What Do Millennials Want in a Modern Leader?

What do millennials want in a leader?

Businesses that want to attract and retain talented millennial employees must implement leadership structures that resonate with this group. Millennials look for leadership teams that can bring the following elements to their work lives:

• Mission-based role assignments: To appeal to millennials, businesses must ensure their mission statements serve a compelling purpose beyond merely selling a product or service to the market.
• Acknowledgment of life outside of work: Leaders must understand that their millennial employees’ needs and concerns outside of work directly affect their work performance. Additionally, millennials with families want their employers to address crucial issues such as health insurance and paid leave for parental responsibilities.
• Attention as an individual: Millennials want true leaders who can look at each individual employee holistically, see their specific strengths and needs, and recognize what’s best for them.
• Encouragement to work toward something greater than themselves: Millennials’ workplace needs are driven by a desire to find a life purpose and fulfillment. Business leaders must align this compelling mission with individual millennial workers’ roles to help them feel fulfilled.

Modern leadership styles for leading millennials

When you implement leadership teams for a millennial workforce, keep the following leadership styles in mind:

You must be innovative to lead millennials.

For millennials, successful leaders don’t just think outside the box; they also hire outside it and expect the same unconventional thinking from their recruits. Harnessing the power of your people requires innovative leaders who focus on the big picture and understand that significant risk-taking is necessary to achieve the next big thing.

With innovative leadership, you’ll likely find fewer protocols and processes. Instead, these leaders push the company to see what successes shake out from unorthodox approaches.

You must be employee-focused to lead millennials.

Millennials want leaders who create an employee-centric company culture that ensures their employees’ overall happiness and success. These leaders invest personally and professionally in their team members. They work to understand their needs and goals and help them achieve those goals. They often implement mentorship programs, invest in employee training, seek out professional development opportunities and provide continuous education, often on behalf of the company.

You must be empathetic to lead millennials.

Millennials want increased empathy in leadership. They feel that companies that strive for empathetic leadership create good people managers who can listen to and understand employees. Ultimately, this empathy improves the workplace culture and employee productivity.  

“As a millennial leader, I’ve seen firsthand how much people value empathy in the workplace,” said Rebecca Merriam, senior director of production and product design at Virtual Xperiences. “It’s not just about acknowledging feelings — it’s about creating a space where people feel heard and supported. I make it a priority to check in with my team regularly, not just about work but about how they’re doing overall. Simple things like flexible work options, mental health days and truly listening when someone expresses a challenge go a long way.”

You must be transformative to lead millennials.

Managers must try to encourage and inspire their millennial employees to focus on the company’s future success through innovation and real change. This focus helps create an empowered company culture of autonomous team members working on groundbreaking ideas. This management style eschews micromanaging. It also lets employees know that they play a significant part in the company’s success and that they control their future within it. 

Millennials want to be trusted to do the job they were hired to do, which contributes to the appeal of this leadership style.

You must be committed to diversity to lead millennials.

Millennials want leaders who prioritize diversity and inclusion. These leaders should look beyond typical hiring channels and successfully recruit people from a range of backgrounds, understanding that diversity brings fresh perspectives. Typically at the forefront of social justice movements for change, these leaders aren’t willing to stray from their belief that welcoming everyone ― regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity or sexuality ― only enhances the company’s culture and growth.

Despite recent political attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, this remains a priority for millennial workers. Merriam emphasized that workplaces that want to retain millennial talent should not roll back such programs. 

“Diversity, equity and inclusion aren’t just corporate initiatives — they’re about creating workplaces where everyone feels valued and has opportunities to succeed,” Merriam said. “I know many companies feel pressure to step back from DEI because of recent political shifts, but that’s exactly why it’s more important than ever. Millennials and Gen Z expect inclusivity, and companies that deprioritize it risk losing top talent.”

Traits of millennial leaders

Along with learning how to lead millennials, it is essential to analyze what they offer as leaders. Here are some leadership skills millennials offer.

Millennials are willing to speak out.

Traditional leaders maintain the organizational way of doing things. Millennial leaders tend to be more willing to speak out on areas of dissatisfaction and to challenge old methods and processes. They and their organizations embrace new communication tools, such as employee communication apps, and they use text messaging, social media and other newer methods of marketing their products.

Millennials want a teamwork approach rather than authoritative management.

One of millennials’ most treasured values is their need to build relationships. Millennial leaders prioritize better teamwork and prefer using a collaborative approach rather than an individualistic approach to achieve the organization’s goals and mission. Millennial leaders will seek the opinions of their teams before making significant decisions. 

Organizational change consultant Leila Rao explained how millennials’ team focus and ability to think critically provide an advantage to their teams. “Millennials as leaders bring a systems-thinking approach, balancing purpose with pragmatism,” Rao said. “Their ability to connect mission and business outcomes positions them uniquely to bridge generational shifts in the workforce.”

Millennial leaders seek diversity, purpose and fulfillment.

Millennials grew up in a society that is more open to and accepting of people of different races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, religions and physical abilities and are more likely to hire diverse job candidates. They also believe you need a higher purpose to be truly successful and want their employer to share their values. It is not enough for millennials to refrain from doing harm; they want to make a positive difference in the world and expect their employer to do the same.

Millennials value flexibility.

Family values and individual goals are key aspects of millennial leadership styles. Millennial leaders think remote work is good for business because they recognize that employees can serve their families while still meeting the business’s needs. 

“I would encourage leaders to strive to provide a flexible work environment centered on productivity rather than hours worked,” said Barbara Palmer, founder of Broad Perspective Consulting. “Celebrating a busy hustle culture messages employees that success is found in sacrifice: of time, personal relationships or life events. Instead, a work environment rooted in productivity, efficiency and scale encourages flexibility, asynchronous work (not dependent on crossover work hours but clear communication, documentation and collaboration) and better work-life integration.” 

Millennials are good communicators. 

In a LiveCareer study, millennials were asked to rank their personal skills and were the only generation to place communication in the top spot, followed by problem-solving. They communicate with others and solicit feedback from their teams. 

Millennials are work-focused. 

Contrary to the common idea that millennials don’t want to work, millennials are quite driven. The LiveCareer study found that nearly a third of millennials (32 percent) valued work more than family. The Deloitte study found that 62 percent of millennials said work is central to their identity, compared with 49 percent of Gen Z workers. 

Additionally, millennial leaders are not content to stay with employers for too long if they don’t move up the corporate ladder. A Gallup study discovered that 60 percent of millennials are open to a job change — 15 percent more than workers in other age groups. According to Rao, companies can avoid losing their best millennial workers by respecting the balance between ambition and the need for a sense of purpose. 

“Organizations must acknowledge that while millennials are highly driven, their motivation is linked to purpose — not just output,” Rao said. “Effective leadership supports their ambition with sustainable work habits to ensure they don’t burn out.”

Natalie Hamingson and Jennifer Dublino contributed to this article.