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Reflecting upon an internship with Wal-Mart last summer, Daniela*, an MBA student, raved to me about her manager and how much she learned on the job. She was encouraged to keep a running list of questions about how the mammoth retailer’s operations worked, and she discussed them with her manager during weekly calls. Then, whenever feasible, the manager put her in touch with the people directly related to her inquiries. By the end of the summer, Daniela had a strong handle on Wal-Mart, and had built up a stable of contacts and connections internally to help her think strategically about next steps in her career.

Recently, the marketing director for a tech start-up told me that her CEO was furiously drafting job descriptions for a half-dozen summer interns. She was planning to bring a small army of youngsters on board to help push her business into overdrive this summer. As the director of marketing looked at her CEO quizzically, she asked, “you know you need to manage all those interns, right?”

The litany of leaders who’ve founded and built their companies in their twenties and thirties is long and storied. It’s hard to read much of anything in the news these days without Mark Zuckerberg, Biz Stone, or Andrew Mason weighing in. But more and more today, even the average young professional, the Millenial, is taking on increased responsibility at work, and managing and leading others far older than themselves.