Gen Z – What You Need to Know to Lead Them

Perry Holley:
Welcome to the Maxwell Leadership Executive Podcast where our goal is to help you increase your reputation as a leader, increase your ability to influence others, and increase your ability to fully engage your team to deliver remarkable results. Hi, I’m Perry Holley, a Maxwell leadership facilitator and coach.

Chris Goede:
And I’m Chris Goede, executive vice president with Maxwell Leadership. Welcome and thank you for joining us. I want to encourage you to download the learner’s guide not only for today’s lesson, last week’s lesson, just once in the future where you can make notes, work off of. It’s a great tool to be able to share what you’re learning with your team. You can do that by going to maxwellleadership.com/podcast. Click on this podcast and there you’ll see where you can download that, that learner guide. Well, today’s topic is titled Gen Z what you need to know to lead them. This is a continuation of leadership thoughts for us around the Gen Z world.

Chris Goede:
And that population right now is more than 59 million strong. These are individuals, remember Perry talked about it last week, are, you know, born between 2000 and 2017. And so what we are learning is that how you lead them really matters. They have some perceptions of what that would look like, some expectations maybe. And so, man, we really need to do a good job of how we lead them because it matters.

Perry Holley:
And this is a big population. They are the future of the workplace. Now they’re your 20 somethings that are probably just in their first jobs out of the university perhaps, but it’s an interesting population. They are educated, they’re very knowledgeable, they have a lot of skills, they’re digital natives. They, they’re very innovative. But they also come into a workplace where older generations like me and you are, can be a little prescriptive. We know what we want, we’re driving for results. We can be very direct.

Perry Holley:
We don’t, we don’t let them have a voice. We have the voice.

Chris Goede:
Right?

Perry Holley:
And I think this is when you think about how you want to lead this, this younger generation who are going to be the force coming in the next few years, is that I don’t want to disengage them, I don’t want to discourage them, I don’t want to push them out. I want to find the value. And this is what Tim Elmore, our partner, has been so great in helping us understand is how do we value this next generation and help them to make a contribution because they have a very unique set of skills that I think we’d Be wise to take into.

Chris Goede:
Absolutely. Speaking of Tim, some exciting news coming in a few weeks about a new partnership with Tim around the younger generations. He’s really a generational expert. We always say the next generation because he’s always studying and remembering that. So continue to tune in. Some exciting news coming there about that. But I think with anything before we start, we really need to understand and just refresh who this generation is. And sometimes people just clump them together.

Chris Goede:
Right. Where, like you said, could be like us or, you know, like millennials or the Gen Y who actually went before him. But this generation’s approach to work is really shaped a little bit differently. It’s a blend of the digital side of things, global awareness, and then a very strong desire for social impact. It’s kind of refreshing if you think about it, and it’s revolutionary. It’s different than anything we’ve seen before. They have an intuitive grasp of the digital tools and platforms. I often will lean on them at times when I need some help with digital devices or tools or platforms.

Chris Goede:
Comes very easy to them, which then kind of positions them as innovators on the team or in your business. And so you need to just be aware of that. And so they are definitely more creative than other generations before them and 100% more creative than me. And so I always like to lean into that because I need that creativity.

Perry Holley:
Being more creative than you is not hard.

Chris Goede:
That’s exactly right. That’s right.

Perry Holley:
If you’re setting a bar.

Chris Goede:
That’s right.

Perry Holley:
I think also what I’ve learned about this generation, they are the most ethnically and racially diverse generation in history. They are. They’re very global. They have global exposure through digital media that’s been cultivated. They really appreciate diversity. They really appreciate inclusivity, being an inclusive leader, something we talk about. These are things that come natural to them. They’ve been brought up in a much different way than some of the older generations.

Perry Holley:
They place an unprecedented amount of emphasis on mental well being. This will come up a lot with them. And they want a balanced approach to work. This has been broadcast to be that they don’t want to work. This is not true at all. They are very hard workers, but they also realize that there’s life outside of work. My generation had just the opposite. We wanted to work and if there was time left over for life, good.

Perry Holley:
But we didn’t require that. I think they want a more balanced approach to that and this. They’re more adaptable at working remotely or working with flexible schedules. They can work from anywhere. This is a big debate going on around to be in the office, not being the office, those types of things, you know, realizing that they have the ability. My generation, I’m. I’m getting pretty good about working from anywhere, but it wasn’t my natural habitat. I liked having an office and having all my stuff, but they’re, they’re.

