MANAGING LIKE IT’S 2013 WON’T WORK ANYMORE

The old rulebook is broken. Actually, it's not just broken—it’s completely irrelevant. Yet so many millennial managers are still being measured by it, trained with it, and pressured to follow it.

Welcome to leadership in 2025, where your team might be across three time zones, half your meetings are on mute, and the job description might as well include "therapist, translator, and crisis manager."

If you’re a millennial manager stepping into a leadership role that was designed in 2013 (or earlier), you’re not imagining it—the system wasn’t built for this moment. And no, you’re not doing it wrong. You’re just leading in a changed world with tools and expectations that haven’t caught up.

• 9 to 5 is sacred. Presence equaled productivity. If you weren't at your desk, were you even working? Personal appointments? Not a thing.

• Top-down communication. One-way feedback only. Managers spoke, and teams listened. Think again if you have ideas on improving systems and expressing your feelings. God forbid you actually replied during a 1:1 manager meeting when your boss asked you a dreaded question from your manager asking, "Do you have any feedback on my management style or how I can improve the workplace?".  if you have feedback for them or if you know how to improve the workplace. 

• Good culture meant you got quarterly pizza days. Provide your team with quarterly pizza and the odd morning coffee, muffins and donuts to to keep the office vibes light. All while hoping no one notices or brings up the burnout. 

• Leadership = control. Strong leadership meant knowing everything and calling every shot. There was no collaboration and there was a clear hierarchy of power. 

• Emotions? Keep that to yourself. If you had a bad day, you powered through it and smiled in the hallway. Mental health? What is that? You’d sit in the car during lunch, scrolling through your iPod or flipping through a scratched-up mix CD, blasting "I'm a Survivor" by Destiny's Child just to feel something, then walk back in like nothing happened.

The workforce has changed. The values have changed and that means so have the rules and roadmap. Except there is no roadmap-yet. Gen Z is asking better questions. Burnout is no longer a buzzword—it’s a reality. And managing like it's 2013 will leave you with high turnover, disengaged teams, and a whole lot of resentment.

Remember when we thought having a color-coded planner and skipping lunch meant we were killing it at work? That grind mindset might’ve passed for leadership back then, but today it takes more than hustle. It takes presence, patience, and a whole lot of unlearning.

Here’s how modern managers are shifting, adapting, and surviving it all (without selling their souls):

• Visibility isn’t about being online 24/7. It’s about clarity, presence, and trust. It's about modelling good habits and that you value work-life balance like those under your leadership. 

• Feedback is ongoing and mutual. No more once-a-year performance reviews. Real leaders check in often, ask for feedback themselves, and respond with humility.

• Culture is built in the day-to-day. It’s how you run your meetings, how you handle conflict, how you respond to a team member who's struggling.

• Boundaries are a leadership skill. You don’t have to be available all the time to be effective. In fact, the opposite is true.

• Emotional intelligence > ego. The best leaders now are tuned in, not turned off. They know how to read the room, regulate their own stress, and support their team without fixing everything. Leaders now are honest when they don't have all the answers and then ask for feedback and support from their team to problem solve. 

1. Lead like a person, not a position. Authority isn’t about volume or status anymore. It's about how you show up.
2. Say "I don't know" when you don't. Then go find out. Vulnerability builds trust faster than pretending.
3. Normalize real conversations. "How are you doing?" should mean something. Create space for honesty, even when it’s messy. Listen and take time to care about each of your team members.
4. Get clear, not controlling. Set expectations. Be consistent. Trust adults to be adults.
5. Redefine productivity. It’s not all about hours logged—it’s outcomes delivered. Let go of the performative hustle.
6. Support isn’t a perk. It’s a requirement. Mental health, flexibility, coaching—this is the new leadership now.
7. Grow with your team. You don’t need to have all the answers. You do need to be coachable.

For Anyone Still Struggling:

If you feel like you're constantly falling short or "not managerial enough," take a breath. That feeling isn’t failure. It’s friction. And that friction comes from trying to lead with a system that wasn't built for you, your values, or this moment in time.

Leadership has changed. You are allowed to change with it.

And around here? You're not alone.

Welcome to Millennial Manager. Let’s do it differently—together.