A well written article.

Leadership should not only be defined or developed and applied to the Millenials.....it should be applied to all employees/co-workers.   If these other groups -- Gen X, Baby Boomers, and everything in between do not need "careful and thoughtful" leadership, then perhaps the millenials are unique.

"Give us that structure, that framework, but be flexible......".   This is great to idealize, but as a future leader, who would like to be in a position to lead a work unit, department, organization or region --- how do you do this?   What are your suggestions for implementing this when law (Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), collective bargaining unit contracts, tax reporting, Fair Labor Standards Act, Public Records,  for example) conflicts with the desire for flexibility.

Instead of laying what you need as a group, perhaps you can lay out what the group brings to an organization in terms of value, and differentiate this from what other groups bring to the table.  This would help to begin the process of identifying where millenials are unique (if this is the case) and to assist with the "on-boarding and mentoring" that are crucial to the development of leaders and contributors to the success of any organization.

As a general rule, I avoid trying to define a group by their demographic traits when it comes to their potential, as I think the broad brush approach tends to put limits or constraints on a group.   I have very little time to assess a group that has been defined by someone else; instead I use leadership and human skills that I have developed over many years, personally and professionally, to interpret the "tabula rosa" of each individual I encounter and then assess their personal values through time working together because I believe that the manifestation of personal values via exhibited behaviors are more telling than the broad brush of a group that someone else has defined.

I could write a thesis on this, but time does not permit.   Keep on pushing and define the value that you bring to the organization, and please do not use someone else's definition.