The Case for Being an Elder Millennial at Work

At some point, elder millennials became the adults in the meeting. I'm not sure when it happened.

This is a generation that remembers dial-up internet, MapQuest directions, and when having a college email address was required to join Facebook.

Now we're leading teams, making decisions, and trying to have informed opinions about AI. It's a strange place to be. It's also a surprisingly useful one.

My generation entered the workforce before digital communication took over nearly every part of business. We learned how to pick up the phone. We went to events. We followed up. We built relationships without immediately connecting on five different platforms.

Then the way we worked changed completely.

Social media became a business tool. Google changed how people find and evaluate organizations. Entire industries had to learn how to communicate online. Now AI is changing how quickly we can research, write, analyze, and create.

We've had to learn new ways of working throughout our entire careers. I think that has given us an interesting perspective. I'm excited about technology. I use it constantly. I think AI will change a lot about the way we work. But I've been around long enough to know that the newest tool is rarely the whole answer.

An algorithm can put your story in front of someone. It can't make the story worth hearing. AI can help you work faster. It can't decide whether what you're saying is wise, appropriate, or human. Social media can introduce an organization to thousands of people. It can't create trust on its own. Those things still require people.

There's a tendency in business to assume that newer automatically means better. Sometimes it does. Sometimes the smartest thing we can do is combine what works now with what worked before.

Use the technology, but pick up the phone when a conversation deserves one. Look at the analytics, but remember there are actual people behind the numbers. Use AI to make the work more efficient, but don't outsource your judgment to it. Build a digital presence, but keep building real relationships too.

Elder millennials have spent our careers adapting. We know the old way wasn't always better, and we also know the new way isn't automatically better just because it's new.

That middle ground may turn out to be one of our biggest strengths.

We know how to change without throwing away everything that still works.

And right now, that feels like a pretty useful way to lead.