I believe that you may belong to one of the greatest generations of our time. You follow in the footsteps of other individuals who accomplished amazing things before they were 30. Steve Jobs co-founded Apple at age 21. Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft at age 20, and fellow Millennial Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook at age 19.

So be proud of your considerable talents and ambition. Use your mastery of technology, your competitive spirit and intensity, your creativity and your aptitude for collaboration and communication. These gifts prepare you well for success in life and work.

It is important to remember, too, that all great people have had great mentors who have inspired and guided them. Bill Gates views legendary investor, Warren Buffet, as a mentor, and Gates himself has been an important influence on Mark Zuckerberg. Similarly, you should find people from whose knowledge and wisdom you could learn. Buffet said the key to success is to know who to be the batboy for. Good mentors can teach you how to avoid the mistakes and landmines that can harm your reputation and career prospects. Additionally, they can arm you with the knowledge and skills to perform at your best.

Certain concepts are timeless: sacrifice and struggle for long-term success; going the extra mile to reach your goals; if you get knocked down seven times, get back up eight; and so on. Mentors can help you with these vital lessons, especially when you are struggling. They can give you the support and guidance to help you get back on your feet and embrace something Abraham Lincoln once said: “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”

In my previous post, I wrote about the great potential of Millennials. How do we help them reach this potential and motivate them to perform at their best? I think it starts with respect. They have lots of ideas that they will want to share. They are not afraid to go to the CEO during their first week of work and to make suggestions. This happened to me recently, and the suggestions were good. Listen to them. Hear them out. You may need to advise them on the “how” and “when,” but do not dismiss them. Keep them engaged.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Millennials are not patient. They want a lot of responsibility fast, so give it to them. They will surprise you with what they can do. Empower them or risk losing them to another employer or losing their full commitment and energy. Approaches like Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership® II and Situational Self Leadership are structured ways that can help both managers and their Millennial team members. Managers can learn how best to lead and develop their people according to their needs. And Millennial team members can learn to develop effective self-leadership and self-reliance.

Here are a few tips for mentoring and coaching your Millennial team members:

• Have an open door policy: Make them feel comfortable. They expect it, and it will strengthen the relationship.
• Practice empathic listening: At times, they may be emotional and anxious when they push themselves so hard. Be there just to listen, and let them express how they feel.
• Use a participative approach: They do not like to be told what to do. Millennials want to discuss things and participate in the decision-making process.
• Create a personal development plan: Collaborate with them on a yearly plan that identifies development areas, goals, and the resources and actions needed to achieve them.
• Have regular one-on-one meetings: Meet regularly with them to answer their questions, give feedback and discuss the personal development plan. They expect and like the focused attention, and a calm setting is conducive to coaching and constructive conversations.
• Invest in training: Train them so that their skills catch up to their desire for more responsibility. The investment should pay off in the form of greater productivity and results.
• Avoid comparisons: Avoid saying things like “when I was your age, I walked to school both ways uphill in the snow.” Such comparisons are not helpful or constructive.
• Build confidence: Believe in them, make sure they feel supported, nurture their talents and give them opportunities to use them. If you do, their confidence will grow, and they will soar.

We have been blessed with some incredible generations that have built and maintained our country. The founding fathers fought for our independence and constituted the great federal and state governmental institutions that are still the engine of our country. The Civil War generation gave its life and blood to preserve our country and end slavery. The WWII generation toiled through a horrible Great Depression and led the defeat of Hitler’s Nazi regime and of Japanese imperialism.

The Millennial generation, which includes those born between 1981 and 2000, seems to get bad press. “Entitled,” “lazy” and having “unrealistic expectations” are words often used to describe Millennials. Indeed, every generation seems to underestimate the next. Plato wrote 2,500 years ago how his contemporaries worried that the next generation of Athenians were too soft, not hard working and wanted success without effort. Every generation since then has likely expressed the same judgments about the generation following it.

Yet, the young can do amazing things. Alexander the Great conquered most of the civilized world by age 26. Alexander Hamilton was 32, and James Madison was 36 when they led the writing and adoption of the United States Constitution. Albert Einstein was under 30 when he published the great theories that sparked a quantum leap in science and technology. We should never underestimate the next generation of talent.

I believe that Millennials could turn out to be one of the greatest generations of our time. They have three advantages instrumental to their success.

One, they have grown up during the tech revolution, making them the most technologically savvy and information-intensive generation of all time. The world is changing dramatically because of the Internet and digital technology, and Millennials understand it best.

Two, Millennials are achievement-oriented and used to working under pressure. Although this notion contradicts the popular view, Millennials study harder in middle and high school. Many take a plethora of advanced academic classes and study longer hours than did the baby boomer generation to which I belong. Today, getting into college is more competitive and puts greater importance on class work and test scores. In addition, many participate in intense, performance-based activities, such as club sports and dance, a fact that prepares them well for the highly competitive work world.

