The Importance of the Millennial Vote: Four Key Points
By Dr. William Schiemann
Millennials are particularly concerned about their life paths and finding fulfillment resulting from choices they are making today. And that includes, choosing the next President or key local officials.
In a recent study of fulfillment by Metrus Institute, we found that many Millennials are concerned not only about what job they will have (if they find one), and paying back college loans (perhaps drawing them into a higher paying job they dislike), but also about achieving fulfillment in the environment in which they will live. Will it be toxic? Will they be part of a growth economy? Will they have support from their government and its leaders to create a community in which they can flourish? Will deadly social issues—racial tension, corruption, and an increasingly two tiered economy of have’s and have nots—ruin the world their parents lived in? Will their leaders be unable to find solutions to hunger, disease and war? They see technology as bringing great solutions to world challenges in medicine, poverty, and hunger. But they, like many others, also see their politicians or business leaders thwarting those advances through greed, infighting or ignorance.
We found many of the Millennials interviewed in the study to be idealistic and wanting to address today’s problems, but also to be highly frustrated with their inability to affect the world around them. They cannot easily see how they will become fulfilled. Is this any different from Baby Boomers challenging the Vietnam conflict or other challenges facing by earlier generations? Perhaps it reflects the exuberance of youth, but there is one fundamental difference. The 1960s and 70s were a period of optimism catalogued by a race to put a man on the moon, social liberalization of rules and taboos, a growing economy overall, and left-over optimism from the post-World War II Eisenhower era. Generation Y had formative years during the economic and internet boom of the late 80s and 90s. Today’s Millennials are plagued with early memories of 9/11, the greatest recession in the past 75 years, and constant wars and terrorism.
So with this backdrop, how will the millennials vote? Our research shows that they want to support leaders who share values such as a sustainable environment, meaningful work, fair opportunities, honesty and transparency, and addressing social ills such as hunger and poverty. They want leaders who can communicate a future vision that is compelling and show concrete steps for how we get from here to there. They want to see realistic plans, not rhetoric that plays them for saps. In some ways, not so different from many others considering their options on November 8! Today’s Millennials are more educated than their parents, and they are asking tough questions that often are not being answered by either presidential candidates or their local office seekers. With ratings of politicians near all-time lows, there is an increasing risk that Millennials will simply withdraw from the process, believing that the democratic process offers little hope for them to achieve their dreams.
Here are 4 key areas for millennials that have yet to be addressed:
1. A vision of the future that is neither shallow nor wildly idealistic. Promising world peace sounds like rhetoric. Building a strong community of countries to enact accords that will address hunger, disease, and environmental breakdowns are messages likely to be understood and more believable.
2. Solid core values. You can’t play to every interest group—that simply shows you to be without convictions. That portrayal of flip-flopping cost John Kerry an election. Al Gore won the popular vote, despite losing the electoral vote, but most people believed that Al Gore had clear values and conviction, whether they agreed with those beliefs or not. Millennials want to see leader with values.
3. A clear path from where we are today to the vision of tomorrow. What would have to happen? Who has to get on board? What does Congress have to do, and what would encourage them to do it? What is a realistic budget? We all understand that there is limited money in the community wallet, but if the money is doled out fairly, most people can live with what is spent. Show people practical plans for how education can realistically be improved, how the environment will be enhanced, how the needy will be cared for but in ways that will not undermine entrepreneurial zeal and individualism upon which the country was founded.
4. Giving back. One of the most appreciated characteristics of Millennials and of those who were most fulfilled was giving back. There are many ways to give back, including serving in government roles, yet too often these are seen not as a route to contribution, but as a route to taking more.
Millennials want to be involved, to take action—attention to these points (and less on personal attacks!) will bring them out on November 8.
William A. Schiemann, Ph.D. is CEO of Metrus Group. He is a thought leader in human resources, employee engagement, and fulfillment and author of Fulfilled! Critical Choices – Work, Home, Life. For more information visit, www.wschiemann.com, follow Dr. Schiemann on Twitter, @wschiemann and connect with him on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/wmschiemann.