fully thought about the issues. Learning
to interact with people stretched too thin
is a skill that can last a lifetime.
3 Why it’s not all about he money. Recently, a Millennial overheard one of my generational conversations with a company executive who complained his younger workers only seemed
interested in making more money. A;er-ward, she told me that she was able to ;nd
a terri;c job in her ;eld a;er graduate
school but the student debt she owes as
a percentage of her income was crushing. She stated that all her friends were
in the same situation, which made them
particularly sensitive to opportunities for
increasing their income.
A young lawyer once told me his large
;rm saw young lawyers strictly as billable-hour units, which caused him and his col-
TO SUCCEED,
MILLENNIALS
WILL NEED TO
UNDERSTAND
HOW OTHERS VIEW
THEM, OFTENTIMES
WRONGLY,
AND DEVELOP
STRATEGIES FOR
ADDRESSING
THESE
MISPERCEPTIONS.
leagues to respond by focusing on how
much the ;rm paid them, because little
else seemed to matter at his workplace.
;e challenge for Millennials is to
devise strategies for appropriately addressing compensation needs. It is reasonable
to share information about debt burdens
from school loans. It is harder to discuss
compensation when it is the only source
of satisfaction from one’s job. When that
happens, masking job dissatisfaction is
di;cult, and it may be time to develop a
longer-term strategy for improving one’s
situation at work or ;nding alternate
opportunities.
4 The importance of eedback. Millennials have received
feedback about most of their activities throughout their lives. It is reasonable, therefore, to expect that feedback
would be an ongoing feature of a work
environment where learning from each
assignment is an important element of
job growth. ;e problem is that the pressures of the legal profession leave little
time for ongoing feedback. ;e most frequent concern I hear from young lawyers
is their frustration, not simply with the
lack of feedback a;er assignments but
also with an annual performance review
process that can take less than 10 minutes and o;ers little in the way of speci;c direction about past work or future
development.
Millennials can engage in two simultaneous courses of action to address this sig-ni;cant omission. First, strategically seek
feedback at opportune times from those
who may be receptive to providing teaching moments. Demonstrate that the assignment has been reviewed and—if lucky
enough to have been provided a copy—
redlined comments have been studied.
Prepare questions that will help improve
the work product for the next assignment.
Second, cultivate allies who can help to
develop a group approach to appropriate
people in the ;rm about the importance of
a detailed evaluation process that provides
useful feedback about past assignments
and helpful recommendations for what
needs to be done to advance in the future.
;ere is an enormous amount of information available that demonstrates the link
between a strong performance appraisal
process and the long-term e;ectiveness of
a workplace.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
None of these challenges can be solved
by Millennials alone. Strong intergenerational relationships require that all
involved deepen their understanding of
each other’s motivations, backgrounds
and perspectives. ;ese tips may have
been written for Millennials, but smart
senior leaders will read between the lines
and understand that there is a great deal
they can do to ensure an economically
vibrant law ;rm or legal department
where everyone is engaged in the mission
of the clients and the long-term health of
the organization. LP
Lauren Stiller Rikleen is the president of the Rikleen Institute for Stra- tegic Leadership and executive-in-residence at he Boston College Cen- ter for Work & Family in the Carroll School
of Management. She is the author of Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to
Women’s Success in the Law and Success Strategies for Women Lawyers. She
is writing an upcoming book on Millennials.
lauren.s.rikleen@bc.edu
