Figuring out millennial workers and prepping them for leadership

IN THE near future, millennials will occupy every consequential leadership position in the world, be it in business, academia, government or in the non-profit sector, but will they be ready to lead?

Contrary to popular belief, millennials (the generation born between 1984 and 1996) are ambitious and eager to work hard to become leaders. But they want to do it on their terms, in jobs that give them meaning and allow them to contribute to society.

In a global study them by the Insead's Emerging Markets Institute (EMI), the HEAD Foundation and Universum, we surveyed more than 16,000 millennials in 43 countries to better understand the many workplace stereotypes. While there were differences across regions, 41 per cent of them confirmed that it was very important to them to become a leader or a manager; younger millennials identified an interest in coaching and mentoring as part of a leadership role.