The Facebook Generation and Leadership
It is a common idea that the millennial generation does not respect its elders or submit to authority. The Wall Street Journal ran an article on the “Facebook Generation” and it touched exactly on this point. They created list focused on today’s realities for how power and influence is gained and worked out. Here are some of the best points:
- All ideas compete on an equal footing.
- Contribution counts for more than credentials.
- Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed.
- Leaders serve rather than preside.
- Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it.
- Opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed.
First off, I totally agree with the article that these realities are playing themselves out in today’s world.
Yet, I’ve heard plenty about how negative these realities are. I’ve overheard others say, “young people today don’t respect their elders” or “people don’t submit to authority anymore”…things like that.
I fully believe that everyone should respect their elders and leaders because you only get as much respect as you give, but also because the Bible commands it.
My problem is that these realities shouldn’t be a problem for leaders. Good leaders will recognize these changes and become leaders within this context. The people that have a problem with it feel that their leadership is earned by their title or by how long they’ve been doing something. If that is what leadership is, it is no wonder that no one respects or values it.
The worst thing a leader can do is rest on the achievements of the past or on the title of their position. When they feel like those younger than them are not honoring their place of leadership it is likely because they have done nothing to earn the respect and honor they feel due.
The only kind of leadership that is presented by Jesus is servant leadership.
I see this relating to today’s church in such a deep way. There are too many pastors who want their entitled leadership without first being servants and without engaging with the contributions of others around them.
My question:
Is today’s reality of the “Facebook Generation” a bad thing?
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Tyler Braun.
Amen Brother you hit the nail on the head! If leaders are truly going to be leaders they better humble their pride at the foot of the cross and seek out God for wisdom and cousel! Too many put Jesus in the back of the boat so to speak and think that they can handle it all on their own. Truth is, nothing could be furthur from the truth! Great Post, keep up the good writting. Robin
“The worst thing a leader can do is rest on the achievements of the past or on the title of their position. When they feel like those younger than then are not honoring their place of leadership it is likely because they have done nothing to earn the respect and honor they feel due.”- you
that, sir, is a powerful statement.
paul talked to timothy about this very idea – a lot of the book is how to teach, how to contribute, how to serve and ultimately an exhortation for him that he might not discouraged being younger than the presumptuous elders around him.
like you, i think it’s valuable to learn from those that have gone before us. BUT those who’ve gone before can also learn from those that are coming up in the world. – it is about contribution and attitude and grace. are we exchanging Christ w/ one another? are we tackling life together? it should be a take and give environment.
if pride overshadows those that think they deserve, then they fall.
good stuff, tyler
Thanks Ash.
“When they feel like those younger than then are not honoring their place of leadership it is likely because they have done nothing to earn the respect and honor they feel due.”
I had a great discussion with my Dad about this a while back and I think you’ve pointed out the “respect your elder” flaw, nicely.
Some see this as an all or nothing. Unfortunately, the majority that feel this way are most often, the “elder”. And, by all or nothing, I mean, whatever is said is respected, because of the wisdom of age. I don’t agree with this. Truth is truth and ignorance is ignorance.
My “elders” lived in a time where knowledge was power and achievement was success. We see now, that those two things are often the means to failure.
Balance is key here. Good ideas and honest thought needs to be recognized and respected. As do all people. BUT, whether your an elder or the young guy with an edge, you are not given the right to have your leadership respected, until your leadership is tested.
Perhaps it’s not bad per se, it’s just a new reality. It challenges old paradigms and givens, which is always painful. This might be a much needed change, btw, but it still will challenge the current generation’s sacred cows. When we have anyone challenge that which is most important to us, we feel devalued. That is a huge part of the rub. We interpret the norms of the next generation as a judgment of our own. (Which actually they might be, or at least a reaction to)
The givens of the Facebook Generation will challenge us to lead in a new way – relationally, with a servant’s heart, based on our experience, wisdom and authority (spiritual at least) that flows from who we are, not our title. We might also be learning that collaboration is not a sign of weakness. It can only benefit us all and is healthier as well.
