Perhaps LeBron is right when he says that we have to go back to our boring day-to-day lives now that the finals are over but he left me with much to think about. As I watched the NBA playoffs this year and read about all of the post game follow ups and comments, I can't help but wonder if LeBron's lack of leadership could be correlated with what is defined as the "Generation Y" employee in the workplace.
Generation Y, from a date of birth perspective could most easily be summed up by including anyone that is less than the age of 30 at the time of this writing. Generation Y is labelled by some as a generation that has been spoiled and babied by everyone from parents to school teachers. In LeBron's case he could very well have been pampered by everyone in his life. After all he is dubbed as the "chosen one", or "the king". Generation Y's have grown up questioning the authority of their parents, and maybe now in the case of LeBron, Heat coach Eric Spoelstra.
Generation Y'ers also can't help but to speak their mind. Which might be the reason LeBron seems to have such a hard time keeping his mouth shut in front of media or over celebrating small victories. I saw LeBron acting like he won the championship only after only beating Boston in the second round. The other surprising act was when he and his side kick Dwayne Wade were making fun of Dirk Nowitzki being sick during the finals.
One positive about being a Generation Y'er is they tend to have financial smarts. Perhaps that is why LeBron at times seems more concerned about his brand or his business ventures than his basketball play. Why do we need to hear about his investments in soccer clubs or his promotion of energy strips during the season? Shouldn't we be hearing about his domination on the basketball court?
Will we be learning about LeBron's striving for a healthy work-life balance when the next Olympics come around? Or will he just skip the tournaments leading up to it? Generation Y'ers don't seem to put in the same number of hours at the office as other generational employees as they seek their balance. In my opinion, becoming champton is instantaneous balance.
Generation Y'ers as a whole don't like to stay at one job too long and change companies more often than other employees. Could this be linked to LeBron abandoning Cleveland and heading for Miami and thus igniting this entire correlation? (At any time feel free to revert back to "The Decision" and trace that back to that sense of entitlement.) I thought Generation Y wanted to be challenged from day 1. LeBron was definitely challenged in Cleveland. But I guess that means you can just leave if you get bored.
Maybe the answer to LeBron's question as to when he will win a championship will only be answered once managerial theorists start to write about the type of employee Generation Y'ers will become once they are in their forties. Will their feelings of entitlement and outspokenness diminish, or will they become more profound and instead of getting closer to being number one, actually get them further from it? Or will LeBron become a champion and the poster child of a generation in the workplace?
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