Millennials Matter: Proven Strategies for Building Your Next-Gen Leader

by Danita Bye

Overview

Successful business leaders see their experienced leaders retiring soon. Panic strikes when they see how few millennials have the leadership and sale acumen to fuel their business growth or transition.

Danita Bye is a business leader who loves millennials and believes they could be the new “greatest generation.” Join her passionate journey and discover how to help young leaders get leadership traction. Learn how to:

• Identify and tackle real millennial challenges.
• Tap into millennial strengths and talents.
• Develop capable next-gen leaders of character.
• Build a bench of engaged and focused young team players.
• Leverage millennials’ skills and grow your business
• Set the stage for your business transition.
• Leave a legacy of wisdom and strength.

Millennials Matter will provide you with coaching inspiration and practical action steps to harness the strengths of your millennial leaders so they become one of your biggest business assets and a testimony to your leadership legacy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781424555598
Publisher:	BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
Publication date:	12/12/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Danita Bye is founder and CEO of Sales Growth Specialists, a leadership and sales development firm that partners with business owners to improve sales performance as part of their growth strategy. These core strategies propel her clients’ businesses to the next level through consulting, training, coaching, and recruiting. Danita gained valuable experience at Xerox Corporation in sales and later, as an owner and manager of a turnaround medical device sales team. She excelled as a sales person, but her greatest success was her ability to find and mentor young talent. Danita saw firsthand how character-based leadership can impact the bottom line as well as young professionals she coached.

With a practical, rubber-meets-the-road style that focuses on values and character-based success, Danita strives to help experienced leaders gain an understanding of the importance of their role in shaping young leaders. Her vision is in energizing and equipping leaders of character with the skills and tools to coach millennials, our future leaders. She believes that leaders build leaders.

Danita grew up on an isolated cattle ranch in rural North Dakota where she had strong mentors at home, church, and school. During those formative years, she learned about the value of the dollar, relationships, discipline, education, and faith. Danita’s leadership drive and sales management successes are rooted in her invaluable experiences on the ranch. 

Millennials Matter is an integration of principles gathered during Danita’s years in sales and coaching and of her spiritual passion, which inspired her to author Letters From the King: A Devotional Parable of Spiritual Discovery.  Danita writes a leadership blog at www.DanitaBye.com, which provides tips, tools, and talk tracks for those who mentor emerging leaders. Committed to development of the next generation of leaders, Danita serves on the board of directors for two private Christian universities and The North Dakota Economic Development Foundation. She holds a master’s degree in Transformational Leadership from Bethel University and a bachelor’s degree in Pre-Med from the University of Sioux Falls.

Danita and her husband, Gordon, have been married for over thirty years and live in Stanley, North Dakota. They have three Millennial children, Brittany, Westin, and Danae and are the proud grandparents of two active boys. Danita enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and traveling the globe to places such as China, Tanzania, France, and Panama.

Danita Bye is a leadership and sales development expert with a master of arts in transformational leadership. She is founder of Sales Growth Specialists and serves on the boards of private Christian universities. She is a mother of three millennials and passionate about inspiring business leaders who see investing in their millennial leaders as a key business growth and succession strategy, integral to their leadership legacy. She makes her home in North Dakota.

Table of Contents

Shifting Gears 1

Why Millennials Matter 13

Section 1 Strengthen Character

Part 1 Cultivate a Courageous Core

2 A Courageous Character Core and Leadership 26

3 Determination: One Step Closer to Character 33

4 Awareness: The Key to Activate Understanding 39

5 Knowledge: Deep Knowing Boosts Moral Fiber 44

6 Optimism: An Activating Force 50

7 Trustworthiness: Leading with Compelling Integrity 56

8 Accountability: Answerability Advances Courage 61

Part 2 Practice Proactive Self-Care

9 Proactive Self-Care and Leadership 74

10 Break the Chains of Negative Thinking 80

11 Deal with Your Dark Side 86

12 Set Goals to Fuel Energy 91

13 Establish a Rest Rhythm 96

Section 2 Lead with Confidence

Part 1 Model an Impact Mind set

14 The Impact Mind set and Leadership 110

15 Live with a High Regard for Your Work 117

16 Prioritize Now to Impact the Future 123

17 Know What Jazzes You 128

Part 2 Strengthen Your Sisu Spirit

18 The Sisu Spirit and Leadership 140

19 Develop a Disciplined Action Mind-set 146

20 Use the Catalytic Question 152

21 Be the Domino Difference 157

Section 3 Engage With Collaboration

Part 1 Respect Relationship Wiring

22 Relationship Wiring and Leadership 170

23 Respect Every Person You Meet 177

24 Practice the Power of Questions 183

24 Practice the Power of Questions 183

25 Listen Deeply to Other People 188

26 Dealing with Difficult Conversations 194

Part 2 Inspire the Investment Effect

27 The Investment Effect and Leadership 206

28 Share Your Wealth 210

29 Find the Strengths in Others 216

30 Love is the Ultimate Measure 221

Appendix 1 227

Appendix 2 229

Notes 233

Acknowledgments 239

About the Author 243

Editorial Reviews

Millennials Matter is packed with tips for connecting with, mentoring, and developing the leaders of the future. I know from experience that for seasoned leaders, there is no greater joy than mentoring a first-time manager. Why? Because mentor and men­tee learn so much from each other in the process! Danita Bye has written a fabulous guidebook for leaders in every generation. Read it and make a connection!
—Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The New One Minute Manager® and Lead Like Jesus Revisited
 
