Leading Gen Z - The Solution - Part 2

Good Morning, and welcome to our second newsletter for July!

This is the promised second part of my piece on 'Leading Gen Z - The Solution'

In the first article published in June I discussed Gen Z's context (See April for a deeper dive on this). We talked about the need to understand the fact the world has changed, and therefore our need as leaders to accept this change, rather than thinking we can somehow turn back the clock.

I also ran through the EMPOWER framework as a tool for setting baseline leadership behaviours which will empower Gen Z, and the teams around them.

In this second piece I'm going to add a few next steps to the EMPOWER framework and provide some additional global context.

Firstly the context.

The behaviour changes we see in Gen Z are repeated globally. Business and social / health studies from around the world; UK, US, EU, Brazil, South Africa, India, Singapore, Indonesia ( I could go on) speak the same language:

• Changed work ethic, rejection of the 'hustle' culture.
• Gen Z prioritises: purpose, work-life balance and learning opportunities over climbing the corporate ladder.
• Willingness to walk away from companies that don’t align with their values.
• The craving of frequent feedback and communication.
• Many of Gen Z are avoiding overly demanding jobs and leadership roles that don’t seem worth the stress.
• Gen Z brings strong expectations for mental health support and openness in the workplace.
• Consistent global references to confidence, mental health and resilience concerns.

If we are seeing the same behaviours globally, clearly we need to adapt, these changes are not simply a local anomaly.

This of course begs the question, what causes the same generational changes across multiple geographies and cultures at the same time? A question I'll come back to in the next newsletter.

So, how do we lead successfully in this changed and changing context?

In addition to the EMPOWER framework I want to add three further points:

1) Boundaries & Accountability

I and others, talk a lot about empathy, but empathy does not mean being permissive.

A story I often use to illustrate this is one a friend shared with me. There was a couple who are by any material measure spectacularly successful. However, their children suffer from the fact they cannot / will not regularly attend school, there is substance abuse, anti social behaviour and mental health concerns.

In their upbringing there have been no rules, no boundaries, no expectations, and complete freedom to act as they please at any age. My friend puts this down to the children being loved 'too much' and the parents being unable to say no.

To which my response is, nonsense...

Love does not mean zero boundaries, no rules and an acceptance of anarchic chaos. The effects of this could be argued to be no different to neglect.

This is an extreme example, I hope... but it illustrates the point that good intentions, love, kindness, empathy and compassion do not mean always giving people exactly what they want, when they want it and with zero accountability.

To bring this back to the work place, I believe we must lead with empathy, we must adapt to support the changed context of a younger generation, but we must also give the compassionate support of setting boundaries and holding people accountable, all done through clarity of communication and crystal clear expectation setting.

2) The personal adaptation and growth of us as leaders.

In short the leadership skills required of us now require every stronger emotional intelligence.

Communication skills, including variation in style and approach are ever more important.

We need the self-confidence, and openness, to communicate transparently at all levels, and to be questioned and challenged by even the most junior team member.

We need the patience and skill to give regular, ongoing and at times challenging feedback. (There is a reason giving feedback is one of the most commonly sought after training sessions.)

We need to shift our time horizons, and consequently leadership approach, to deal with the increased importance of now. We can no longer see change management as occasional, it is for the foreseeable, an ongoing constant.

We need to be able to talk about why what we do has meaning and purpose and translate that to why today matters.

We need the skill to be able to help develop those we lead on an ongoing basis, and we need to do all of this whilst balancing a hybrid home/office context.

It is understandable that many people are checking out of leadership and would rather not take on this challenge...

But I would encourage leaders not to do check out, we need you!

I would instead encourage you to embrace learning with the same passion Gen Z talk about it. To do all of the above we need to learn and grow and challenge ourselves and in that you become more and will enjoy your role much more.

3) Be open to learning from Gen Z, there is much we can learn from each other.

As I shared in my newsletter from earlier this month Gen Z are not victims of a changing context they are simply adapting to it, they are adapting to the context they are in, not the one we grew up in.

In many ways they are adapting ahead of older generations and there is much we can learn from that.

Gen Z do not see us role modelling outcomes they like or believe in, we should consider why that is, and as I said in the last newsletter:

As older generations I think our best approach is to role model a healthy, motivated, purposeful and fulfilled life, one that others can aspire to, one that Gen Z will naturally come looking to learn from.

All of my work comes out of a lot of research but more importantly conversations directly with those leading today, so if you take a different view to me, have questions or have something to add, then please do get in touch I would love to hear your perspective.

Enjoy the rest of July and if I can help you, or your team, learn more in these areas please do get in touch.

Haylor Leadership Good leaders change the world for the better