Worker Shares Email From Her 35-Year-Old Boss To Show How Millennials Handle Conflict Compared To Older Generations
All bosses should be exactly like her.
Charles-Édouard Côté Getty Images, mihailomilovanovic Getty Images Signature | Canva Pro It can be uncomfortable to deal with conflict at work, especially if that conflict or disappointment has to do with your boss.
Many of us have dealt with a plethora of bad situations in the workplace — from ignorant bosses to rude coworkers, and even the occasional drama with a customer. It seems like a good boss is truly a one-in-a-million find — but when you do find one, it’s almost impossible to believe.
One worker shares an interaction with her 35-year-old millennial boss over a dispute with a client. Assuming it will take a bad turn, as many confessions about bosses do, many people were surprised at the positive outcome.
This millennial boss replied to her employee's email with an eloquent apology.
“I wrote an email to her very respectfully and courteously,” the worker explains after addressing some conflict she had with her boss.
After ‘CC-ing’ her boss in an email thread she had with clients out of courtesy, she was upset to see that her boss was actually engaging in those conversations instead of just overseeing them.
She crafted her email with that in mind, saying, “While I do appreciate you commenting those things to the clients — I do feel that you were undermining me.” The worker continues the email by saying she felt it could jeopardize the clients’ trust in her and also create tension within the team.
The worker reveals that she’s never had a millennial boss — only supervisors from older generations.
“I have worked for a boomer and Gen X,” the TikToker says, “I recently started working for a millennial like me. She’ll be 35 or 36 years old this year — we are both millennials, but she is my senior.”
With two horrible bosses under her belt, she was already feeling the anxiety of confrontation with her boss immediately after sending the email.
“I was shaking in my boots,” she says, “Even though I stand by everything that I said and I stood up for myself — my relationships with other bosses have been with other generations."
Waiting for the response, she was nervous by the time the email response finally came into her inbox. Opening it up, she could see that there were a few paragraphs to read through — but, she was pleasantly surprised by her boss’s opening line.
“I see your point and I apologize.” her boss wrote simply.
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“I apologize for the way I approached that. I did not mean to undermine you,” she continues. In the rest of the email, she details how her boss provided more apologies including setting future boundaries and respecting her frustrations.
She revealed her boss's words enthusiastically — almost in tears at her leader’s effectiveness and empathy.
Other people were amazed at this boss’s leadership style and her honest and open communication.
“I legit teared up,” one person admitted, “I can’t even fathom what it’s like to work for and with someone like this.”
Other workers commended the next generations of leaders and bosses — “breaking generational trauma one email at a time,” one joked.
“This healed me,” another wrote, “and this wasn’t even my boss.”
While many acknowledge that this behavior is the bare minimum for a good leader, others point out how few truly ‘good leaders’ there are in many industries.
With so much empathy, communication, and honesty being preached to younger generations, it’s the older generation of bosses that have the reputation for lacking empathy and emotional intelligence.
“Emotional intelligence is a skill that everyone needs to learn…even older generations of bosses.”
The worker says her boss's empathy ‘should be the norm’ when interacting with employees in the workplace.
Many people pointed out the generalization of this worker’s video calling to all millennials as true and empathetic leaders — and she’s not exactly wrong.
“Love this…but that is very generalized,” she writes, “It’s about the person, not generation.”
While a few agree, many others defend the worker — saying that many of these ‘open and honest’ traits and characteristics are being prioritized by younger generations.
Especially with a digital landscape, younger generations have access to information, like social media, that expands perspectives and provides more opportunities for growth.
Overall, this employee and many others were absolutely blown away — “This is a boss. This is how you communicate with your employees. This is how you take accountability.”
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a news and entertainment writer who focuses on pop culture analysis and human interest stories.