PART 2
Welcome to the final installment of “3 Ways To Unlock A Gen-Z Friendly Culture Today.”
If you missed PART 1 you can read it here. It will give you context for where we’re headed next. Briefly, we covered the importance of culture at this unique moment in history, the reasons we struggle to recruit and retain Gen-Z, and why we need to make specific shifts.
Now it’s time to talk shift? 😬 Let’s start future proofing…
SHIFT 1: EMBRACE THE BLUR
Every human being comes to work wondering the same thing: “Can I be myself? Or do I need to tie half my personality behind my back, half my passion, be half the man or woman I could be?”
Homelife doesn’t stop during work hours. So why would our hopes, dreams, feeds, passions, fears, and emotions turnoff between 9 and 5? (Is anyone still working the 9-5 shift??)
Clark Kent is the only one I know with complete separation between home and work life. It's crystal clear when he's on the clock.
For everyone else, it’s a blurred line between home and work, Netflix and Zoom, black lights and blue lights, and of course, haircuts and half-days. Click for more about the Gen-Z workday haircut.
We ALL bring some ‘home’ with us to work.
When we accept that and allow both to coexist, we are allowing people to be themselves—to be authentic. No more polish. No more hiding. No more changing in a phone booth! (The DAD in me started singing, ‘No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”) Anyone?? 🙉
Previous generations were able to stuff it. Gen-Z would rather quit.
A Gen-Z friendly culture encourages people to bring WHO THEY ARE to WHAT THEY DO.
Translation: Be Yourself! It makes us better.
And I don’t just mean more honesty and emotion. We’re talking more passion, more personality, perspective, and everything in-between. More human. Better. Oh, and more fun!
“Work is way too much of our life to NOT be fun.“
The world is changing, and work is too.
In fact, the world changed more in two years than the last two decades. Back in the day (2019), when an employee had a personal issue, we had them fill out some paperwork. If a team member was struggling, we didn’t walk through it with them. Nah, we put them on leave, or worse, we let them go.
A lot has changed.
Work is no longer a place to pretend you have it all together. Now, it’s a place to be real and pretend you are working. (Jk, but… are you?)
And most importantly, going to work with a cold is no longer noble. Allergies? No.
Our job is to create a safe space where people can authentically be themselves at work.
Commence second eye roll… But stay with me. If we don’t, someone else will. And if someone else won’t, they will go it alone or become full-time YouTubers.
Either way we lose! (Remember the math! 2 billion Gen-Z-ers.)
For example, if someone on your team gets vulnerable about a personal struggle in a meeting, that is not the time to let the agenda drive.
If you’re never willing to abandon the plan, you will never create the safety needed for people to fully show up.
At times it might feel like you are more counselor than leader. Let that be an indicator that you are indeed on the Gen-Z path. The path of authenticity.
Embracing the blur is more than just work/life blend.
For the skeptics reading this with arms crossed, wondering if any work gets done, it also leads to more ownership, a byproduct of tying their own skills, ambitions, and passion to the bigger mission of the organization.
AND it challenges our assumptions, which is totally annoying and necessary if you want to keep up. A fully engaged Zoomer wants to know why things are the way they are. If the answer is “Because we’ve always done it that way” or when you’re mad, “Because I said so!” you may want to read this blog.
Embrace the blur today by allowing people to bring ‘who they are’ to ‘what they do.’
The illusion of “professionalism” is a relic of the past, a world Gen-Z deemed worth quitting.
“Bring YOU to what WE do” is a much better mantra for the future.
When your team can honestly say that’s true, you are making Gen-Z headway. Congratulations!!!
K —let’s keep going!
Now that we’ve successfully blurred the line between home and work, ironically, it’s time to separate the personal from the professional when it comes to performance and feedback.
Feels contradictory, I know. It’s not.
SHIFT 2: REFRAME FAILURE
“It’s not personal; it’s part of the job. Way to go!”
To take it one step further…
“You made a mistake. You’re not a mistake.”
We reframe failure by resizing it to what it really is…
- A part of the development process
- A byproduct of taking creative risks
- An unmistakable element of being human
One of the best things we can do for Gen-Z is make it safe for them to fail at work without tying it to their worth.
How? Remind them it’s not personal. It’s part of the job and to be expected.
Every mess up is a chance to level up.
It’s a sign of progress because if we’re failing, we’re growing. And if we’re growing, people stop going—if you know what I mean.
When someone makes a mistake, the updated response is, “Way to grow!”
Too many leaders are afraid to let their people fail because of how it might reflect on them.
Big mistake!
The problem with that mindset (besides the fact that it’s never about you) is simple: Development is not possible without the possibility of failure. And a Gen-Z friendly culture must be a place where people can grow in their skills, leadership, and opportunity.
Loose Muscles work best.
Our muscles grow physically by tearing, failing, and repairing; we grow professionally by trying, failing, and refining. There is no growing without going for it.
As someone who typically skips the stretching portion of a workout, I realize there is some wisdom in warming up. BUT I’m an unofficial enneagram 3; we like to work smarter, not harder. If I can save 2 minutes on the front end, that’s more time to ice later. Smarter.