Timely and on point, Millennials Matter is filled with truths you and your team can act on to make a difference in your future and our future. Inspiring, relevant, and actionable, this book is a toolbox to build trust and influence, and impact our current and future leaders. We need to do this now!
—David Horsager, Trust Edge Leadership Institute


Danita Bye’s passion to see the next generation realize their God-given potential comes through in Millennials Matter. This timely and engaging book equips leaders to better understand and effectively invest in millennials. It should be on the reading list of every CEO, supervisor, teacher, pastor, coach, counselor, parent, and more.
—Hal Donaldson, President, Convoy of Hope; Author, Your Next 24 Hours: One Day of Kindness Can Change Everything
 
Millennials Matter is a must read for anyone interested in preparing new leaders to meet the challenges of the future. Danita Bye leads us through the steps to help develop values-based differentia in emerging adults and gives us the tools to discover the potential in others to lead. Reading this book will compel you to evaluate your responsibility to transfer your leadership attributes to those who follow.
—Ed Schafer, Governor of North Dakota (1992–2000); US Secretary of Agriculture (2008)


The future favors those leaders who effectively engage upcoming generations. Leaders leverage change for strategic advantage! Millennials Matter is a timely, provocative resource to help any manager play offense in this high potential generational transition. God has seeded this generation with eternal potential. Will you unleash it?
—Mike Sharrow, President & CEO, The C12 Group, LLC
 
In Millennials Matter, Danita Bye has identified the importance of equipping the millennial generation to succeed owners transitioning out of their businesses. In this historically largest ever transfer of generational wealth, Danita’s focus is to mentor, coach, and mobilize the millennial generation to lead companies to even greater levels, while at the same time preserving the legacy of the business owner.
—Rob Gales, Managing Director, VERCOR


Millennials Matter is a practical culmination of Danita Bye’s life and leadership journey both professionally and personally as she has purposed to be a student of millennials stepping into the work­force as young professionals. You’ll enjoy Danita’s well written and researched book as a practical tool for navigating the perils of suc­cessfully onboarding millennials into your enterprise.
—Pete Henschel, Cru, National Field Director; Executive Director, Executive and Entrepreneurial Leadership Forum; Executive Director, Global Leadership Forum
 
While reading Danita’s book, I found myself frequently introspecting and reminiscing. How am I a typical millennial? How can I overcome my millennial weaknesses? How can I leverage my millennial strengths? Millennials Matter helped me realize obvious mistakes I had made while managing millennials and bolstered my ability to lead my peers and more importantly, myself.
—Cooper Buss, Millennial Entrepreneur, Life Acoustics; Director of Customer Success-Digital Marketing ResortsAndLodges.com


Millennials Matter is a must read for anyone wanting to unlock the next talent rich generation for organization and business success. Danita is totally dialed into this generation’s brilliance and unique aptitudes while possessing keen insight into what to do with their seeming collective shortcomings. Her clear and straightforward strategies will rescue you from old patterns and jumpstart you into a fresh, relevant model yielding unparalleled outcomes. Clear your schedule today to read Millennials Matter and you will change lives. Yours may be one of them.
—Karen A. Berg-Johnson, Director of Leadership Giving, PULSE, a millennial-engaged Christian nonprofit
 
The why is never-changing. Leadership is fluid. Just about the time leaders are in that sweet spot where wisdom meets humble confidence, it’s time to begin passing the torch. Effectively mak­ing this transition has long-term ramifications. The how has to be ever-changing too. The twenty-first century’s new wave of leaders, millennials, require an entirely new understanding by leaders that started in the twentieth century. Leaders involved with CBMC have a desire to mentor and disciple millennials but aren’t exactly sure how. Danita provides a powerful toolkit to guide leaders who desire to transition well and bear fruit that lasts.
—Alan Smith, Area Executive Director, CBMC Northland


Millennials Matter is a must read on the up-and-coming, new world talent. This book’s counsel can maximize your company, mobi­lize your leaders, and realize your legacy! Danita Bye’s insightful research and passion to help equip and coach business leaders on next-gen character based leaders is stunningly captured in Millennials Matter!
—Deborah Yungner, CEO-Visioneer, ERBUS Inc.; Vice President, BizDev; CoCreateX; recipient of the Woman Inventor of the Year, USA
 
Millennials Matter is a great resource to help implement the three recommendations I give to CPAs developing millennials: thanking them once a week for something specific they have done; getting them the resources they need from their perspective (i.e., don’t micro-manage them); and giving them a chance to shine.
—Michael Gregory, Chief Manager, Michael Gregory Consulting, LLC; Author, Peaceful Resolutions and The Servant Manager


As an educator in both secondary and higher education and now a university administrator, Millennials Matter reinforces my belief that virtue is the answer for a world crying for meaning, but more importantly, gives guidance on how to lead what could be the greatest generation yet. Thank you, Danita, for this pay-it-forward insight!
—Jerome J. Richter, Vice President for Public Affairs, University of Mary
 
Danita Bye is a great listener. There is no possible way to solve the puzzle of millennials without understanding how they think, and that only comes through listening. This book is your road map for listening to and building them into great leaders.
—Scott Hennen, Host, What’s On Your Mind radio show; Partner, Flag Family Media


Danita Bye’s thorough understanding of the critical business issue regarding the development of millennials and her unique ability to address this topic is critical to your future success. Creating aware­ness, mobilizing efforts, and mapping out the right solution are required if you are to successfully overcome potential roadblocks. A “coach and mentor” for your millennials, I would highly recom­mend you reach out to Danita. Your legacy will be in good hands.
—Paul Balus, Senior Director of Global Sales and Corporate Training, Skyline Displays

From the Publisher