The wrong way: Bringing a “I know more than you and I’m always right attitude” – which will pretty much turn everyone off.

The right way: An open-minded, want-to-learn attitude. Having our opinions heard and taken into consideration and then molding those opinions and ideas into coachable goals with tangible results.

Your thoughts hear are spot on – making yourself ‘approachable’ as a supervisor is the minimum requirement, something everyone should be doing in the first place. It’s about much more than that though, as you say, it’s about magnifying the ability to innovate and maximizing potential. You want your employees to become more then worker-bees (most of the time) – that involves coaching and guidance along the way. We (Gen Y collectively) aren’t so much concerned with doing everything ourselves as we are working for a company where our role is valued, and that we are in a position with growth and opportunity potential.

You raise an interesting point that I think many of us can relate to – that fear of persecution if we do voice our opinions – overstepping out boundaries so to speak. My point here isn’t that our advice rules all, but rather that our opinions and ideas should be welcomed and ‘harvested’ by our superiors. Knowing that we are a valued part of the team can and does go a long, long way.

On the flip side I’ve had employees who came in being like “I think your idea is wrong and here’s why and you should listen to me because.” This situation has also not ended well. One of the hardest things for us to recognize as young professionals is that our ideas are good and our innovations are welcome, we just have to propose them in a manner that is both respectful and productive. There are people who have put in a lot of time, work, effort, blood, sweat, and tears into the companies and positions they are in, and to have some upstart come in and begin spouting off at them is annoying at best. To have an active discussion with a young person about their ideas, processes for implementation and ROI is refreshing and how so many are able to forge ahead.