Theirs is different from Boomer mentality and post-Boomer mentality. According to Dr. Judith Bardwick, author of One Foot Out the Door, Boomers didn't need such passion-based reasons to stay in their jobs, much less do so with a sense of engagement. With their more recent collective memory of wartime strife and prewar joblessness, Boomers are hard-wired to value the safety and security of even having a job much more than the new breed.

So just how can you adapt some coaching-based skills to encourage Millennials' best contribution? Try the following:

1. Ask what issues are of particular interest. By identifying where their desire to contribute is, you are one step further to accessing their energy and passion. If they are too green to even respond to that question, give them an overview of pressing challenges and see where their interest is sparked.


2. Once the challenge is identified, ask them what, in their eyes, is particularly powerful about the issue and what they think the relevant factors to be considered are. This is a moment for you to listen and actively resist any comments that can be expressed with phrases such as "I think you should. . . ", or "I would. . . ".


3. Allow them to struggle. Signs of struggle don't indicate a lack of ability — this means they are firmly in the zone of "challenging responsibility." With questions that begin with "How" or "What," invite them to identify further steps to uncover information and possible solutions for the issue, then send them to take action with a firm deadline to report back with recommendations.



4. Hold them to the deadline and deliverables. Letting this slide will actually diminish their trust in you and their sense of value to the organization, both of which will deaden their desire to contribute.


5. Investigate their process and "ahas" with as much attention as you do the actual outcome of their work. For Millennials to sense they are flexing and developing new skills, it is important that the process creates new awareness that goes beyond technical information. This requires attention to insights that lead to self-knowledge and wisdom.

By mixing these conversations and assignments in with the more supervisory and mentoring aspects of the relationship, you'll both satisfy an important need in Millennials and reinforce their long-term potential to contribute as true leaders. Because a study by The Conference Board revealed that 97 percent of executives feel incompetence in their assigned roles, aside from retaining and optimizing your new best of breed, isn't it time we cultivated leaders who thrive in the midst of the unknown?

Tevis Gale is founder of Balance Integration Corporation, which provides work/life balance and creativity tools for numerous leading organizations, including Google, AOL, Viacom, Yahoo, Edelman Public Relations, Disney, Cleary-Gottlieb and the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).