The rise of Gen Z leadership is happening faster than expected. But what will it actually look like?
Picture the year 2035. Workplaces will be buzzing with energy as the first Generation Alpha workers graduate and begin their careers, bringing fresh ideas as the first generation of “AI Natives.” By then, Baby Boomers will be retired, Gen X will be close to following, and Millennials and Gen Z—the “Born Digital” generations—will be stepping into leadership roles. In a decade, Gen Z will be in the middle of our careers, with years of experience behind us and a strong desire to influence change in our organizations.
What Makes Gen Z Unique?
Each generation’s approach to work is shaped by the world they grew up in. Baby Boomers, raised during a time of post-war prosperity and Cold War patriotism, tend to value loyalty and traditional power structures. In contrast, Gen Z grew up during significant social and political changes, constantly exposed to news and events through our phones, and entered the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic and economic challenges. This background has led Gen Z to seek flexibility, better access to mental health resources, and work that has a meaningful impact on society.
How Does Gen Z View Work?
As Gen Z enters the workforce, we are showing clear differences from older generations. Nearly 90% of young workers prefer hybrid or fully remote work, with only 10% wanting to be in the office full-time and 29% favoring full-time work from home. Gen Z also faces more challenges with mental and emotional health than previous generations. We are 25% less likely than Boomers to report good mental health, and 91% of us experience stress-related physical symptoms like depression or fatigue, which affects both our work and personal lives. Above all, we value working for organizations that align with our personal values, with 77% of Gen Z stating it’s important to work for a company whose values match our own. We are also well-versed in using tools to ensure companies are living up to their commitments.
How Will Gen Z Lead in 2035?
What will these traits look like in leadership? The challenges of 2035 may be very different from those of the past, with more frequent climate crises, complex AI integration, and shifting global power dynamics. Gen Z leaders will need to navigate these new challenges while breaking through traditional workplace structures and defining their own leadership style.
We expect Gen Z leaders to be more multidisciplinary and less focused on company loyalty, placing greater importance on their organization’s impact on the community and its core mission. They may be more open about mental and emotional health challenges and encourage their employees to do the same. These leaders will likely run hybrid, global organizations, leading to a more competitive and diverse talent pool.
Understanding How Gen Z Might Lead
To explore how Gen Z might lead, we presented a focus group of our Gen Z colleagues with three different crisis scenarios, asking them to brainstorm responses as organizational leaders. By analyzing their answers, we can gain insights into how Gen Z’s traits influence their leadership style and test their responses under pressure.
Scenarios Focused on Climate, Cyber, and Employee Challenges
The scenarios included a climate-related warehouse closure and layoff, a cyber-attack on a bank resulting in a total collapse, and a company facing low employee engagement and high turnover. In many ways, these scenarios reflect the challenges that business leaders face today, and some of the Gen Z responses were similar. Their main priorities included offering severance to laid-off employees, collaborating with other organizations to prevent financial collapse, and conducting an internal survey to identify the causes of employee dissatisfaction.
How Gen Z Responded with Empathy, Flexibility, and Community Focus
However, the Gen Z group also suggested responses that reflect their unique qualities, such as including mental health services in the severance package and exploring remote and hybrid options for employees whose jobs depended on physical locations. They aimed to communicate as openly and directly as possible with the media and employees, providing a wealth of information rather than limiting it for public perception. They also recognized that factors affecting employee engagement might include external stress from ongoing global crises or personal issues, which may not be captured in a survey or addressed by traditional methods.
Overall, our Gen Z colleagues distinguished their responses by emphasizing empathy, flexibility, and community reliance, aligning with predictions about their leadership style based on their observed traits.
How Can Organizations Prepare for Gen Z Leadership?
Gen Z aims to change what they see as outdated practices from previous generations in the workplace, but every generation has come in with the desire to set a new standard. How can we ensure that Gen Z is able to achieve these changes? Current leaders should build on the momentum generated by younger generations and anticipate future business challenges to create resilient strategies for upcoming leaders.
Investing in Gen Z Growth
To set Gen Z up for leadership success, we need to develop the skills necessary for effective leadership. Gen Z is projected to be the most educated generation yet, and we want to continue learning on the job, developing a wide range of skills that we can carry into any role. 83% of Gen Zers want to upskill in their current role, and 76% see skill development as the key factor in advancing their careers. Investing in upskilling and reskilling for Gen Z employees benefits both sides. We gain a foundation to advance our careers and market ourselves as multidisciplinary and technically proficient professionals, while organizations gain employees who perform better and stay longer in their roles, potentially leading the very organizations that invested in them.
Strategic Planning for Future Challenges
Organizations should also strategically plan for a future that is increasingly complex and fast-paced. A key part of this planning involves determining which of today’s work trends are here to stay. Hybrid work and the growing need for stress management are likely permanent legacies of COVID-19. Instead of trying to return to the “pre-pandemic normal,” businesses should explore ways to embrace the new normal and create practices that appeal to younger employees entering the workforce.
At the same time, organizations should consider the unique challenges of 2035 and beyond, which will differ from the more predictable challenges of the past. They should forecast how current trends in climate, technology, globalization, and regulation will shape the workplace and society in 2035 and develop strategies to prepare for these future scenarios. Doing so will create a framework for Gen Z leaders that is rooted in the world they will be leading, rather than relying on business strategies designed for the 20th century.
Holding Ourselves Accountable
Gen Zers must also hold ourselves accountable for the changes we want to see in the workplace. We need to take responsibility for our successes as well as our mistakes and apply the same scrutiny to ourselves as we do to those in power when they fail to follow through on their commitments. If we want to distinguish our leadership style from previous generations, we need to ensure that these changes are implemented and not abandoned for the sake of convenience or tradition.
