Today I spent about half an hour listening to an employee share his/her views about his/her boss. Okay let’s call the employee A to disguise his/her identity. A recently tendered, and since it’s quite near to bonus month, it came as a shock as people usually hold out til bonus month (1 year worth of suffering for that increment and that possible 3-4 months extra!!) unless they really bth or they already have an offer that gives them so much more basic that the bonus is negligible.

Anyway back to A, I was in the pantry with another colleague when A came over to sit down next to me. The moment A sat down I was thinking in my head “oh shit I need to get up and move” and so I quickly reached forward to pick up my rubbish from the table but A caught it and asked if I was leaving cos he/she was here.

“No..I just wanted to throw my rubbish cos it’s too unsightly” I wittingly replied. Then I sat back down after doing so and A started pouring out his/her story..

A talked about his/her dissatisfaction with his/her boss, how the boss was disrespectful, and used an unacceptable tone with A. Okay 90% of people quit cos of their bosses, so it’s not a surprise for A's reason of resignation. Furthermore I had worked with A’s boss and I know how the boss can be quite unreasonable and unprofessional. but throughout the whole conversation i was trying hard not to judge because i have had heard stuff about A’s working attitude as well.

Sure having a good leader is really important, a leader who shows appreciation, who respects, motivates and all but at the same time the staff must be receptive to all these as well. i consider myself a millennial but i must agree that millennials arent the easiest to work with. we're too entitled; we want everything and we cant stand anything.

but i wanna focus more on the supervisor/the so-called "leader". i realize it's a Gen X mentality that most Gen X leaders don’t realise that leadership's not about the title; it’s about the way you act and treat your peers/subordinates/the people around you.  i have worked with a few Gen X-ers and i concur that their leadership theory is quite flawed. they think that just because they are placed in that position they are invincible? they talk down to candidates in interview, give snide remarks to subordinates..seriously millennials nowadays, if they dont like it they JUST WALK RIGHT OUT. nobody needs this bl**dy d*** job and nobody will stand there to listen to how you think we should be more initiative. even our parents dont talk to us this way, and just because we're receiving your salary, doesn't mean that we have to accept all without refunds.

but then again. Gen X-ers were brought up this way, they were the ones who have been through the so-called crises, and emerged the most successful today. so are we millennials being weak? am i weak for believing that leadership should be humane and not top-down?

thoughts please.