Article 5
I have heard the phrase many times.
“These young people today…”
And depending on who is speaking, what follows might be a comment about work ethic, communication, loyalty, patience, technology, respect or expectations.
But I have found myself thinking about something else.
When I entered the workplace, the expectation was quite clear: I adapted to my leader.
I learned how my supervisor communicated. I learned what was expected of me. I learned when to speak, how to approach certain conversations and, quite frankly, what not to say.
There was very little discussion about whether my leader needed to adapt to me.
Today, leadership is different.
If I want the engagement, contribution and buy-in of the people I lead, I cannot simply expect everyone to adjust to my preferred way of working.
I have to be willing to adapt too.
The Workplace Has Changed
Today’s workplace can include people from several generations working alongside one another.
They may have different experiences of authority, communication, technology, career progression and work itself.
But I am cautious about reducing those differences to labels.
Not every Baby Boomer thinks alike. Neither does every Gen X, Millennial or Gen Z employee.
Generation may influence us, but it does not define us.
Our culture matters. Our upbringing matters. Our profession matters. Our personalities matter. And our individual experiences certainly matter.
So perhaps the leadership question is not:
“What is wrong with this generation?”
A more useful question might be:
“What do I need to understand about the people I am leading?”
Think About How Much Has Changed
Sometimes I think about the telephone we had at home when I was growing up.
In those days, not every household had one. If someone called for a neighbour, you might have to go and get them.
And an overseas telephone call? That was an event.
I can still remember how different those conversations felt. Even my mother’s voice seemed to change when she was speaking overseas!
Compare that with today.
We carry our phones everywhere. We send a WhatsApp message and expect a response. We hold meetings across countries from our laptops. We communicate through email, video, voice notes, messaging platforms and social media, sometimes all in the same day.
Now imagine how differently someone entering the workplace today has experienced communication compared with someone who began working several decades ago.
Neither experience is necessarily better.
They are simply different.
And those differences enter the workplace with us.
Communication Is More Than Sending the Message
This is where leadership becomes interesting.
A leader may say:
“But I told them.”
My question is:
“What did they understand?”
We can communicate the same message to five people and receive five different responses.
One person may want clear instructions.
Another may want the opportunity to discuss the issue.
Someone else may prefer time to process before responding.
Another may want to understand why before focusing on what.
The answer is not to create a different leadership personality for every employee.
It is to become sufficiently aware and adaptable to recognise that communication is not complete simply because I have spoken.
Adaptation Goes Both Ways
This does not mean that leaders must accommodate every preference or abandon standards.
Nor does it mean that younger employees should never have to adapt.
Workplaces still need expectations, accountability, professionalism and boundaries.
Adaptation is not a one-way street.
But leaders have a particular responsibility because our behaviour shapes the environment in which others are expected to perform.
If I continue communicating in exactly the same way simply because “this is how I have always done it,” I may be protecting my comfort rather than leading effectively.
And that takes me back to self-awareness.
I need to know my natural style.
But I also need to recognise when that style is not getting the response, understanding or engagement the situation requires.
Curiosity Before Judgment
One of the dangers of generational conversations is how quickly difference can become judgment.
“They don’t want to work.”
“They ask too many questions.”
“They’re always on their phones.”
“They don’t communicate.”
And younger employees have their own descriptions of older colleagues and leaders.
Once we label people, we can stop being curious about them.
What if, instead, we asked:
What is behind this behaviour?
What expectations are different?
What does this person need to understand from me?
And what might I need to understand from them?
Curiosity does not remove accountability.
It helps us lead with greater understanding before we make assumptions.
We Have to Keep Learning
So much has changed during my own working life.
And so much more will change.
Technology will continue to reshape work. Artificial intelligence already is. Expectations of leaders will evolve. New generations will enter the workplace with experiences we did not have and questions we may never have thought to ask.
We cannot lead tomorrow’s workforce entirely from yesterday’s experience.
Our experience matters. There is wisdom in it.
But experience should not make us rigid.
It should give us a stronger foundation from which to keep learning.
Perhaps that is one of the responsibilities of stewardship leadership.
We do not simply pass on what we know.
We create space for what others know too.
And somewhere between those two things, we build stronger teams and begin developing the people who will eventually lead after us.
So the next time we are tempted to say:
“These young people…”
Perhaps we should pause.
And ask instead:
“What might I need to understand?”
Because if the world of work keeps changing, then those of us who lead must be willing to keep learning and adapting with it.
