Amor is hosting a weekly discussion about intergenerational politics and relations – specifically regarding Millennials (Millennial (Gen Y) Generation – Birth years: 1981-2000). Check back with us every Tuesday for more.

We have more generations alive at one time than any other point in history.  It’s a crossroads that has never been encountered before thanks to better health, better working conditions and better living conditions in the first world.  The seven generations are:

• Silent Generation – Birth years: 1901-1924 (Hero/Civic Generation)
• Greatest Generation – Birth years: 1925-1941 (Artist/Adaptive Generation)
• Baby Boomers – Birth years: 1942-1957 (Prophet/Idealist Generation)
• Generation Jones – Birth years: 1958-1963 (Prophet/Idealist Generation) A subset of the Baby Boomers
• Generation X – Birth years: 1964-1980 (Nomad/Reactive Generation)
• Millennial (Gen Y) Generation – Birth years: 1981-2000 (Hero/Civic Generation)
• New Silent Generation – Birth years: 2001-Present (Artist/Adaptive)

You may be curious why we refer to the generation born 1981-2000 as Millennials rather than Generation Y. This is the term by which the majority of this generation identifies with. They graduated from high school or were born around the millennial and identify closely with what that means. Also, the term Gen Y was often associated with “Gen Why?” which referenced their tendency to question “why”.  This was perceived as questioning authority rather than what it was: an attempt to gather information.

In their book, “Generations:  The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069” authors William Strauss and Neil Howe looked at the cyclical nature of generations. They identified four archetypes of generations: Prophet/Idealist, Nomad/Reactive, Hero/Civic, and Artist/Adaptive which repeat throughout the history of America.

Without going into an explanation that you can better get from reading the Strauss and Howe book (and I recommend it highly), it’s enough to recognize that we have seven generations active in our world today with at least two generations sharing similar views on the world and their role in it. As you can see, the Millennial generation is the first generation to repeat the type: Hero/Civic followed by the yet to be named new silent generation who will follow the Artist/Adaptive type. Get ready for change and just a little bit of values conflict.

Now that the first four generations listed are either in retirement or entering retirement in the near future, we will be filling the gaps with those from Gen X and the Millennials. With that in mind, we will be discussing understanding and developing the Millennials for leadership in future posts and the years to come.

Right now we have some interesting times to consider. The generational mix presents both a unique opportunity and a challenge – how do we create leaders when leaders are still leading? Have you intentionally tried to have every generation represented in your leadership structure? Do you see how the generations can collide over values?