A review of the book Generation Y. Self-management on the Green Path

Don’t take risks – financial security and stability counts”
„If your salary is on time, don’t even think about changing jobs”
“Never question your superiors’ decisions”
“More humility!”

– for many of today’s 20- and 30-year-olds, the above statements, formulated by their parents, may sound at least funny.

Of course, you shouldn’t generalize … but please ask a friend who works in IT (yes, he is certainly in his late twenties) about what he is doing to make the boss happy with him? You might be surprised: “What is my boss doing to make me want to work for him?” With the above example, perhaps a bit exaggerated, I would like to outline to the uninitiated the differences between the Polish Generation Y and the Generation X that preceded them.

Generation Y” – a few years ago this term could not tell us much, but today no self-respecting employer will allow himself to say that “Millennials”, “Generation Y” are concepts completely alien to him.

Generation Y is a group that entered the labor market with a bang and copes well with the multiplicity and variety of changes that their parents avoided like fire (for “X” change is often equated with a problem). As we already know, Millennials are among us. Confident, the internet is at their fingertips, they are online 24 hours a day. Outspoken, sometimes arrogant, but at the same time intriguing and extraordinary, with an opinion – and you forgive a lot. They have a “puff”, do not write letters anymore, are sometimes impatient and speak several languages fluently.

But it is not my role to talk about Generation Y. The authors of the book “Generation Y. Kindness is enough”, Renata Gut and Agnieszka Gut do it perfectly. Mom and daughter discover and analyze in detail quite a large part of their private life for a beautiful purpose – to improve intergenerational communication where representatives of these generations meet: in business, in education and, very importantly – at home.

In my opinion, the term “communication” is the key word. A lot of space is devoted to the topic of dialogue with oneself and these are not empty statements. To understand others, start by understanding yourself, and so is managing people. Did you know that management should start with discovering talents and not with implementing iron discipline? Thanks to “Generation Y. Kindness is enough” you will deepen your knowledge on this subject, among other things. “Talent”, “authority” and “passion” are terms that keep recurring in the pages of this book.

Generation Y is great reading for employers, recruiters, teachers and parents. It is also an excellent book for anyone who is close to issues in the field of psychology and sociology and social communication. I want to point out right away that the publication is not a typical textbook. Yes, it provides a lot of material presenting the life of young people “from the inside” (emails, interviews, etc.) and makes a thorough analysis of the issue of proper communication with Millennials, however, it is written in a very open and accessible way – I would say that it is a completely “non-textbook” style.

The book is full of energy in both content and form. The authors are not afraid of various neologisms, as well as emphasising important fragments with caps and bolding. If any of you are offended by the academics of other publications dealing with similar topics, reading Agnieszka and Renata’s book will bring relief to those thirsty for knowledge provided in a creative, transparent and modern way.

In addition to an extremely interesting presentation of the main issue, “Generation Y. Kindness is enough” gives an injection of good energy and strengthens the belief that we can constantly improve, no matter how old we are and at what stage of life we are. The book is written in the spirit of great respect for self-development, and the authors promote a culture of discovering our own talents (yes, each of us has talents!) And awakening in us faith in our own abilities.

It was a great pleasure for me to read Generation Y. Kindness is enough, even though I gave my heart to fiction a long time ago and I do not often refer to similar literature. After reading the book by Renata (trainer, business coach) and Agnieszka (certified Gallup strengths coach), I realised that I was completely ignorant in this matter. Reading made me want to learn about other related publishing items, which do not necessarily take me into the fictional world of fictional characters. I am also pleased to read other books by the authors. I strongly encourage you to read!

Marzena Tortyna

The book Generation Y. Self-management on the Green Path. Renata Gut, Agnieszka Gut, you can buy here.