Perry Holley:
They’re not like that. They’re very ability to be remote. And this focus on health and balance is prompting organizations to reconsider these policies about. How do we. You know, it’s one of the topics we hear about a lot about the health and wellness of the. Of the employee base. A lot of that was driven by this generation coming into play.

Chris Goede:
Yeah, well, and the other thing I love about this generation, we have a bent here at Maxwell leadership towards this. They are more entrepreneurial than the previous generations. And so it’s again, refreshing for that. And so they also have a great desire for continuous learning. They value development opportunities. You’ve heard Perry and I talk about this in the past where a differentiator in the hiring process is to make sure that you have a development plan in place for them because they’re going to gravitate towards organizations that offer them more training, mentorship programs, or even any type of initiatives or incentives around additional education. They just value that.

Perry Holley:
They’re also. One last thing I think about what defines them is they’re really strong in environmental and social issues. So they are drawn to organizations that kind of can balance profitability with responsibility, social responsibility and environmental stewardship. So you’ll see a lot of that playing out. They are. It’s not a new conversation, but it has picked up a lot of steam, this idea of corporate social responsibility. You’ll see CSR initiatives making in the press now, but I think that a lot of that was there previously, but it’s picked up steam with this generation to do that. So what I’d love to do is just in the remainder of our time, let’s discuss a few things to how you.

Perry Holley:
If this is all true, what we’ve said about them, which comes from the research, we didn’t make it up. What. What should we do as leaders to lead this generation of workers?

Chris Goede:
Yeah. First, let me go back to the csr. It is something you need to be aware of, because when I see csr, I think of customer service. Yeah, right. Like I. And you got to change your mindset because they’re using that acronym for something different. But. Yeah.

Chris Goede:
So let’s dive in. First, we must offer a Greater sense of ownership and autonomy. They come to the job like they’re renting the job. Right. They don’t really own it to. Whereas previous generation, older generations. Like that was it. Like that was that.

Chris Goede:
They’re going to. They’re going to own that loyalty.

Perry Holley:
I mean, if you didn’t stay at a company 30 years.

Chris Goede:
Yeah, right. Very familiar to that. And that’s not the case anymore. And so leaders must provide a sense of ownership by offering greater sense of autonomy, you know, to their team, to those that are of the younger generation. And this communicates trust to them, which without a shadow of a doubt, is the currency of all leadership and what increases your influence and leadership in the workforce. So one of our teams, the growing leaders team, coming out of Tim Elmore’s birthing that baby over there, there’s a couple of things that they have in place that’s different than other parts of our organization. And so just thought we’d share these with you as it gives them a lot of autonomy in what they do. The first one is they have deep work Wednesdays, which is they’re allowed to.

Chris Goede:
And this is amazing. I’m going over to that office and working from there now on. Which means, man, we know you have some stuff each week that really takes a lot of deep thought think about. For you, Perry, it’d be creating content right where you need no distractions. So what that means is that on Wednesdays, this is what I’m really excited about. I’m going over there every Wednesday you’re.

Perry Holley:
Sending me over there.

Chris Goede:
Is that you can decline. Any metering quest for that day, like that’s your day to simply really do some deep work, some deep thinking, some planning, without any interruptions. They have a work from anywhere Friday, which is a spin on work from home on Friday, but they can work from anywhere, which allows teammates just to do that. And so these different things along the way just have really increased their ownership of their own work, of their own business, given a lot of trust and autonomy with the team. And so those two things going together is a good recipe for a culture inside that team that is engaged.

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Perry Holley:
A second area was develop their mindset and turn them loose. That if you can correct get their thinking in alignment with the corporate way, then your way, the organizational way, then you can let them go. Tim was saying that hiring managers, usually the olders, they’re assuming that everybody kind of breathes in and out the corporate mission and vision the same way. They too, but these new folks, they haven’t internalized what it is we’re about. And so again, at Growing Leaders, Tim says that they’ve become more intentional about building this mindset with the staff with he has weekly Habitudes Academy. Now, you’re not familiar with Habitudes. These are leadership habits and attitudes that really apply in leadership. So he’ll use word pictures on how that really stick in your mind.