Three, Millennials know how to collaborate and communicate effectively with their peers to get work done. This skill is vitally needed in the real world and can make the difference between productive results and failure. I noticed my oldest would do school work with her classmates. I asked her if that was allowed since it had been considered cheating when I was in school; work was always done on your own. She said that the teacher encouraged them to study together. I realized the brilliance of this idea since one of the biggest difficulties at work is to practice open collaboration.

So here is a generation that is equipped with the skills to succeed today and tomorrow: superior in technology, competitive, high achieving and adept at collaboration and communication. The Millennial generation will lead the way to solving the most pressing economic, social, political and environmental issues in our history. And those of us from earlier generations who work with Millennials should not only encourage them, but also should collaborate and learn from them.

A team member who follows Stephen Covey on Twitter recently sent me one of his posts: “Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves. Are you such a leader?”

Covey’s post makes me think of The Wizard of Oz. Behind the smoke and mirrors, the Wizard is an ordinary man whose true power lies not in magic, but rather in his ability to help Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion see the innate strengths already within them. I am reminded to be just this type of leader, one who helps people believe in themselves and in their ability to accomplish what might at first glance seem out of reach.

As leaders, we must ask ourselves if we are inspiring our teams to live up to their own greatness. At times, they may have doubts that they have what it takes to succeed.

Our role is to help our people cultivate their full potential by investing in their development and nurturing their talents and aspirations. And as our people gain confidence and grow, our businesses, too, will grow with them.

Earlier in my career, I had talented people on my team who would perform excellently for a time, and then their performance would deteriorate. My approach was to look first at my own performance as their manager and to see how I potentially contributed to this deterioration.

That introspection taught me 10 things I could do to motivate my people to perform at their best:

1. Create a safe, supportive environment that builds their confidence and capabilities.
2. Empower them by delegating, and foster a sense of pride and ownership.
3. Have regular one-on-one meetings to discuss their progress and provide feedback and coaching.
4. Help them understand the big picture and their places in it. Then keep them in the loop.
5. Give them challenging but achievable goals and hold them accountable to high but realistic standards.
6. Praise frequently and reward jobs well done. Support them when they falter, and collaborate on the best course of action to get them back on track.
7. Acknowledge things you need to improve. When you make mistakes, apologize and communicate how you will fix them.
8. Solicit their feedback on how you can do a better job as their manager.
9. Be clear and consistent in words and actions.
10. Most importantly, lead by example. You are the role model.

My wife and daughter recently watched the ESPN special, The Brady 6, about the events leading up to and after the selection of Tom Brady in 2000 as the New England Patriot’s seventh quarterback. I was somewhat surprised that they would watch a one-hour football show but then realized it told an inspiring story that could appeal to everyone. I highly recommend this documentary, which chronicles Brady’s rise to the top from humble beginnings—the story of someone who became great through sweat and determination, rather than through sheer talent.

Brady was the 199^th draft pick during his senior year. With six quarterbacks picked ahead of him, he was drafted in the sixth round. He had been overlooked because physically, he had the worst combine (an athletic workout) of any quarterback likely in history. He was slow and did not jump very high. Additionally, he did not have the greatest arm and could not throw a tight spiral. In his senior year at the University of Michigan, Brady split the starting quarterback role with a newcomer, and NFL teams questioned why he lost the starting position.

As you watch the documentary, you learn that Brady outworked and out-prepared the other quarterbacks drafted that year. Except for maybe Payton Manning, he probably continues to outwork and out-prepare all NFL quarterbacks. Today, Brady holds numerous regular season and postseason records and is one of two players in NFL history with multiple NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP awards. He is now widely viewed as one of the best NFL draft picks of all time.

Tom Brady’s story shows us that hard work and preparation, more so than natural gifts, are crucial to success. He overcame the odds and excelled at something he was truly passionate about. Rather than expecting greatness to be bestowed upon him, Brady earned it through determination, dedication and drive—a lesson from which we can all learn.

I recently spoke with someone who just opened his business but has lost his confidence. He feels that his people do not respect him because of mistakes he has made and because he no longer believes in himself. He asked me:

• “Have you ever been in a situation in which you’ve lost all confidence and question whether you’re doing the right thing?”
• “Have you been in a situation in which your people don’t look up to you anymore? If so, how did you get back their respect?”
• “How did you get back your confidence?”

I, too, have experienced doubt and difficulty, as has every successful entrepreneur. All of us have had times in our careers when we have questioned our abilities and lost our confidence. These moments that test us, however, can strengthen our character and ability to lead, if we do not let them defeat us.

