Sit down with career expert Ken Coleman as he challenges some misconceptions about the modern work landscape. The conversation highlights the pressing issues facing Gen Z and how leaders can find out what makes the younger generation tick. Listen in for tips on communicating effectively, attracting the right talent, and fostering growth among your people.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
Ken Coleman is a Ramsey Personality, bestselling author, career expert, speaker, and host of The Ken Coleman Show.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, Sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
THE AMERICAN HUSTLE CULTURE
Is the American hustle culture dead? Is it dying?
According to career expert Ken Coleman, the hustle culture is very much alive, even though some may argue that there’s a decline in work ethic in Generation Z. We can’t make sweeping generalizations about entire groups because, as Ken Coleman explains, “there are duds and studs” in every generation.
We can see the hustle culture alive and well as young entrepreneurs thrive on platforms like YouTube, achieving significant financial success through sheer dedication and hard work. Despite a noticeable shift in how the younger generations perceive work and compensation, Coleman maintains that “there are always people that want to win in life.”
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Hours vs. Output
“I don’t think anybody works 40 hours a week anymore. Now, there are two sides to that. What I’m talking about is, if you’re working a 40-hour week, you’re taking a lunch hour where you’re already not working eight hours a day. You’ve got an eight-hour day, but you’re taking an hour for lunch, right? And then just looking at the data on social media and how many times people are looking at social media during that, come on, who are we kidding? And then you’ve got people who work more than 40 hours. They’re putting it in, sometimes because they have to, and some are doing it because they want to or because it’s required. So it’s interesting. To me, it’s not about the schedule. It’s about the output.”
Looking Deeper
“Now the question that we need to be looking at for Gen Z is not what motivates them, […] but what’s different about this generation? We need to be asking this question — what paralyzes them or what defeats them? Because this has some nuance. […] I sat in an assembly yesterday morning at my son’s college prep school, and a psychologist came in and addressed the seniors and the parents. It was wonderful. He pointed out, again, that my generation, Gen X and the older Millennials, are the most anxious parents. And because we were anxious, we raised anxious kids. And so these kids are not soft. They’re not a broken generation. They’ve just been coddled and they’ve been controlled. And so now as leaders, we’ve got to understand we’ve got this fresh crop of talent coming to us that may be more technically savvy, creatively savvy, than any previous generation, which is flipping awesome, but they have been coddled and controlled.”
Reality Check
“Number one, inflation is real, but expectations are unreal. […] So if you’re Gen Z, listen to this right now, please do not get offended until you fully hear what I’m saying. It’s not your fault. You aren’t soft. You aren’t stupid. You aren’t a whiner. I hate when people over-criticize a generation. Gen Z, listen to me. Your parents didn’t prepare you for the reality that it takes a while to buy a decent-sized house, but you grew up in a house that took your parents fifteen years to buy. So […] rent is high, mortgages are high, housing is through the roof — all the things. However, unrealistic expectations lead to unmet expectations. […] Part of that realism is understanding that we’re in a really hot inflationary season, and this too shall pass, and if it doesn’t pass, you could still buy a house. You’re just not going to buy a house as fast as you thought, and you’re not going to buy a house as big as you thought, and that’s okay too.”
Attracting the Right Talent
“I think companies need to do a better job in their job openings and how they talk about them. Everybody talks about the job description itself, and I think that’s obviously important, but I would also start talking about the type of person who would be a great fit and describe that person. And all of a sudden there’s a caricature, if you will, an archetype, that a person looking at that goes, ‘That’s not me or that’s me,’ and I think that would be valuable.”
Fostering Growth
“If you want to retain people, […] then yes, you need to be developing people and offering them opportunities for growth. […] First, what the leader needs to be doing is, in regular communication, getting inside the head and heart of their team that they lead and finding out what growth looks like for that person. […] If I invest in them and our company invests in them and they are willing to say, ‘I’ll add those to my tool belt,’ they become more valuable to the organization, and as a result, they become more valuable to themselves as it relates to their potential.”
A Critical Skill
“Communication — and this is not, by the way, the ability to stand up and give a knockout speech. This is, ‘Do I know what I want? Do I know what the customer wants? Am I able to formulate really clear thoughts, and then communicate those thoughts in a very understandable way, and then I’m able to ask questions? I’m a good listener.’ That’s all wrapped up in communication. Communication skills are huge.”
LEARN MORE
Find Ken Coleman’s “Get Clear Career Assessment” and the accompanying book, Find the Work You’re Wired to Do, here.