Once you pay people enough to take the issue of money off the table so they can focus on work, three factors lead to better performance and personal satisfaction.

The one I want to talk about is autonomy. People want to be self-directed. And this is where innovation comes from.

A software company has a quarterly day where the employees can work on anything they want. Just show us what you’ve been working on at the end of the day. It’s been an incubator for fixes for existing issues as well as new product ideas.

The message that this company is telling its employees: You probably want to do something interesting; let me get out of your way.

It is a message of trust, of respect. Man, if all companies could act that way, just imagine what could emerge.

Instead, leaders often mistrust employees. It can often seem like employees are purposefully held back from reaching their potential.

Why? Is it because leaders are afraid of being outshone? Are they afraid of change? Or do they really just value their employees so little?

I don’t know. But feeling any of this is life-sucking.

Threat Level: Midnight

One of the things that often frustrated me at a former place of employment was how my generation was consistently degraded.

It really and truly felt like we were the enemy.

We were regularly educated about the hardships of working with Gen Y/the Millennials. Educated as in with research, which was read aloud to the entire staff.

The message I got was: Here’s what’s wrong with your kind; this is why I don’t trust you.

I’m not sure the exact goal in this. Make us mistrust ourselves? Humble us and cut us down to size? Assert yourselves, therefore, as naturally better than us?

The stuff we’d hear was often true. Millennials have been brought up in a you-are-special and you-can-do-anything-you-put your-mind-to kind of world. This leads to some pride, some narcissism, some naiveté. (I admit to this being true in me.)

Ok.

But how about instead of increasing threat level to midnight, why don’t you learn to USE US?! Harness the power and energy Gen Y can bring.

Yes, you’ve been through a lot more life, and you deserve respect. But please don’t discount us.

We want to be part of the team—and we buy in, big time. Just check out the sweet infographic below, from MBA@UNC.

I just think we can all play a role and get to a better place when we work together, each member trusted and valued, whatever generation or in whatever way we are different. In fact, I think the more different, probably the better.