Gen Z Has What It Takes | Here's What They're Missing

YouTube Version (If You'd Rather Watch 👉) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfUi7rnEXgQ

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The Wall Street Journal ran a story a while back called Why Gen Z is Unprepared for the Workplace. And if you keep looking at the headlines after that, you'll find article after article — Forbes, Business Insider, you name it — all saying basically the same thing. Gen Z is unprofessional. Gen Z is unprepared. Gen Z is unable to cope. Now here's the thing. They're not entirely wrong. But they are missing the point entirely. And that's what we need to talk about.

(And btw, if you're new here — I'm Zach. If you’re serious about leadership, then you’re in the right place. I hope you’ll stick around.)

Okay, let's steelman the experts for a minute. Because the data they're citing is real.

Forbes reported that six in ten employers have already fired at least one Gen Z employee within just a few months of hiring them. Studies show that 87% of Gen Z workers feel unprepared to succeed in the workforce. And teen employment has been declining for decades. Think about what having a job teaches you. It teaches you how to be professional. It teaches you how to be prepared. It teaches you how to be resilient. All the skills that Gen Z is seemingly struggling with.

And then there's the relational gap. Gen Z grew up with less experience in high-stakes social situations. They prefer curating — crafting a text, a post, a DM. But most work environments demand something different. Real-time social responsiveness. Shaking a hand. Eye contact. Small talk. Introducing yourself to a new client. I came across one article that put it this way: Gen Z is ready for the tools of work, but not the relationships that make it work. That's so true.

And then there's the mental health piece. More and more Gen Z are accepting anxiety and depression as part of their identity rather than as something to go to work on. And that has a direct impact on performance. I'm not saying that carelessly — I'm saying it because I genuinely care.

So yes. The experts have real data. They have a real case. And we shouldn't dismiss it.

But here's what every one of those articles misses.

I don't just research Gen Z in the workplace. I lead a team full of them. And what I see every single day is not what the experts are describing. They're not describing a generation with a character problem. They're describing a generation that hasn't been developed yet. And those are two completely different things.

They diagnose the problem. They almost never prescribe the solution. And when they do, the prescription is some version of: Gen Z needs to toughen up. Gen Z needs to adapt. Gen Z needs to change.

That may be partially true. But it is not the complete picture.

Here is what I believe with full confidence: we don't have a Gen Z problem. We have a leadership development problem.

Read that again if you need to. We don't have a Gen Z problem. We have a leadership development problem. And that's a very different thing. Because one of those problems puts everything on a generation. The other puts the responsibility where it actually belongs — on all of us, and especially on leaders.

Here's what the experts keep getting wrong. They're diagnosing Gen Z as the problem without acknowledging the conditions that created the gap.

Think about what COVID did. It took away proximity — one of the most powerful tools in leadership development. Side-by-side learning. In-person mentorship. Gone. For some Gen Zers, it took away their freshman year of high school. Their freshman year of college. And I want you to think about what that really means.

Leadership is like math that way. It's a sequential, systematic discipline. You've got algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, pre-calc, calculus. You cannot skip algebra 1 and jump into algebra 2. You'd be completely lost. You'd have no idea what's going on. And I think a lot of Gen Z feels exactly that way. We asked them to skip a step. And now we're wondering why they're struggling.

And here's the other thing. Gen Z knows a lot. They have access to more information than any generation before them in human history. But information and formation are not the same thing. Think about what would happen if you went to the gym to get stronger, but your trainer did all the lifting for you. You'd get information about the exercises. You'd see it being done. But what you'd miss is the actual workout. And if you don't do the workout, you're not getting stronger. You're just getting information.

Gen Z hasn't been given the workout. And the experts are calling them weak. That is the wrong diagnosis.

Here's the data point that tells me the most about where we actually are.

Studies show that Gen Z is increasingly turning down leadership positions at work. They're not raising their hands for more responsibility. And the experts look at that and say: see, Gen Z doesn't want to work hard.

But that's not what I see in that data.

What I see is a generation that doesn't see themselves doing it. They're self-eliminating. Not because they're lazy. Not because they don't care. But because they don't feel like they have the skills yet. It's kind of like asking an electrician to suddenly be a farmer. That's genuinely overwhelming — and it's not their fault.

And here's what I want you to understand. Gen Z has something that is incredibly rare. They have the courage to challenge the status quo. They have the voice to call out injustice. They have the authenticity that previous generations struggled to model. They're not afraid to say: no, I will not be treated that way. No, I will not work in a toxic environment. And honestly? Good. I think previous generations dropped the ball on that.

I tell my Gen Z team sometimes — I feel like Howard Stark from Iron Man, you know, where he tells Tony: I'm limited by the technology of my time. But you, Tony? You can change the world. That's how I genuinely see this generation.

But courage and voice without resilience can only take you so far. That's the gap. Not character. Not heart. Formation. Development. And that's something that leaders have to invest in. You can't expect a generation to develop themselves in a vacuum.

So here is what the experts should be saying — and almost none of them are.

Gen Z doesn't need better headlines. They need better leaders.

The vast majority of the skills Gen Z is struggling with are leadership skills. Perseverance. Resilience. Sacrifice. Loyalty. Teamwork. Accountability. Vision. Discipline. Communication. These are not exotic capabilities. These are leadership 101. And they have to be taught. They have to be modeled. They have to be developed in relationship.

Gen Z needs a vision of what true perseverance looks like. They need to know why sacrificing for a greater good is actually good. They need to understand the intrinsic value of loyalty — why it is one of the most powerful forces on this planet. They need to understand what genuine accountability looks like. Not fear-based compliance. But the kind that comes from belonging to something worth protecting.

And here's what they need from the leaders around them: they need leaders who coach, not command. The old-school leadership styles are not compatible with what Gen Z needs right now. And if you're a leader who thinks Gen Z should just figure it out the way everyone else did — I want to respectfully say: that approach is going to cost you.

Right now I see a lot of leaders expressing frustration. But I don't see as many leaders rolling up their sleeves and getting to work. Gen Z can feel the difference. They can tell when they're being managed versus when they're being developed. And one of those builds loyalty. The other builds resentment.

To Gen Z:

I want to talk directly to you for a minute.

The experts are not wrong that the gap is real. But they're wrong about who's responsible for closing it. You are not broken. You are not a lost cause. You are not permanently behind. You grew up in conditions that created a specific gap — and that gap can be closed. But you're going to have to do the work.

You're going to have to be willing to be uncomfortable. To choose discomfort over comfort. To choose development over distraction. Because here's what I know about this generation: you have the courage, you have the voice — you just need the resilience to match it. And if you cultivate that? You will be unstoppable.

To leaders:

Gen Z is not your burden. They are your opportunity. The leaders who figure out how to develop Gen Z right now are going to be the most effective leaders of the next decade. And it's going to require something from you. Patience. Intentionality. A coaching mindset. And the genuine belief that this generation — given the right formation, the right investment, the right environment — is going to do remarkable things.

I've seen it. I watch it happen with my own team every week. Gen Z, when developed well, is remarkable. But it's not going to happen by accident. It's going to take the help of leaders who have gone before — who are willing to meet them where they're at.

The experts are focused on what Gen Z is lacking. And that is the wrong lens.

The right lens is this: what kind of leaders do they need? What kind of environment develops them? What kind of investment gives them the runway to thrive?

That is the question worth asking. And that is the work worth doing.

If you want to go deeper — if you're a leader trying to figure out how to develop Gen Z, or if you're Gen Z figuring out your next step — I've got a free leadership development workbook on my website.

It's the same playbook I built for my own team, and I think it'll serve you well.

As always, keep fighting the good fight.