Help Millennial Leaders to be Coachable

It’s a nightmare scenario.I’m coaching a Millennial leader who’s running for a local political office. He’s seeking new strategies to handle his nightmare scenario:  he’s at a party, having a great time. Out of the blue, a constituent (who thinks he knows it all) approaches and starts berating him for his decisions.

Half the time, Jack freezes – his mind goes blank.  The other 50% of the time, he gets defensive. Neither response is helpful. He wants – he needs – a more productive strategy. Jack is committed to making a positive impact – whatever it takes.

This is the attitude of a coachable learner.

How coachable are the people on your sales and leadership teams?

Jack is committed to strengthening one of his Sales DNA traits, Emotional Control.  Based on our research on high-performing sales people, we know they can increase production by over 35% by fixing this hidden weakness. Now he’s actively practicing “the safest move in sales” – yes, it works for politicians also – asking questions and listening.Be Coachable is the seventh action step to model an Impact Mindset.

A high regard for your work, coupled with a coachable spirit strengthens your unique wiring and ability to be a positive agent of change.

The Know-it-all Myth: In contrast to Jack, clients with a Know-it-All orientation aren’t open to coaching and mentoring.  I find they often have these underlying problems:
​

• Low self-confidence – tell-tale sign: overreaction to constructive criticism.
• High fear – tell-tale sign:  would do everything possible to “hide” their insecurities from the outside world.
• High defense mechanism – tell-tale sign:  might “use” the avalanche of new information that’s available on the Internet to camouflage their fear of appearing uninformed.

Are millennial leaders on your team subscribers to the Know-it-all-myth or are they coachable?

Changing The Know-it-all Myth:

A survey of 1400 Millennials conducted by SuccessFactors in partnership with Oxford Economics, revealed that, overall, Millennials want feedback 50% more often than other employees – they want coaching and mentoring. That’s good news and a call for seasoned leaders to step up and mentor, if ever I heard one!

How do we challenge those on our team who might be displaying a Know-it-all attitude?

Encourage future leaders to find someone they trust to be their mentor, coach, or confidant. Their perspective will be invaluable.

Remind young Millennials that success comes when we:

• ask insightful questions of others. (Their insight may broaden your understanding.)
• seek to understand the other person’s story. (Their experience may provide insight.)
• remain humble, no matter how successful they are. (There’s always more to learn.)
• know that confidence stems from a deep knowledge of self. (Not only knowledge about their gifts and talents, but an honest acknowledgement of where they might need help from the outside.)

A know-it-all mindset limits your ability to make a positive impact. On the flip-side, I get excited when I see future leaders who are willing to learn, willing to listen, and eager to make appropriate adjustments! A leader who embraces coaching and feedback from others is a strong leader. This is the kind of leader who knows that to “know it all” is only a myth.

In the next post, we’ll take this topic one step further, and talk about why we should also never stop learning.

Leadership lesson: Strong leaders invite coaching and feedback from others.

Leadership question: How would you describe the younger generation’s willingness to accept feedback from others?

If you struggle to see how you can make a difference and be a positive change agent by doing your job, I invite you to watch this video, Work as Worship by RightNow Ministries

​​© Copyright Danita Bye, 2016