656. Expert Interview: How to Maximize the Talents of the World's Most Unique Generation

Chris Butsch

Chris Butsch is a best-selling author, speaker, consultant, and globally-recognized authority on the Millennial generation. Known for his storytelling ability, high-energy stage presence, and immediately-actionable advice, he helps business leaders understand his generation and maximize the world’s most unique generation.

How to Maximize the Talents of the World's Most Unique Generation

“Millennials today are ages 18 to 35. I’m 27, right in the middle of the millennial range. My cohort grew up in a tumultuous time of technology and social connectedness, with the advent of Facebook in high school, then Twitter, and now Instagram. Those hard waves of cultural change shaped who we are and our motivations. They laid the groundwork for a tremendous disconnect between the Millennials and their parents’ generation. Baby Boomers grew up under very different circumstances.”

Why Is This Important?

“I’m all about arming the generations with the tools and the information they need to solve their biggest problems. For Millennials, that’s battling unfulfillment, confusion and the depression they experienced in their teens and twenties. For Baby Boomers, their problem largely has become dealing with Millennials, dealing with the fallout of this demanding generation, growing up in such radically different circumstances.”

What Are the Key Lessons Learned Here?

“What I found, obsessively researching this phenomenon, is that Millennials are different, but their demands are the same as Baby Boomers. In the workplace, Millennials want exactly the same things their parents’ generation wanted 30 or 40 years ago. The only difference is that we Millennials just want it more. And we will fight tooth and nail for it.”