We recognise that without a significant shift in business school curricula as well as leadership development agendas, it will not be possible to break with the individualistic short-term behaviours of today’s organisations and businesses. This research, therefore, also raises some important questions about whether the current research into Gen Y, which is highly Western-centric and almost exclusively US-based, is replicated when we look at the wider global cohort, and what our own primary data reveals about a more globally dispersed cohort of Gen Y future leaders and the alternative insights that our own research participants reveal for the future of responsible leadership development. In 2011 a global manufacturer’s Corporate Academy invited 125 nextgeneration leaders from across the globe to a World Students’ Dialogue. The essay that they were asked to write for selection to the event was entitled ‘What does globally responsible leadership and integrity mean to you?’ This event was designed to inform the 50 + 20 project, a collaborative initiative that ‘seeks to learn of new ways and opportunities for management education to transform and reinvent itself ’ (www. 50plus20.org). Also, in 2012-13, the University of Gloucestershire incorporated a finalyear undergraduate module on Global Responsible Leadership (GRL). The students were also asked to write a similar essay, although there was a more traditional academic approach in the request to draw on the GRL, business ethics, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature. The most highly graded 22 essays were selected for analysis. Our research set out to analyse the mindsets of the young people who wrote these essays. Our purpose was thereby to inform the theory and practice of globally responsible leadership development, and in turn to support GRLI’s (Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative, www.grli.org) agenda to reframe the purpose and practice of management education. The research confirmed that the vast majority of current research into Generation Y (otherwise known as the Millennial Generation, Nexters, or Echo Boomers) has been conducted in the US with a little in Europe. In the US they are thought to represent 30 per cent of their population (Baldano and Spangenburg, 2009). Gen Y has typically been characterized in such recent studies as self-centred and narcissistic. They are known by some as ‘Generation Me’ (Twenge, 2010; Twenge, Campbell, Hoffman, & Lance, 2010) and have been portrayed as having a ‘myopic tendency toward self gratification’ (Boyd, 2010). Others have found that they have a sense of entitlement and are used to getting their way (VanMeter, Grisaffe, Chonko, & Roberts, 2013). Part of the explanation for this appears to be that in the West at least, Gen Y appears to have been educated by their parents from very young to seek approval and affirmation (Dries, Pepermans, & De Kerpel, 2008; Hewlett, Sherbin, & Sumberg, 2009; Kowske, Rasch, & Wiley, 2010). In addition, for many, it seems that involvement in family decisions was part of their upbringing, as their parents communicated with them much more than the previous generation of parents (Lancaster & Stillman, 2002). In

summary, Gen Y children in Western countries have tended to experience a more democratic relationship with their parents than previous generations, and now appear to find authoritarian managers difficult to work with. Furthermore, Gen Y also seems to have a high need for structure and reassurance, and the desire for a family feeling at work that may also be the result of their upbringing (Flander, 2008). Many have revealed that they like to be led by a manager who will also play the role of confidant, friend, and coach (Hershatter & Epstein, 2010). Baldano and Spangenberg (2009) also noted that Gen Y appears to be more idealistic than Gen X, but a little more realistic than Baby Boomers. A strong desire to achieve a much greater work-life balance than their parents has also been revealed in many studies. Although they are broadly engaged at work, these US-centric studies found that this does not translate into a long-term commitment to their employer. Instead, Generation Y tends to assume responsibility for their own career management and employability. They value a high degree of freedom and autonomy in the way they carry out work as highlighted by the ILM/Ashridge survey (2013). The survey continues by suggesting that they want their managers to respect and value them, support with career progression, trust them to get on with things, and communicate well with them. Izzo (2002) supports this finding by suggesting that they are entrepreneurial, independent, digitally savvy, reject micromanagement, and value empowerment and excitement. A further study highlights that Gen Y are likely to be ‘skeptical, mistrustful and apathetic towards traditional hierarchies and authority’ (Martin & Tulgan, 2002). This could create problems for multinational, globally based large organisations, as working for such corporations has limited appeal. Generation Y would seem to wish for a workplace that allows them to be imaginative, creative, and demonstrative, enabling them to be part of an ever-changing scenario. SchlichtemeierNutzman (2002, p. 49) also commented that Gen Y is ‘considerably more optimistic and more interested in volunteerism than Generation X’. In short, they appear to possess a more romanticised approach to work than previous generations which is demonstrated in their aspirations for a better society. In terms of their relationships at work, Gen Y prefers working in teams, wanting work that really matters to them. The advice from Baldano and Spangenburg (2009) is that part of developing job satisfaction for Gen Y employees is to make the workplace fun, comfortable, and safe. This unrealistic and romanticised notion of the workplace tends to pervade the expectations of this generation, whilst today’s realities indicate a very different experience of work. This generation’s early work experiences of an upswing in the economy now contrasts with the current recessional experiences of the workplace in many Western countries. Possibly as a result of being born in the digital age, Gen Y appears to be good at multi-tasking, being comfortable with contacting internet ‘friends’ across the globe, using Facebook and other social networking sites to find out about individuals from all types of cultures. This may create future leaders

