Gen Y: It's What You Know

I guess the gen y seems to have taken for granted, that u need to pull strings around to move things about and be a leader.. so integrity is pretty low as compared to the GenXers and boomers !
Well does that mean we need to be ready for more 'Enrons' and 'sub-primes' in the future?

I am a 27 yr old Gen Yer and I look at the 14 traits listed above and I would categorize the majority of them as traits that I learned or had before I ever entered the professional workforce. As a young teenager I was an honest, people person and as a high school grad I was creative and had developed strength in my character. In college, I learned how to become a good listener in class and I became flexible in my daily routines because I had to.

But there are two traits which I have only truly learned since starting my career and becoming a manager. Those are "Knowledgeable" and "Accountable". I have gained a lot of knowledge in the first four years of my professional career. For instance, I know how to manage employees younger and older than me which is extremely important. I can interpret and understand our corporate financial documents so that I can look at the numbers and the facts and apply them to my marketing initiatives and sales objectives. As a Director of Marketing, I know what my duties are and what it is that I need to be doing on a daily basis so that I am performing my job at my highest level or potential.

So then what is it that makes me actually act on that gained knowledge from the past four years? Which of the traits makes me WANT to perform to the best of my ability?

I believe it's my accountability. I realize that for 27 yrs I have been learning, growing and developing into a person that has most or all of the 14 traits listed above. To be honest, I am young yet and I haven't fully developed all of them to the point that I need to. So while I need to continue to learn and gain more knowledge about the business and industry I work in and further develop those personal traits I haven't nailed down yet, if I am not accountable for my actions, no matter how many of the traits I have fully developed or how much knowledge I have gained, I will never become the business leader that I am capable of being.

The 12 other traits make me who I am and how I act. Maybe even how I am perceived my by colleagues. But no matter what, its my accountability that will be the one trait that takes me to the top because that trait forced me to utilize every other trait to get there.