This edition of  The Steam Room is the second of our new series in which media executives can “blow off some steam” in anonymous guest posts and hopefully start some conversation on the issues that are facing the industry. Feel free to comment and visit the Contact page if you’d like to contribute!

“I wish they would call me back.”

Written by Michael Fairhaven (pseudonym)

A few weeks ago I was flipping through the dial and saw that there was going to be a story on 60 Minutes about Millenials. You know. Millenials. They’re the 20-something generation that has entered the work force and caused managers everywhere to drop their jaws in shock and disbelief. I was looking forward to having such a coveted and well decorated news program and organization provide the background and perspective I’d need to help me understand and manage this generation.

After the 20 minute segment, (which you can watch belowl) the only advice they could give me was…are you sitting down?….live with it. They’re here to stay.

Unbelievable. I’ve been in the business world for twenty years fostering relationships across the media industry based on communication and respect and these Millenials just get to go through their day ignoring phone calls, emails and meeting requests? To be fair, I’m generalizing, but the one complaint that is consistent across nearly every salesforce is that it’s incredibly frustrating to have to deal with these people. Someone needs to teach them the proper way.

So what can we do? How do we try to make it right? As managers we have a responsibility to teach entry level people the proper etiquette of business communication. But I think it goes further than that. It’s not teachers, or professors who need to teach these kids. It goes further. To quote the venerable Charles Barkley – “I am not a role model.” Charles said that it was the responsibility of the parents to be role models. To teach their children the difference between right and wrong.

And herein lies the problem. It’s the parents of the world whose responsibility it is to teach and prepare Millenials for the workforce. But alas parents are failing miserably. The term is “helicopter parents.” Parents nowadays hover over the lives of their children, until something goes wrong, swooping in to influence an outcome that suits their desires. Using every angle, including financial resources to achieve the outcome that their children want.

I’m going to start today with my 11 and 8 year old children. As a parent, I need to look in the mirror and ask myself if I’m raising the next generation of world leaders in business? Can I let my children fail the way I did, so they learn and grow from it? I hope I can. I hope we can. In the meantime, I’m going to go back to racking my brain trying to figure out a clever subject line that might garner a response from a potential client.

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