who can communicate well across differing cultures but who are perhaps less good than previous generations at face-to-face interaction and deciphering non-verbal cues. A study of recent Gen Y undergraduates in their final year (some with work experiences) using Implicit Leadership Theory (Lord, Foti, & Phillips, 1982) suggests that they already have ‘clearly defined expectations of traits, qualities and behaviours needed by senior management’ (Curtis, Loon, & Williams, 2014) but lower expectations of those in supervisory or general line management. However, when these more vaguely expressed expectations were met these young people reported a more positive view towards the organisation that employed them. Equally a more negative perception of their line managers led to negative feelings about the organisation. This echoes some of the characteristics identified in a study of both senior leaders and Gen Y employees conducted by Munro (2012). Here, Gen Y leaders expected to develop a much more values-based approach to leadership than previous generations, to harmonise, and to make more transparent the connections between organisational values and organisational initiatives. Munro (2012) suggests that cultural as well as emotional intelligence is likely to be seen as a key competency for future Gen Y leaders. Her study of Gen Y employees found that they placed importance on mentoring, and in line with other research, a desire to ‘discard the . . . phrase “think outside the box” and replace it with “burn the box . . . and recycle the ashes” ’ (Munro, 2012, p. 5). Gen Y would seek to remove many company policies and procedures, especially those showing lack of trust. Gen Y tends to seek a more collaborative approach to workplace relationships. However, despite evidence of strong collectivist views, other research suggests that they can be narcissistic and selffocused. These tensions and values paradoxes mean that managing, educating, and developing this generation is a complex challenge. Little has been written about the approach that Gen Y takes towards the planet, society, community, and responsibility. However, research (for example, Munro, 2012) has suggested that Generation Y employees do expect to move quickly into leadership positions, and are often societyminded, eco-aware, and socially conscious, displaying respect and tolerance for diversity, and a focus on human rights. Despite the US-centric nature of the Gen Y literature, we did identify a number of fertile discussions that raised many important questions for our study. Our research examined the narratives of globally responsible leadership embedded in the two sets of essays outlined above, focusing on what underlying meaning and assumptions about the economic and social world, the planet, and the nature of responsibility and integrity are found within them, and how these young people might lead our society into the future. We sought to identify within the texts the underlying meanings and assumptions about the economic and social world, the planet, the nature of responsibility, and how this group of Generation Y young people perceive their future leadership roles in the workplace. Our data analysis found many puzzling and

contradictory patterns, values, and beliefs exhibited by these future leaders from across the globe. We acknowledge that both groups were to some extent self-selecting. The corporate conference applicant group was largely MBA students and graduates who had chosen to apply to join an event on globally responsible leadership, and the Gloucestershire cohort of undergraduates were studying business and management and had chosen to study this particular module. Given the particular focus and nature of these young people, we wanted to understand what was driving them to want to focus on responsible leadership, and what these narratives were adding to our understanding of Generation Y as a whole, and their perspectives on globally responsible leadership and integrity in particular. As noted earlier, the notion of generation is generally a Western-centric construct and has been defined in a number of ways, clustering many diverse groups of people whose behaviours will vary widely according to culture, experience, education, background into a single ‘generation’. Clearly such a clustering is highly problematic, but despite this we found much of value to our inquiry in this literature that helps us to understand the voices of the young people themselves.