes to surf the net. As Africans and being the laggards and late adaptors of technology, this tended to make kids informed about what was going on around them. In essence, parents could not afford to purchase these things.
In Europe, social interaction has been hampered by social media. Simon Sinek, a public figure, talks of how the advent of social media has greatly impacted the workplace and the way people relate to each other. He highlights the way people in the US are now addicted to their phones and have even gone to the extent of having disorders such as OCD and the need for constant attention and appreciation. On the flip side, in Africa, we are slowly being accustomed to this phenomenon but we still acknowledge the importance of face to face interactions and communication. I know of families where no one is allowed to use their cell phones during dinner and even go to the extent of switching off the TV. People still value conversation on a physical level.
However, in the future, the chances of the same effect happening in Africa are high and we could soon experience Gen Y in our own way as social media and technology continue to be implemented. We could even get to the extent that parents would have to send a text message to their kids telling them to come to the dining room for supper. Who knows?!
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