Reviews of Legal Resources, 1016 COBJ, Vol. 45, No. 10

• Author: Frederic H. Marienthal, J.

45 Colo.Law 13

Reviews of Legal Resources

Vol. 45, No. 10 [Page XX]

The Colorado Lawyer

October, 2016

Frederic H. Marienthal, J.

You Raised Us—Now Work With Us:

Millennials, Career Success, and Building Strong Workplace Teams

by Lauren Stiller RMeen

267 pp.; $24.95

American Bar Association, 2014

321 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60654

(800) 285-2221; www.americanbar.org

All too often I am flummoxed when working with attorneys who were not born when I started practicing law in 1983. I've found I often need to alter how I communicate with these much younger attorneys. It can be challenging to comprehend their expectations about the workplace and to serve as a good "corporate citizen" in a multigenerational, diverse environment.

In today's workplace, you can find representatives of the Greatest Generation, Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennials.^[1] You Raised Us—Now Work With Us: Millennials, Career Success, and Building Strong Workplace Teams {You Raised Us), by Lauren Stiller RMeen, is a great guide for learning to navigate among and between these different generations in the workplace. Its primary focus is on the Millennial generation Your Raised Us has four goals. First, it analyzes and builds on other research about Millennials with independent data. It also provides insights into how Millennials, who began their careers during the economic crisis, view work. Second, the book provides Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers with recommendations for strengthening intergenerational teamwork and relationships. Third, the book offers Millennials a guide for assimilating into the workplace. Finally, the book highlights needed changes to improve the workplace for all generations.

You Raised Us is divided into three parts. Part 1 describes the salient behaviors attributed to Millennials, how they react to what other generations say about them, and the cultural context to what is observed about them. Part 2 assesses the impact of these distinct behaviors in the workplace, "including the ways in which disinterested leadership styles, inflexible work practices, and ineffective management can play into Millennials' reputation at work.^[2] Part 3 suggests ways in which the workplace could change to better accommodate Millennials and how they might adapt better to the realities of today's office environment.

Millennials are sometimes unfairly stereotyped as being the generation that has an...