The Future Begins with Z with Tim Elmore
- Jeff Hancher
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Today, Gen Z accounts for about 27% of the global workforce. Yet despite their growing influence, many leaders still struggle to truly see Gen Z. They're labeled as fragile, digital, and hard to manage. But what if everything we think we know is only scratching the surface? Today on The Champion Forum Podcast, we are joined by generations expert Dr. Tim Elmore to discuss our opportunity to move beyond myths and stereotypes and discover what Gen Z can teach us.
About Tim Elmore
Dr. Tim Elmore is the founder of Growing Leaders, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization dedicated to developing emerging leaders. His work grew out of 20 years of serving alongside Dr. John C. Maxwell. Elmore has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, USA Today, and Psychology Today, and has been featured on CNN's Headline News, Fox Business, Newsmax TV, and Fox and Friends to discuss leading multiple generations in the marketplace. He has written over 35 books, including Habitudes: Images That Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes, Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership, and A New Kind of Diversity: Making the Different Generations on Your Team a Competitive Advantage, and his latest book, The Future Begins with Z: Nine Strategies to Lead Generation Z As They Upset the Workplace.
What makes your book, The Future Begins With Z, so timely?
On the surface, it is easy for a manager or a leader to look at the externals of Gen Z and say, "They're different. I don't like it." They don't seem to have a work ethic. They want to leave right at 5 pm, or even earlier. They have mental health problems. Etc. But as I met with them, my mind changed. I began to grow in my empathy toward them. Now, I think they bring an incredible addition to the workplace. I don't need another one of me. I need something new and fresh to help me as a leader.
Q: What myths have you heard about Gen Z? Discuss with members of other generations how the myths about each generation have changed over time. What do you think fuels the creation of these myths?
The Age of Authority vs. the Age of Maturity
The age of authority seems to be going down. Kids are coming in smart as a whip on A.I. and smart technology, monetizing TikTok, and other things like that. But the age of maturity seems to be going up. Technically, they have earned authority through their expertise, but socially, they are unable to look me in the eye and have a conversation. The best thing people over 45 can do for them is love them, cheer them on, and put tools in their hands so they can show us the way to the future.
What is it that hiring managers and employers can't seem to overcome with this generation?
I think it's the assumption that young people are cocky. Really, they're not cocky. We just can't see how that young person could know more than I do. Really, we both have different experiences that benefit us, but Gen Z is bringing intuition on where the future is going. Many of us are used to the way we've been doing things, and Gen Z wants to do things differently, which is uncomfortable.
In your research, what are some of these common myths that you're hearing about Gen Z?
The biggest one I hear is that they don't want to work. And we draw that conclusion because we see them leave right at 5, even if that means they're leaving tasks half done. When I talked to the focus groups on that idea, their answers surprised me. One young lady told me, "I leave right at five because I have to zip over to another job. I don't make enough money to pay my bills at this current job. And once I finish that second job, I rush over to my mother, who has stage 4 cancer, to take care of her." I realized she may be working harder than anybody else in that workplace, but if no one asks her, they'll make the wrong assumption. You have to ask, not assume.
Gen Z is accused of being job hoppers. Is this true, or are we simply not doing our part to keep them in our organization?
They're job hoppers because we're not doing a good job. The average boomer stays on the job 8 years plus, Gen X 6 years plus, millennials 2.8 years, and Gen Z 2.3 years. Gen Z has been conditioned to want to control their time and money. And they've been conditioned for this because many of them started working when the pandemic started. They were told to be loyal and stick around. Then, they were promptly laid off. In fact, they were the first batch laid off because of their limited experience. So their experience is that their company wasn't loyal to them, so they refuse to be loyal to the economy.
They have told me, "I feel like a commodity when I'm at a workplace. I wish you'd stop treating me like a commodity and treat me like currency. Currency is something you invest. A commodity is something you buy and sell and get rid of later because it's wasted. It's done." They feel like they're just being used.
Q: Do you resonate with any of Gen Z's feelings about the workplace? If yes, which ones? If not, what has led you to adopt a different perspective? How could you help change Gen Z's mind in that area?
Is Gen Z more interested in entrepreneurship?
Yes. In fact, the numbers are very, very clear. Seventy-two percent of current high school students in America want to be entrepreneurs. One out of eight Gen Zers has monetized social media. Companies that are successfully keeping Gen Z employees for the long haul are those that invest in them and let them exercise their entrepreneurial spirit. They're proving their loyalty first. In essence, you're going to attract who you are, not what you want. So live it out!
What advice do you have for leaders regarding the mental health epidemic?
I have done a truckload of research on this issue because supervisors are being put off by it. The myth is that Gen Z calls in and says, I'm not coming in today. There's a greater mental health dilemma today than we have seen to date. One doctor said the average Gen Zer today experiences the same mental health issues as a psychiatric patient did in the 1950s.
My advice to leaders who are navigating any employee with a mental health problem is to use the acronym A LEG:
A. Ask. Don't just tell them that what they're doing is wrong. Ask them what's going on and what their perspective is.
L. Listen. It does a little good to ask them if I'm not willing to listen.
E. Empathize. Genuinely try to understand what they are going through and why they feel the way they do.
G. Guide them through the process.
If you lean into them and say, I promise I've got your back, I think they lean into you.
How do we find that balance between autonomy and this firm feedback?
The first thing we're going to need to do is make a mental change ourselves. I have helped myself by saying, I need to stop being a referee and start being a quarterback. Have you ever noticed that as you lead people, you start as a quarterback? You're the one taking the ball down the field, passing it off, scoring, and inspiring the team. A referee lets the team play the game; they just enforce the rules and boundaries so that it's fair for everyone.
On the other side of the coin, we will need to challenge them. Their answer to hardship is not to remove the hardship. The answer is to get strong and face that hardship. Once we've become that quarterback and we've led them in that way, we may want to challenge them to take some steps themselves.
4 Ways to Challenge Gen Z in the Workplace
Do they have enough margins in their life where there's space that's not noisy and cluttered?
Gen Z is very sedentary right now. We need to get up off our bottoms and move. Whether that's shooting hoops while you study or taking a walk around the building at work.
Gen Z has grown up in a world of noise and clutter. We could teach them to focus, to forget multitasking, and try monotasking. I'm not a psychotherapist right now, but it's been proven to show that when we do this, our anxieties and stressors seem to subside, and we're better off.
Sometimes they just need to manage themselves better, raise their self-awareness, and self-management.
Q: Discuss a time when you gave feedback to a member of Gen Z. What was their response? What could you do differently based on the content of this episode?
Connect with Tim Elmore:
Application Activities:
Audit your assumptions about Gen Z. What myths do you believe? Write down three beliefs you currently hold about Gen Z employees. Then, for each one, find one story or piece of evidence that contradicts it. Consider the people you know personally who are members of Gen Z. How do they challenge your stereotypes?
How are you currently investing in your Gen Z team members? Take some time to audit how you are building a relationship with them, how you are helping them grow personally and professionally, and how you can take those investments to the next level. If you don't already have a personal development plan in place, create one during your next one-on-one.
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