Recognizing Ambition in Gen-Y: How I Got My Dream Job

I'm the youngest of the Sharendipity co-founders by about five years (and it goes up a bit from there).  It's an interesting position to be in because, supposedly, Generation Y is a bunch of whining brats with no work ethic.  Yet here I am, part owner in a small startup working my ass off every day.  I even got my picture taken.

For the record, the Gen-Y critics are right about one thing.  I did expect recognition.  But I give my co-founders an incredible amount of credit.  They didn't mistake this as entitlement.  Instead, they saw my ambition and potential.

So here I am, the youngest one in a group of head-strong individuals. And that can be an intimidating place to be.  However, If you've taken to heart all of those things that define us as Gen-Y, then you can't let them go once you've gotten to the point where it's paid off.  You have to continue being aggressive and apply that aggression as best you can. 

The difference is that your passion isn't not just for you anymore.  It's for the company.  This is especially true if you've found a group of people that can ignore the Gen-Y criticism and see you for who you really are.  We owe it to them.

Comments

[Mike]

I feel you Man. Not all Gen-Yers are whining brats. Although we also happen to work in fairly progressive industries where ambition is viewed as a strength and not an arrogant weakness, so we might be in the minority.

[me]

since when was ambition ever viewed as an arrogant weakness? That's not a gen-y stereotype. Ambition and no work ethic do not go hand in hand so I fail to see the correlation you are trying to make. Its impossible to get any recognition if you don't work hard. If anything, Gen-Y is known for there "You owe me" mentality. That's great this guy is working hard, but giving credit for your hard work to someone else is just a bonehead move. No ones going to toot your own horn for you. We live in a capitalistic society...

[Dale Beermann]

I think that what Mike was trying to reiterate was that our ambition can be taken the wrong way. It's not the ambition that people view as arrogant weakness, it's our ambition incorrectly viewed as entitlement that can be viewed this way.

In any case, I have a lot of respect for the people that can rise above the stereotypes. The true ambition in Gen-Y is going to help this generation accomplish a lot of things and the sooner it's nurtured, the sooner they'll start to happen.

[Mike]

What I meant by arrogant weakness is that I've seen ambition bite people in the ass. Ambitious Gen-Yers, who work hard and try to get recognition for it, can come off as arrogant.

While I agree that no one is going to "toot your horn for you," tooting it yourself is not always the right political move to make, and from my experience, the older generations view politics as a necessary (though hopefully small) part of getting ahead.