How to Survive Your First Week as a Millennial Boss

Let me first introduce myself. My name is Jay Bouche and I’m a Millennial.

Up until a few months ago, I worked at a single IT services company located in Phoenix for seven whole years (which makes me sound like a Gen X-er more than anything).

But like all Millennials, I started at the bottom getting paid a measly $13 dollars an hour. (Hell—I made more in college doing landscaping work and plowing driveways!) However, the hard work paid off. I made the investment in my career and the company, and after seven years of service I was offered an amazing Marketing Manager opportunity at Trapp Technology™ to oversee a rapidly growing team of eight.

As one can imagine, I couldn’t have been happier with the news from Trapp. But there was one simple problem: I wasn’t trained to be a boss.

There wasn’t a “How to be a Boss 101” college class, nor did my previous company offer a seven-year-long leadership training program.

Change is difficult. The thought of a career change is already unnerving, but moving into a new seat and role adds an immense amount of stress and pressure to the situation.

If you find yourself in this situation—currently or in the near future—take heed of my humble advice.

Here’s how to survive your first week as a Millennial boss:

1. Be Yourself

Simple advice, but important. Part of what has brought you to this point is your demeanor, your ability to effectively communicate, and the skill to execute every decision properly.

Don’t become someone you are not because of a job title!

Lean on your strengths, acknowledge and work on your weaknesses, and you’ll grow into the role you’ve already earned in time.

2. Learn and Understand Your Team Members’ Personalities

Each individual on your team will have different motivators. Some will be providing for family, some will be driven by money, and others to simply be successful. Each personality will also respond differently to certain communication styles, so take the time to learn the motivators and goals of each.

As a life long athlete, I’ve had the most respect for my coaches who were “yellers,” but I knew plenty of teammates who did not enjoy or respect that form of communication.

Speaking to what drives your employees and combining that knowledge with the most effective form of communication guarantees the best response—and more importantly, the best results.

3. Have “Real” Conversations Early

The most challenging aspect of having the inevitable “real” or tough conversations is that in order to have them, you have to expeditiously build rapport and respect on a personal level with each team member.

As I said before, change is stressful. But it wasn’t until after I sat down with each team member did I realize the change in leadership was just as stressful for them.

Be respectful of their points of views while also being honest with your intentions and communications. Bring down those walls together, with each individual, and you’ll quickly pave the road in the right direction.

4. Assess Weaknesses

With a background in business, I’m a big believer in conducting a SWOT analysis. It’s essential to acknowledge strengths and weaknesses to proactively implement plans that improve strengths and address weaknesses.

Attacking weaknesses is vital to get “early wins” behind you.

Establishing those early wins is your best opportunity to build rapport and respect as a Millennial boss—not only within your team, but also across the organization. Not all weaknesses will be solved overnight, but it’s important your actions convey your intentions, expectations, and leadership style to make long-awaited changes.

5. Develop a Long-Term Roadmap

5 P’s (Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance). Enough said.

All too often, arranging team structure has been overlooked when developing a proper roadmap. Assigning new roles, responsibilities, oversight, and processes are all key elements of building a highly functioning team. Having a short-term tactical plan and a long-term roadmap with unified goals allows everyone on the team to identify their expected contributions so the team can work towards achieving those stated goals and objectives as one unit.

6. Be a Leader

There’s a difference between being a “boss” and being a leader, and you can choose to be both. Here are some ways that combine the two:

• Provide Structure
• Clarify Strategy
• Communicate Effectively at a high level, (over-communicate if necessary)
• Set Measurable Goals
• Be Honest
• Be Positive
• Delegate & Coach
• Inspire Your Dream
• Be Approachable

If you can accomplish ¾ of those qualities, I believe you’ll be well on your way to being an excellent leader.

I’ve always paid attention to how my mentors have handled themselves as leaders, and I’ve made sure to set them as my absolute personal standard for how I would act in their position. Apart from observation, what has gotten me to this point, and what will be pivotal in our advancement, is learning to trust innate gut instincts and overcoming the fear of taking risks or asking the hard questions.

Lastly, I want to send a word of encouragement to all my fellow Millennials. We’ve all grown up in the age of Google and revel in the instant gratification relevant search results deliver (in 0.33 seconds). We’ve grown up to believe that if it isn’t the shortest path, it’s inefficient, and therefore have to find a shortcut or we’re just wasting our time! So we all expect to find a shortcut to “making it big” in the business world too. But for most, that just isn’t a reality—and that’s okay.

Take a look at the bigger picture when making decisions about your career. There will be ups and downs along the way. Days you’ll question whether or not being underpaid is worth it with the weight of college loans, car payments, rent, etc., since getting that “piece of paper.”

Don’t give up. Only move forward. And celebrate the hell out of small wins. I promise they will outweigh the losses in the long run. I’ve maintained a solid work ethic, stayed dedicated, and maintained my general disdain for failure to get me where I want to be—even if it took a little longer than most.

Signing out, #likeaboss.

Jay Bouche

Marketing Manager
Trapp Technology

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