A friend of mine likes to say, “Loose muscles work best.” If that’s true, then the best way to loosen up your team is to have their back when they bomb. And… “You got one shot, do not; opportunity knocks….” (One shot when a ball gets dropped.) Click here for reel.
Under react, over respond.
That’s how we create safety for our team. Specifically, under react to mistakes and over respond with support.
Practice your reaction if this does not come natural(ly). (Wanted that last almost-rhyme.)
People want to know if we have their back or just our own butt. So, when a team member blows it, that’s your chance to show them it’s okay.
Your reaction says it all.
If you dig deeper, our reactions are less about what happened and more about how it makes us look. So, whatever you do, don’t get caught in the perception game when you could be in the actual game with your team, developing and growing together.
Instead, make it clear that there IS FREEDOM TO FAIL.
They will not be defined by their mistakes; they will be refined by their mistakes.
Hold them accountable to learning from it. That’s it.
Also, nothing worthwhile can be accomplished without a degree of risk and the freedom to fail because…
Nothing great comes without mistakes.
Dare I say, encourage failure?
“Way to go” is now, “way to grow.”
Let’s keep rolling.
You are almost there! Only one more shift to complete the trifecta and begin moving towards Gen-Z friendly waters. This one’s a biggie!
Great culture starts with people feeling valued.
But here’s the problem for leaders… All of us are wired differently, with our own unique order of priorities (P’s) that shape our perspective.
For example (In left to right order):
- Productivity -> Profit -> People –> Perception
- Programs -> People –> Policy –> Pointless tasks
- Policy -> Purpose –> Perception -> People
- People -> Progress –> Principles –> Pointless tasks
- Personal ambition –> People pleasing -> something else that starts with P etc. etc. etc.
Can you find yourself on this list?
Whatever your default “P” might be, if you want great culture, people must come first. Unfortunately, for many type-A leaders, this requires a complete re-ordering.
For Gen-Z, being led IS feeling cared for.
This shift to a people-first perspective will change your culture the most. It has the power to turn colleagues into friends, bosses into mentors, and transform an office into a community.
There is a nagging question under the surface for every person you lead, but for Gen-Z, it’s pressing: Is who I am MORE important than what I DO?
Specifically, is who I am more important than what I do for this company?
As a leader, you answer that question with every action and reaction. It’s cumulative. Consequently, words are less important than your knee-jerk when establishing how much you value people.
Every decision must pass through the grid of how it affects your team. That’s how you consistently answer that question with a yes!!!!
“Who you are matters more than what you do.”
When there is a track record of answering yes, real community begins to form. That’s how you know it’s working!
Every generation wants to belong. And to belong is to be known.
For previous generations, belonging was a bonus. For Gen-Z, it’s the bar.
Some of you are thinking, wait!!! What about the mission?? Good question.
Your mission IS critical, but if you don’t care for the people who help you accomplish it, there is no mission.
For Gen-Z, no mission statement is worth their happiness.
“3 shifts, huh? Welp.”
The recipe is simple: 3 shifts, fully commit. Rinse and repeat.
Six years in the lab led to three shifts that WILL help you build a Gen-Z friendly culture and future proof the way you lead people—if you commit.
- Embrace the blur (work/life blend, not balance)
- Reframe failure (way to grow!)
- Re-order your P’s (people first when it hurts.)
Only going halfway will leave you in no-man’s-land, but I would urge you NOT to swing the pendulum all at once. Culture building is always the long game. That’s why no one wants to play it.
Think degrees not wild swings at first. And know that it will take a while for you to notice a difference. Then, one day, it will hit you like a ton of bricks: “We are healthy! People like each other. And we are wildly productive.”
Culture is a lag measure of your leadership.
Small shifts today become seismic over time, not overnight. So, take it slow, dip your toe, but start moving towards a Gen-Z friendly future today.
The future is now.
If you can find a way to look past the non-prescription glasses, you will see a generation that desperately wants to make a difference. Many of you are in a position to extend an opportunity, open a door, or send an emoji. Do that! 👊
What I hope you discover in the process is that YOU can learn as much from Gen-Z as you can teach them. A new way of seeing the world will only add to your ability to lead. Don’t fear it. Learn from it.
Finally, if you made it this far, you have all you need to begin shifting towards a Gen-Z friendly culture. It won’t be easy but it will be worth it. So, start today making room for them on your team and around your table.
They are the future. And the future is now.
Thank you for reading this blog.
I hope you found it helpful! It means the world that you would take the time and if I could give you a “pound” or an awkward side-hug, you know I would.
Share if you dare and subscribe to this tribe if you want more leadership insight and rhymes. K-bye!
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below! I’d love to hear what you are learning about leading the next generation.
Hello Rachel, I know you. I use to live in White Bear. My husband, Scott (tall guy with a ponytail) and I, ran into you and your family couple of times walking a few years ago. I use to be a youth leader at EBC from the year 2003 to 2012 I am from Mexico. Do you remember us? If you saw us you would know who we are.
I love your blog! I have 2 jobs, one of my jobs is a management position at a temp agency. I work with clients and labors. I forward this blog to all my clients and friends in the business. Thank you. This was very helpful. Retention is a struggle. You were able to give us good insight.
Kindly,
Lorena