Look, like, ya’know, I have a blog and a twitter feed and all that good stuff, ok? But, I’m still a 53-year-old guy still trying to figure out things, al’right?
All right, enough of that…
Recently, in Leadership Journal, Sam Rainer wrote about authority and leadership with the next generation – the millennials.
Millennials tend to follow leaders who operate in a transformational capacity—and ones who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. Rather than telling followers what the big picture is, these leaders allow followers to help create it. Transformational leaders inspire people to reach for a common goal, one developed through a shared vision.
In this environment, equipping and mentoring become more important than directing. Structure is looser, and what structure remains is not an end, but a means of helping people become disciples. Leading the members of the next generation requires a commitment to serve alongside them, not issuing directives from above them.
Appeals to positional authority don’t carry weight with younger people. Leaders must assume responsibility to enhance the lives of followers. The debt of authority is the responsibility to sacrifice for followers.
It’s not a generational message regarding leadership. It’s the Christian message. Check out the whole article.
D. Scott Miller
D. Scott Miller is the dean of Catholic Youth Ministry bloggers which is a polite way of either saying that he is just plain old or has been blogging for a long time (since 2004.)
Scott recently married the lovely Anne and together they have five adult young people and also grandparent three delightful kids (so, maybe he is just plain old!) Scott presently serves at Saint John the Evangelist in Columbia, MD as the director of youth and young adult ministry.
He has previously served on the parish, regional, diocesan, and national levels as well as having taught within a catholic high school. He is one of the founders of RebuildMyChurch and has returned to posting regularly (keeping regular is important to old guys) at ProjectYM.
D. Scott Miller
D. Scott Miller is the dean of Catholic Youth Ministry bloggers which is a polite way of either saying that he is just plain old or has been blogging for a long time (since 2004.)
Scott recently married the lovely Anne and together they have five adult young people and also grandparent three delightful kids (so, maybe he is just plain old!) Scott presently serves at Saint John the Evangelist in Columbia, MD as the director of youth and young adult ministry.
He has previously served on the parish, regional, diocesan, and national levels as well as having taught within a catholic high school. He is one of the founders of RebuildMyChurch and has returned to posting regularly (keeping regular is important to old guys) at ProjectYM.
A youth minister myself, I am just wondering about continued use of the word “Millennials” since we are already trasitioning to the next generation: generation Z (born 1995-2010)… in a time when the bishops are gathering for a synod on the New Evangelization, because what “always worked” is not rocking the postmodern church, I think we need to move away from older advice and rapidly move forward with what we know about Gen Z and how we serve a completely new and untried generation as well as those who came before them… Just thinking out loud. Thanks for your blog.