Great questions, Tyler.
While I am not a card-carrying member of the Facebook generation (I’m 52) I see much I like in this wave of next-generation leaders. I respect their deep commitment to Jesus, their passion for the lost, and their desire-turned-into-action quest to improve this world and the lives of those who live here. Because of their leadership I am more confident in the future of the church (although there are some ‘churches’ I’m not so sure about). They are leading the way with a sincerity and genuiness for the things that matter to God in a way that most my generation has not. I know that much of the rest of my life will be spent following the best of these next-gerneration leaders. They’ve earned it!
Great post you have here! I’m thankful to have chance by this blog! Keep posting the good stuff!
One of the age old problems with leadership and the daunting task of understanding it, is simply everyone has a different definition of what leadership actually is. What might appear as leadership to one person, may be a polar opposite perspective of another. The idea that there are over a thousand different definitions of leadership tends to complicate the subject, but keeps it fresh and interesting as well.
Biblically, yes, Jesus said that he came to serve and not be served, which is why a typical surface-scratched look at Servant Leadership might appear to run more in evangelical circles than in corporate squares. I thought it was quite a stretch when the article talked about the FB Gen. being Servant leaders on-line. I would tend to disagree on grounds of a warped sense of what Servant Leadership really is about. I believe that if leadership is seen more as a process, it becomes more inclusive and enables empowerment among those who live on the fringe.
There were a number of things that I cringed at when reading the article. Don’t get me started on the whole notion of community…we’ve talked about that before. I believe that community, in the Biblical sense, is a far cry from what was reflected through the teachings of Jesus–and simply not attainable via the web. In a non-religious sense, it is interesting to see how technology has begun to unravel communities that have been without it for generations. The infamous double-edged sword.
Thanks for making me work through lunch! See you Sunday.
**the follow-up…
Warped sense referring to the ideas of SL according to the author. Another reason how technology makes it easy for bad interpretation!
I understand the cringing because you are right, leadership is an ambiguous word. Community and leadership within it will look different in different contexts so it is hard to generalize something like this.
Don’t get me started on the issues of leadership… I have just been thrown out of a house fellowship for challenging the leaders of an attractional church where they pressurize people into attending a Sunday performance.
When we say ‘young people today don’t respect their elders’ who is young and who is elder? I’m 52 – am I young or elder? All the leaders of this attractional church are white male pensioners… so I’m young to them. But like others in my generation we have no role in these attractional churches. We are merely pew-fodder.
The group I was associated with used to talk about ‘team co-ordinators’ and ‘team leaders’. Someone started as a team co-ordinator when they had a vision and graduated, when they had build up a team, to be a team leader. I always felt this was the wrong way round. When someone starts something they are leading the way… as people join them they then co-ordinate. If they carry on leading then they will never engage and never be the servants of those they minister with.
I think what we see from Jesus attitude towards the 12 is reflected very much in a book I often use for explaining my feelings about teams: The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization by Katzenbach and Smith. Teams don’t have leaders. Teams function on a plateau of leadership. The personalities interact. That’s what I saw in the 12. Its not what I see in much of today’s church leadership sadly.
Good post
However I would suggest that a good leader has always fitted this drscription. Anything else was / is a poor and damaging abuse of position.
[...] might remember the article the New York Times ran on “The Facebook Generation.” It was basically an article that looked at the implications of the how emerging generations view [...]
thanks for the link.
As a young minister with a different view of leadership and what happens in church buildings, I was twice asked to leave and never return. That began a long prodigal journey for me, now successfully returned. http://ProdigalReturns.com
The young mind naturally questions, naturally reevaluates and adjusts. This MUST be embraced, it’s the natural order.
A traditional approach is slaughtering hungry, alternative young minds so that it takes YEARS to reconstruct their church in what happens in church buildings. Every major, traditional denomination is in decline.
Wake up!