Perry Holley:
So I love these a lot. But Thursday afternoon, he’ll have team time and they focus on personal and professional development. So building that into allowing them to come together to understand how we do things here and what our. What our direction is. In addition, he says they start every Monday morning with a standup meeting and they. They tell story about how they practiced or their purpose for the Growing Leaders the previous week. So they kind of share and review the miss and vision when they have these Monday standups. Just to say this is the behaviors we saw last week that actually exhibit our mission and vision.

Perry Holley:
So we kind of get in their mind right around what it is we do and why we do it, and then letting them go. He says if we think right, we’ll serve. Well, I love that.

Chris Goede:
I love that. Third, we must relax where we can. Perry. And be stubborn where we must, Chris. Yeah, that’s exactly right. Well, we can be stubborn about our core values, about our beliefs, about how we do things here, but we really then need to think about relaxing with almost, you know, everything else. And so this is different for different work environments and different office settings. We understand that.

Chris Goede:
But the principle of it is, is where we’re coming from. And, you know, with the Growing Leaders team. Another thing that Tim does that I’m going over there, Unlimited PTO is something that, you know, I know many of you out there have that as a, as a perk, and there are organizations that do that. It Just really communicates and lets the team member be responsible for their own pto, but also knowing that they’re there not to let their teammates down. And so I think I even have read a report to where organizations that do have unlimited pto, they’re using less PTO than those that, that actually have a certain dedicated amount of pto. And so as we, you know, relax and it communicates belief in everyone around the team, we’re not micromanaging and not necessarily involved in everything that they’re doing. And so this, this also we need to focus on. It also helps make the shift then from being prescriptive to descriptive leadership by letting staff choose not only their targets, but then also how they will hit them.

Chris Goede:
This one right here, I pause a little bit on is that I do it a little bit differently to where I make the team part of what our targets are, what our goals are, and it’s a collaboration and then I let them kind of run free on how they’re going to go find them. I think that you would have to make sure you’re having a lot of conversations around does those targets align with the organization’s goals and budget and where we’re going? But there’s a way to do it and that’s the heart behind what Tim’s saying here. There’s a way to do it differently. We got to be thinking about that. And so we should be as leaders serving as consultants and coaches more than commanders. The sticky statement here that Tim leaves us with around this concept I love, which is we stick to our mission, but we flex on our methods.

Perry Holley:
Yeah, good. The final way I this you’re going to lead this generation is you got to demonstrate to the team that we prioritize their well being. And we consistently, I know here and our organization and Tim at Growing Leaders consistently reminding team members that we care about their personal growth and their professional growth, we back this up. I know at Growing Leaders they department leaders work with all the team members on personal and team development plans. But he also gives everyone a day, a year to step away and determine where they hope to grow. So they get a think day that they can take any time they want. Where they work on their plans, both personal, professional, health, whatever that you think you need, you put that together, then bring that back and collaborate with your leader and your teammates to determine how their current role can be a pathway to their dream job and helping them to find a way through that. So he said that every task is seen as a step toward growing their skill set and to growing their, their well being in there.

Chris Goede:
I think as I wrap up, this was a lot of information kind of shared with you about the Gen Z. And what I want to really challenge you is say, how do I take this and now implement some of this? How do I act on some of this? And that really starts with your own awareness of how do you receive team members that are from this generation. And you may not intentionally be having a wall up or be guarded or not doing some of the things that Perry’s brought to us with the content today from, from Tim. But I want to challenge you to really think about it because it starts with you as the leader. And also I want to, I want to challenge those that may be listening, that are from the younger generations and do the same thing you said a little while ago, or maybe it was a previous podcast where Tim has this reverse mentoring thing, right? Like, do you truly understand as we unpacked, you know, the Gen Z with what you need to know to lead them if you’re younger, if, if you’re, you know, Gen Z or maybe a millennial, are you doing the same thing for other generations? Are you, do you truly understand them? Because at, at the core, again, we’re gonna come back to the five levels. At the core of getting to level two, influence, getting permission to lead them. You gotta understand them. You have to lead them the way they need to be led.

Chris Goede:
And the only way to do that is to go dig up some research and truly understand, you know, how are they wired, what does it look like? And that’s what Perry’s provided for us today from his time with Tim. So appreciate Perry bringing this to us.

Perry Holley:
My pleasure. As a reminder, if you want to know more about our offerings, especially this how to lead multigenerational teams, or about our other podcast, or leave us a comment or a question, you can do all that at Maxwell Leadership. We love hearing from you. Very grateful you spend this time with us. That’s all today from the Maxwell Leadership Executive Podcast.

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