It’s easy to think that people younger than you don’t have enough knowledge to understand the “complexities” the way you do, and that may be true to a point. However, leaders today are missing a key opportunity to capture both the creativity and loyalty of young people by not giving them an opportunity to “Mentor-Up.”

The people side of the equation is where we need the Boomers and Traditionalists to mentor the Xers and Millennials. However, reverse mentorship comes into play when it comes to technology. We see a twenty-two-year old with tattoos and piercings mentoring a fiftyplus leader in a blue suit and starched color and tie.

Mentor-Up creates an informal or formal relationship where the younger person is recognized for his or her expertise in a particular area and encouraged to train older team members on that skill. An opportunity for cross-generational bonding and understanding
is to have Millennials design Mentor-Up workshops on a basic technology skill-set the team needs, and then hold a weekly mentoring session. Other formats for training can include short YouTube or internally hosted video training on high need skills like shortcuts or
how to use a piece of software more effectively.