Experience has taught me the following lessons to weather adversity and emerge a more effective and inspiring leader:

• Lead from the front. Show by your intensity and example how to get results. Your WILL will be contagious, and your people will follow.
• Follow through on your commitments. Demonstrate integrity by doing what you say you are going to do and by excelling at it.
• Plan and prepare. Spend the weekend organizing the week so that you have more time to lead from the front.
• Be optimistic and enthusiastic—always. Take your cue from Gene Kelly’s character in the film, Singin’ in the Rain, when he says during the famous rain sequence: “From where I stand, the sun is shining all over the place.” Bring your own sunshine to the day, even if it is pouring outside.
• Be bold in every venture. Think of the advice the goddess Athens gives Odysseus in the Homer epic, The Odyssey: “You go on inside. Be bold, nothing to fear. In every venture the bold man comes off best…” Never let fear overcome your resolve to achieve your goals and win.
• Be responsible and accountable. Accept responsibility for a situation and accountability for the result or outcome—good or bad. When you make mistakes, be clear on what you will do to fix them, and then do it.

When things are not going as well as we have planned, we should remember what Jack Welch said in his book, Winning: “Whatever you will accomplish is restricted by your ability to lead others.” We measure our success by the effectiveness of our leadership, which takes hard work and skillful practice of the fundamentals.

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Exude the right energy; teams take their cue from you.
Your team feeds off your energy, so demonstrate confidence, enthusiasm, passion and vision in everything you do. Uphold clear standards and expectations while providing knowledge, coaching and guidance.

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Build a strong relationship with your team.
Determine how well you are connecting with your team. Do people feel that you care about them and have their backs? Do they feel their lives are better by being on your team? Are they engaged and motivated?

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Be tough and consistent.
At times, you need to be tough in a relationship. Firmly holding people accountable to a high but achievable standard drives them to succeed. Teams lose confidence in leaders who appear inconsistent and allow them to become stagnant.

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Lead by example.
Your example and intensity sets the bar for the team. Your character, integrity and follow-through create trust and bind the team together.

When I entered the workforce, I sought experiences that would teach me vital skills for the future and build my confidence. Although many of my peers wanted to find jobs at companies that would carry them to retirement, I wanted to rely on myself and become a successful entrepreneur.

During the first ten years of my career, I focused on honing the skills that would make me a successful business owner. Ultimately, I learned that I needed to excel at two things: sales and relationships.

In the beginning stages of a business, the owner is usually the number-one sales person, as I was during the first five years of my commercial printing business and during all three years of my financial recruiting business. Successful entrepreneurs are savvy sales people who understand their customers’ needs and offer the most effective, compelling solutions to meet them.

Good sales people also have good people skills. Unless you want to be the only person in your business, you need to be able to work cooperatively with others and build strong relationships based on trust and respect. The more people you can successfully recruit, develop, manage and lead, the more you can accomplish and the more economic value you can generate.

The most important lesson I have learned in my career is this: Choose work experiences not for their prestige or short-term gain, but rather for their ability to equip you with the skills for success and the opportunities to practice them.

Do what you say you are going to do, when you say you will do it. Following through on your commitments demonstrates integrity, builds credibility and earns people’s trust. Follow-through is one of the building blocks of success.

Conversely, you cannot respect or count on those who do not meet their commitments. They are not the ones with whom we will have lasting relationships, nor are they the ones we think of first when there is opportunity. We should make sure that we follow through, so we can be the ones on whom people rely.

Consistent follow-through requires not only the right attitude, but also the right skills. Planning systems like FranklinCovey’s® can help you become more effective at organizing and managing important activities and events. Your focus and discipline, bolstered by such tools, can help you become adept at prioritizing and accomplishing the toughest tasks under the most challenging conditions.

There are times, however, when things may slip through the cracks. It happens to the best of us. Do not get discouraged. Just be accountable and go the extra mile not just to finish the task, but also to excel at it.

One of the best books written by sports greats is When the Game was Ours by Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson, with Jackie MacMullan.

Larry Bird and Magic Johnson will always be linked as two competitors.  They are linked like Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier and Wilt Chamberlain versus Bill Russell.  They first competed against each other in the NCAA basketball championship, which has the highest ratings of viewers of any game in history.  They then competed against each other in the NBA and in three NBA finals.  One was white and one was black; one from a city and one from the country; one was quiet and shy and one outgoing and loved being around people.  The one thing that they had in common is that neither was a great athlete.  They were considered slow, with poor jumping ability.  They were great because of their work ethic and their deep desire to be great.  They out-worked and out-competed their competition.

They did not like each other at first, yet there was respect.  They each practiced hard, motivated to beat the other.  Then because of a television commercial they became friends.  This book tells about each of their lives, how hard they worked and practiced and how they became friends.

This is a must read for people who want to be successful.  It does help if you have a slight interest in basketball, but it may not be necessary.  This is a compelling story of what it takes to win.  We often think these great stars are born great.  Not the case with most and especially Bird and Magic.  They did it by will and effort.

One of the best quotes from the book, summarizes what I am referring to about why this book is a must read for those who want to know what it takes to be successul: “[Magic] worked tirelessly on his ball-handling and his rebounding with the advice [Coach] Fox gave him imprinted on his mind: when you think you have done enough, do a little more, because someone out there is working harder than you.  Bird was told the same thing by coach Jim Jones.  As he advanced from high school to the college game, he wasn’t sure that “other person” truly existed.  ‘Not until I met Magic,’ Bird said.”