
The Leader Learner Podcast Are Gen Z the Me, Me, Me Generation?
Nov 13, 2025
31:12
QUESTION: Are Gen Z Me, Me, Me?
BIG IDEAS:
- Lots of complaints from a team leader around respect for him and org. His belief that his younger team members are overconfident and think they are superior
- Do leaders need to prioritize the organization over themselves
- Leaders looking for themselves in future leaders (projection)
- Generalizations around generations
- We tend to overestimate when people were born, but what they went through and where are they now in their lives that make a difference
- What 25-year-old prioritizes the organization over themselves?
- Gen Z were hit really hard by Covid, and it defines how we see the world
- Perception that Gen Z lacks patience and don't want to put in the work
- Dunning Krueger Effect or status quos on timelines?
- Learning can happen much faster, but they lack experience
- When we judge others for judging, we are judging too
- Is it a lack of patience?
- Envy and resentment growing -- wish to have the attitude that Gen Z has
- Tension between the "new way" and the "old way"
- COVID shifted priorities for people, yet companies want to go back to the way things were (working in the office being a top priority)
- What does it mean to "go back to normal"?
- "That's the way we've always done it," can get in the way of growth
- Adapt rather than fight it
- Equity of treatment across generations and work preferences
- It's not about working 50% versus, it's about working 50% or leaving the company
- We only need to love 20% of our work to find meaning in all of our work
- Only 14% of people are engaged -- how is that measured?
- Are we asking too much of people for their work?
- How much is the perception of engagement valid across generations?
- How much show off and show me rose due to the self facing camera?
- Over praising leading to overconfidence
- Instead of keeping them down, give them the opportunity to safely fail
- Seeing the gray area between people's truths
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
- Podcast || Social Science Bites - Episode on Generational Myths
- Book || Love + Work by Marcus Buckingham
- Book || Think Again by Adam Grant
More yummy content on leaderlearner.fm
