Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon reveals the book he says is helping him manage millennial players

FAN Editor

One in three American workers are millennials. In fact, this group is currently the largest generation in the U.S. labor force, according to data from the Pew Research Center.

To get a better grasp on how to manage and interact with this new generation of employees, many leaders are turning to outside resources for advice.

One of them is Chicago Cubs’ manager Joe Maddon. During day two of the team’s winter meetings, Maddon revealed that he plans to improve communication between the team’s front office employees and the young players on the roster, and said that he’s added “Managing Millennials for Dummies,” to his off-season reading list.

“I’m in the middle of that [book] right now,” ESPN reports the 64-year-old saying. “You always think this ‘for dummies’ thing is really rudimentary written; it’s really well-written and researched. I’m learning about traditionalists, baby boomers, the Xers, the millennials. And I’m really starting to understand this a little bit better.”

According to an excerpt from Amazon, the book is filled “with insight, advice, personal anecdotes and practical guidance” that teaches readers “how to manage your millennial workers and teach them how to manage themselves.” The book also offers best practices and strategies from leaders at top companies like Google, Netflix and LinkedIn.

“My dad, that generation, thought we were a bunch of babies,” the Chicago Tribune reports Maddon saying during the recent winter meeting. “The (baby) boomers, the traditionalists thought we were all soft. And then you think the (Generation) Xers are soft. The Xers think the millennials are soft. It doesn’t matter. You have to figure out how to communicate and extract the best out of this group. And make sure you’re always on the same page. That’s what I’ve been studying.”

Maddon, who has been a manager for the Cubs since November 2014, led the team to three straight post-seasons. In 2016, he led the team to a World Series win, the franchise’s first championship in 108 years. His most recent season with the Cubs ended early when the team lost the National League Central Division playoff in October.

As Maddon prepares to enter the final year of his five-year contract with the team, he says he feels proud of the work he’s done so far. He says he wasn’t offended when the team announced he wouldn’t be getting a contract extension anytime soon.

“I totally understand where [Theo Epstein is] coming from,” ESPN reports him saying, of the Cubs’ president. “I am not offended. I don’t feel badly about it. I get it … I’m excited. I’m really excited about all this. If you have a lot of self-confidence, things like that do not bother you, and I do. I’m going to do my job. I might alter it a little bit, like getting out on the field more often. What we’ve done over the last four years I feel pretty good about, feel strongly about, and I think you’ll see that trend continue.”

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