(by Georgia Beasley) Most of the articles about Millennials in the workplace are about managing and getting the most out of your Millennial employees. While I believe that all GMs and managers should still be focused on attracting more Millennials to Radio, recently I’ve also seen a new trend in our industry… The Rise of The Millennial Manager in Radio. Is our industry just managing Millennials or creating Millennial Managers?
I decided to reach out to some of the top millennial managers our medium has to offer and asked them for their raw and unfiltered advice on what others in our generation should prepare for if they choose to get into management. If you are a Millennial in Radio and you’d like to become a manager, here are 3 things you’ll need to prepare for, straight from the top millennial managers in our industry.
First off, I had to stay true to form and keep it 100% real. I thought it was vital to stay far away from any advice that painted a picture that the path to management in our industry would be rainbows and unicorns because any millennial manager knows that is farthest from the truth. So while these tips may not be easy to take, hopefully they will better prepare our aspiring generation to navigate the management journey as effectively as possible and hopefully be a part of the change needed in our industry.
Be Prepared to Speak Up. As one Millennial manager put it, “I always tell people that they need to raise their hands. If you want to grow, no one is going to tap you on the shoulder and ask you to. You need to be vocal about your goals and ask for opportunities.” Furthermore, a different manager added, “Be ready to do the work without the title. Ask for extra responsibilities, such as, pulling reports for your manager to get familiar with certain daily tasks. You should learn the skills and act as if you were in the role before the role is available.” There won’t be any glorify at first but you’ll be learning what to do and building equity in yourself since you don’t have management experience.
Be Prepared to Move. The reality is, you may have to move away from your family and friends to an area that you don’t want to live in but if you want to be in management bad enough, you will. That being said, another Millennial manager who had to experience this told me, “I’m so glad I was able to experience my first management position in a smaller market so I could learn from any of my mistakes and not be on the radar as much.”
Be Prepared to Respect. The most surprising advice I received was, “Always respect people with more experience than you in the industry. That does not mean you have to agree- you just have to respect. Being too outspoken will work against you. If someone is giving you advice- that has been doing this 20 years- take it- and do what you think is best.” Older generations expect our generation to be out-spoken and emotional; and they think they know more than us but the reality is, sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. Either way, if you want to become a manager you need to pick your battles and respectfully listen because the one thing they do have is more real-life experience so embrace that and learn from it. Regardless, you’ll surprise and impress them for not reacting like they expected you to.
Georgia Beasley is the director of TopicPulse strategic initiatives at Futuri Media and can be reached at [email protected]
Let me be the second Matt to chime in. Growing up in a successful family business comes with a number of challenges that you don’t know about. From My time with her, Georgia is too busy working to have to defend herself to petty comments. And they are incredibly petty.
Matt!!! You get it!!! Im as transparent as they come, sometimes to a fault! I invite all constructive criticism about the article or column and would love ideas or suggestions to make it better but personal attacks from people that don’t even know me? Pass.
“The people that mind don’t matter and the people that matter don’t mind”
Those comments just don’t affect me and they say a lot more about the person writing them than about me.
Shame on every single one of you that feel the need to add comments regarding “family” and “trust funds” in this thread, back handed, as a btw, or otherwise. Good for you Georgia, you EARN your respect everyday!
We’re sure Georgia can stand up on her own. And suck ups like you just add to what we are talking about.
Matt, your comment made my day. I write this column because I believe it can make a difference. I write this column because I love radio enough to give it the tough love it needs to grow. Standing up for someone you don’t even know says a lot about you. I can only hope to continue earning the respect of readers like you with my message and for no other reason.
whether your a baby boomer or Gen X or Y, this is good advise, either we adapt and train this generation or we will find ourselves alone and dying. I know that catering our time honored Military agenda standers on protocol is important, we must realize this generation has a different Rosetta stone. The advise here is a start
You are exactly right, John Kennedy!! Bridging the gap between the generations was my goal when I began writing this column because it felt like there was a serious “language barrier” (btw, loved the Rosetta Stone reference!!) I appreciate you writing this comment but mostly, reading the article and understanding the importance of the message for our industry.
Lots of trust funds baby who never work. You clearly don’t know Georgia! Are you the Millennial waiting for the millions to “just come”?
Jay, Thank you for the kind words! You’ve known me from what feels like Day 1 when I started in the industry so i take your comment as a massive compliment. Having you as a client was a blessing because it gave me your friendship. I appreciate you!!!
We love Georgia’s enthusiasm and no doubt she is trying to be genuine and helpful with her thoughts! But come on. Let’s not ignore the 100 pound elephant in the room!!! Georgia could (should?…. full disclosure???) have added that a 4th way to become a millennial manager is to have your family own a radio station company!
I am no longer in the industry but give Georgia credit for falling into the industry. I really enjoy her material because it helps me relate to younger generations. I see many successful family businesses where the next generation want’s nothing to do with the family business or industry. I remember when George had a handful of stations in NC in the 80s… after loosing touch because I have been in another industry for over 25 years I had the pleasure of meeting Caroline Beasley on a flight last year. I was so impressed with her and the family businesses success I actually purchased stock in the company after further research.