The majority of large companies in the United States are not owned and run by millennials, but they employ them.
As a millennial, I have worked for big companies in the past. Broadly speaking, it's tough for millennials to be confined by a job description and show up for the 9-5 routine day after day. I empathize with both the employer and the employee on this.
There are entire job sectors in which our parents and grandparents were OK with working, but millennials, as a whole, are not.
Call them the F's: Farming, Fishing, Factory work. Yes, these jobs still exist in the country; they are filled with people who have come here on work visas.
Here are three things to consider if you are a millennial and find yourself consistently trying to fit into a job, a company or way in life and find yourself unhappy with the fit: Time, Risk and Expansion
Time: You are not going to become the CEO of the company in a week. The CEO of the company you work for most likely either started the company or worked his or her way up to the top after 30 years.
They took risks, moved around, proved themselves in one role for a decade and ate many humble pies along the way. Find a way to add value to your co-workers, your job and your company. Go above and beyond, and be OK with not getting a participation trophy for doing this. Do it because you want to do something good in the world. Be OK with not being the CEO, and try to add value instead of complaining about everything.
Take the time to get to know the people who have paved the way. Too often, young people wait to be approached to get mentored by someone. Millennials can't believe that they haven't been contacted by Oprah to be personally mentored by her. If Oprah only knew how amazing you were, she would know and want to mentor you. I get it. If Vince Vaughn only knew how funny I was, I would be his wedding crasher friend. Unfortunately, we don't live in our fairy tale land; this is the real world, and Oprah is not going to call you out of the blue to hang out.
Start by asking family members out to coffee and getting to know their own success stories. Do this with your co-workers and then watch how things naturally progress and evolve. Before you discredit this, think to yourself, "Have I ever intentionally done this?" Because if you have, you would know the fruit of it. If you have not, you have no clue until you try. Go with questions and to listen.
Risk: It's OK to take risks and fail. If fact, it's almost essential to fail. If you are always right or brag that you have never really failed, then trust me, you have not tried at all.
This is a big one for the upper/middle-class millennials who do have an excellent job because of mom and dad's connections and are hating their lives. Your upbringing gave you participation trophies, never allowed you to fail, allowed you to quit if things got too hard.
When you get that feeling and you're blaming your lack of fulfillment of a job on everything except yourself, dig in and take a risk. Set up a meeting with your boss and give her (and these days it's likely to be her) two practical ideas on things you would change to improve a process or product.
Expansion: My last piece of advice to fellow millennials is the most important one: Do something different. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, spend time working puzzles with residents at a retirement home, or an activity that stretches you that you usually would not do — accordion lessons or a class in Texas line dancing. One of the most beneficial stretches you should consider is joining a class in an improvisational theater to help you think on your feet, develop your sense of engagement and dig deeper into your creative well.
It's OK to take risks and fail. But more than ever, it's essential that you get out of your comfort zone and expand your world. Get going now — Time does not wait.
One of John Quick’s many super powers is to help your business discover how to best use social media and technology to connect with customers, drive traffic, tell your authentic story and increase sales. He’s entrepreneur and a former regional director for Samaritan’s Purse and is known as "chief implementor and red tape cutter." Read John Quick's Reports — More Here.