Last week I directed a leadership retreat for the student leaders at the Center for the Advancement of Leadership. The past couple of years I have helped develop and train students involved in the program. As I presented the different workshops, I was reminded of the blog post that Mike Dover wrote a few months back about movies that represent a generation.

Leaders have been scratching their heads trying to figure out what the Net Gen want. Many of the answers may lie in what they pay to watch.

From movies like Xmen, The Hulk, Ironman, and Fantastic Four, to TV shows like Heroes and Smallville, superheroes seem to be on the mind of the Net Generation. So then what do they see in them and why?

1- The Net Generation heroes are coming from comic books. We don’t have any Churchhills we look up to. We are known for scrutinizing leadership. This might be caused by transparency. We know our leaders too well. The bible says, “No man is a prophet in his own country.” When it is so easy to uncover dirt about your leaders you find it hard to respect them so you turn to the comics.

2- We have superheroes because we can affiliate with them. Our Boomer parents gave us the cape growing up. We were taught that we could do anything we put our minds to. We like the idea of being unique and special, and we have great desires to do good.

3- The Superheroes are coming in teams. Even movies like The Hulk and Ironman are being set up to join alliances or leagues. We want to be superheroes but don’t want to do it alone.

So what can leaders take away from pop-culture? Net gen are seeking a better world, they want be the hero, but they want to do it together. I watched a YouTube video by an anthropologist named Michael Wesch studying social media. He called this idea cultural inversion. He said that we live in an interesting time period. We crave connection more than ever but at the same time also want more freedom and individuality.

Here’s the Leadership Laundry List: Create environments that will allow them to “become the hero”. Play off their strengths, mentor them and give continuous feedback, praise them, and include them. Don’t mandate from the top. Give them a vision or “something to fight for”. Share responsibility, and customize their roles to maximize their potential. Give them responsibilities that will allow them to shine but don’t cut them off from the group.

In the end, regardless of generational differences it comes down to proper communication. To get the results you want, give your people the tools to be successful. Those tools will only be identified through constant communication and feedback.