Gen Z’s place in the leader/follower relationship

 


What?

Prior to and in the aftermath of the pandemic, members of Gen Z have joined the workforce. Coming into a hybrid or modified role, it has been suggested that members of this generation have increased difficulty adapting to the expectations of their roles in many facets. In my own work experience, I have seen the differences between generations and how they approach different job responsibilities.  One specific facet of being apart of a working team, that may be a pose a learning curve, is adjusting to leader/follower dynamic.  This is a challenge both by gen z and others in the workplace to adjust the working environment. This is not to say that all of the needs of Gen z are ones that should be met, but there are adjustments on both sides that can be made to better the workforce as a whole. This is similar to how, in general, both leaders and followers need to make cohesive adaptations to allow their relationship to be the upmost beneficial.

So, what?

When speaking to ethical leadership the text speaks of the importance of the culture as a component of leadership. With that being said, it is vital to try and better the working leadership system as it continues to include a larger fraction of Gen Z. Forbes reported that 24% of Gen-Z [respondents of their survey] chose their current job because of the culture and 40% have rejected work because of “ethical conflicts”. Though it is not impossible for members of Gen Z to be in leadership roles, in the way of supervisory or team lead positions, it is assumed that the largest portion are still or also in a follower’s role within the organizational structure of the company. Just as much as they can benefit from the leaders in their fields, the leaders are being driven by their Gen Z followers to better their programs. This can be through more ethical systems and better cultures or specifically because of the evolving leadership they as followers are demanding.

 

Now What?

In aforementioned articles, it was stated or insinuated that a large obstacle Gen Z is not having optimal leaders to look up to. This fact alone seems to be a call to action to make changes to the styles or methods of leadership being practiced. As suggested in research, the most effective leadership style is servant leadership. This indicates that Gen Z value environments that foster them as a priority. This could be vital information towards bettering the relationship between leaders and followers. Gen z could push their leaders to better in a more active follower role than typically seen, just as positive leaders can help Gen Z followers overcome faults in their own work ethic, followership or potential and eventual leadership.   

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