Celebrating the Positive Impact of Millennials Matter on Leadership Development

Celebrating the Positive Impact of Millennials Matter on Leadership Development

I love this time of the year! Celebrating Thanksgiving with family, including grandchildren. Anticipating the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas…

I’m also celebrating the 4th anniversary of Millennials Matter, Proven Strategies for Building Your Next-Gen Leaders.

How about you, what are you celebrating now? What are your favorite holiday traditions?

Leadership Development with a Positive Impact

Millennials Matter is a practical how-to leadership guidebook that inspires and equips character-based leaders, like yourself, to make a positive impact in the NextGen Leaders.

In today’s chaotic culture, developing confident leaders with a strong character is more than important. Our young leaders need a foundation that will enable them to withstand the shaking of their core values.

Leadership Development that Inspires

Maybe it’s being a mother of three Millennials…

Maybe it’s realizing how critically character-based leaders are needed in a world that’s shaking, as we shift from one era to another…and from one epoch to another. 

Maybe it’s being a passionate and patriotic gramma of five preschoolers…

Whatever the reason, I’m aware of the bad rap NextGen Leaders get.  The stereotyping – writing all of them off as a hopeless, selfish, lazy, techno-addicted bunch – is destructive, dehumanizing, and degrading.

This negativity sparked the question…

“What might I do to make a positive impact?”

The result?

I wrote Millennials Matter.

Here are some of the comments from supporters of the Millennials Matter Movement.

“Millennials Matter is packed with tips for connecting with, mentoring, and developing the leaders of the future.” —Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The New One Minute Manager® and Lead Like Jesus Revisited

 

“Inspiring, relevant, and actionable, Millennials Matter is a tool­box to build trust and influence and impact our current and future leaders.” – David Horsager, Trust Edge Leadership Institute

 

“Millennials Matter is a must-read for anyone interested in prepar­ing new leaders to meet the challenges of the future. Reading this book will compel you to evaluate your responsibility to transfer your leadership attributes to those who follow.” —Ed Schafer, Governor of North Dakota (1992–2000); US Secretary of Agriculture (2008)

 

“Millennials Matter reinforces my belief that virtue is the answer for world crying for meaning, but more importantly, gives guidance on how to lead what could be the greatest generation yet.” —Jerome J. Richter, Vice President for Public Affairs, University of Mary

 

“Millennials Matter is a must-read for anyone wanting to unlock the next talent-rich generation for organization and business success.

Danita’s clear and straightforward strategies will rescue you from old patterns and jumpstart you into a fresh, relevant model yielding unparalleled outcomes.” —Karen A. Berg-Johnson, Director of Leadership Giving, PULSE, a millennial-engaged Christian nonprofit

 

Danita Bye is a great listener. There is no possible way to solve the puzzle of millennials without understanding how they think, and that only comes through listening. This book is your road map for listening to and building them into great leaders. —Scott Hennen, Host, What’s on Your Mind radio show; Partner, Flag Family Media

 

Danita Bye’s thorough understanding of the critical business issue regarding the development of millennials and her unique ability to address this topic is critical to your future success. Creating aware­ness, mobilizing efforts, and mapping out the right solution are required if you are to successfully overcome potential roadblocks. A “coach and mentor” for your millennials, I would highly recom­mend you reach out to Danita. Your legacy will be in good hands. —Paul Balus, Senior Director of Global Sales and Corporate Training, Skyline Displays

Like these leaders, you may have already invested time in coaching Millennials. You may have retired. However, your leadership role isn’t over yet. Now is the time for you to ask,

“What else might I do to make a positive impact on a young leader’s life?”

Read this article also: Prioritizing Emerging Leadership Development Keeps Expanding

Leadership Development for the Future

Join me in this time of celebration, by giving a gift that lasts forever.

Your legacy-making doesn’t end when you retire. In The Mak­ing of a Leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development, Robert Clinton spotlights five phases of leadership development. What he found in his studies of leaders is that many of them stop at phase four. They’ve built their successful businesses and are looking forward to retirement when they can kick back and take it easy. That is what they’ve been working toward their whole life.

But Clinton proposes that every preceding phase in our lives is actually part of our preparation for stage five, which is often after retirement. Every seemingly unrelated event we experience, the people we meet, and the work we do—they’re all part of God’s preparation to lead us to this next stage. Clinton calls the fifth stage Convergence.

Stage five is when we can have the broadest impact. Mil­lennials need us to proactively and positively impart wisdom so they get the lead­ership traction needed to lead well in this rapidly changing culture.

God inspired the words of the following poem, “The Call­ing,” during a time when I needed strengthening for the journey. In sharing this poem with you, it is my wholehearted prayer that the words will confirm your calling—that you use your uniquely crafted talents to make a difference in the lives of the millennials within your sphere of influence.

The Calling

I am calling you,

I am anointing you,

I am setting you apart for a divine purpose.

Rise up and walk in it.

Turn your back on how you’ve done it before.

Behold, I am making all things new.

I am opening new vistas and opportunities.

Walk in confidence.

Perhaps, like me, you’ve become aware that God is now merg­ing your past experiences, talents, skills, and wisdom for a greater purpose.

You are being called to make a positive impact, and to build great leaders.

The ideas I present in Millennials Matter, are designed to help you stay ahead of the game as you develop and strengthen your next-gen leader. Millennials Matter isn’t a prescrip­tive rule book that you follow to the letter. Instead, it will stimulate your thinking, deepen your understanding of a given topic, and enable you to spark dynamic com­munication as you’re building a trusting relationship with the young person you’re coaching.

Enjoy your time of celebration with family and friends. I’m sure you’ll find many opportunities to use your leadership experience to make a positive impact, even as you’re celebrating. Your leadership matters.

Leadership Development Lesson: You are being called to make a positive impact, and to build great leaders.

Leadership Development Question: What are you doing to answer your calling to build great leaders?