In this aiding episode, Anna Hislop, Owner of Unfolding Success, shares how she provides bespoke training, talks, and workshops to help organizations bridge the gap between their leaders and their Gen Z employees.
You will discover:
– Why leaders should speak less and what they should do instead
– Your role in the lack of knowledge, passion, and engagement from your team
– How to improve your generational intelligence
Episode Transcript
Scott Ritzheimer
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome once again to the secrets of the high demand coach podcast. And I am here with yet another high demand coach. It is the one and only joining us from the great country of Sweden, Anna Hislop. She is an experienced leadership coach, facilitator and author known for her expertise in understanding and maximizing the potential of Generation Z in the workplace. Cannot believe that that is already here with her professional certified coach credential from the international coaching Federation, Anna brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her coaching practice. She’s currently doing her master’s in business and organizational psychology and her book, you only have to ask how to realize the full potential of Gen Z at work, is a comprehensive guide for organizations aiming to harness the unique strengths of Generation Z employees. Well, Anna, so excited to have you here. Love having somebody from the other side of the pond. Mentioned before we started, my wife’s from Norway. So it’s there’s a little, there’s a big part of me that’s very connected with with that part of the world, beautiful place. And I kind of want to dive in here. The book is, is excellent. Really, really enjoyed it. You Peter did a great job, and you lay out some really, really intriguing questions before we get there, though, I want to kind of address what I think is the elephant in the room, maybe you’ll agree. You actually start the book this way you say, I thought there’s from the perspective of a manager, I thought I was an effective manager getting good results, but now I’m working harder than ever, feeling more and more stressed, and my team seems unengaged, as if they lack the passion and drive to go the extra mile, and I cannot tell you like that’s a daily occur. I hear that every single day. What the world does that have to do with Gen Z?
Anna Hislop
Oh has a great way to start this conversation. Scott, thank you for having me. It’s super exciting to be on this podcast. First of all, but yes, we are noticing some shifts in the workplace, and there’s sometimes a really significant lack of passion, lack of involvement, and lack of a gate engagement in the workplace. And it’s often down to unmet expectations, unclear expectations, feelings that we can’t really do the work that we are set out to do and we’re expected to do, and we’re missing some important tools, but we don’t have the courage, sometimes, or the skills to have these conversations, and that is what this book is all about, you know, inspiring people to start talking to each other, to highlight communication as as the really necessary tool for for all businesses going forward. And yeah, it’s all about going back to basics and start to to understand each other and to really appreciate each other, yeah, and the different challenges in the workplace.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, it’s so true. So we have a tendency. We’re all guilty of this, if not already, then at some point in time, we will be but we have this tendency to lament the tendencies of younger generations, right? And you nailed this, talking about Gen Z being portrayed as being entitled, unreal. They have unrealistic expectations. They’re impatient, they’re difficult to manage. And this generation could be seen as reluctant to go the extra mile, prone to anxiety. We all know about short attention spans. They’re easily distracted. They’re readily offended. They just sound like all around terrible people, right? So what I want to turn all that around, though, because, you know, the same thing were said about the millennials. The same thing were said about Gen X, you know, in different ways, but the same kind of sentiment. How can we how can we just stop that cycle, turn it around, and actually go so far as to say, what can we learn from Gen Z? What are the things that they bring that are actually ultimately going to move us forward?
Anna Hislop
Yeah, and I think this is so true, and this is when I start to talk about one of my favorite topics, which is generational intelligence. And it’s so interesting to see how this is playing out in the workplaces and the lack of generational intelligence. And that is when we really start to understand where we’re coming from, what shaped us and how that translates into the workplace and and really start to appreciate what every generation brings. And of course, Gen C is one of the new generations in the workforce, so they are getting the the the hardest bats at the moment, from from the older ones. But I think what generation C brings which is really important, and something that we’ve often overlooked in the past. It’s that drive towards inclusivity engagement. It’s that drive towards diversity and social justice and take a responsibility for, you know, moving. Dial in the correct direction or in the right direction when it comes to climate change and environmental awareness. So all of those things are really important, but it’s also about taking control of the work life balance. It’s about and, you know, allowing people to have a healthy life, to focus on well being and to focus on on mental health, which is a really big topic for Gen Z.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I remember Jack Welch being interviewed at one point in time, and I think few people can argue with his business success, but he was asked from stage a question about his work life balance, and he, you know, I appreciated his honesty and say, Hey, I’m not the person to ask about that. I, you know, I was the guy who didn’t understand why people didn’t want to, you know, go work or play golf on Saturdays. You know, my, my wife, did a phenomenal job. She raised amazing kids. I can’t take any credit for it. And looking back, there’s probably things that would have changed, and I really appreciated the honesty in that. But I think one of the things that happens intergenerationally is there’s actually a boldness in in, you know, future generations, to require what should have been required in many ways all along, and part of our resistance? I would love your thoughts on this, but I feel like part of our resistance is actually guilt that we did it.
Anna Hislop
Oh, yeah, 100% and that’s of that’s often the case. Why? Stirring up, you know, such strong emotions that senior leaders, they almost need to justify their own behavior by telling everyone in the world that they’re the ones who are wrong. They can’t fit into the workplace with those kind of values right, almost to justify their own behaviors and their own sacrifices. Yeah. So, so there’s definitely that element to it, but when we do start to understand where the generation is coming from, and we’ve all kind of been through different events in our in our lives, regardless of when we were born, but they shape us in different ways. So just to give an example of the Great Recession, when that happened, Gen Zs, they were young. They were kids. They were 1012, years old, and they saw their parents being laid off and and and lost their work, and they heard them talk about how they were just seen as a number and in the grand scheme of things, and how there were no loyalty from the employer, and how you need to look after yourself and how you need to focus on your own motivation and individuality, etc. So they saw that very early on as children, and how it affected their parents or older siblings or other adults in their close proximity and and that, of course, that shaped them to be more focused on themselves and and checking in with themselves. What do I want to do? Because I know that my employer in the future won’t necessarily look out for my interest.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, it’s fascinating. It seems like you’re saying and I think a natural extension of this is that the the corporate policy of the future is being formed more so at the dinner table than at the board table, right? How many of those conversations did those parents not have with their employer, right? And just took that all home. It’s a fascinating, fascinating thing. So let’s dive in. How. How do you win? Like, how is winning with Gen Z different from other generations?
Anna Hislop
Well, it’s about inviting them to the conversation, to the table. This generation, they are used to having an impact, and they want that instant gratification, and they want to have that impact in their day to day. And I think if you if you really want to win with Gen Z, it’s about asking them what they think. It’s about making sure that their work is is in alignment with their own values, the businesses, purpose and mission, and to make sure that they understand the bigger picture and how they fit into that bigger picture. What are their unique skills and strengths that makes them the right person to do this, to do this job and and having that kind of ongoing conversation and communication that this is what I want you to do, and this is why, and this is how. And what do you think about that, and how can we create this together? Job design is a great example of of how to win with Gen Z, asking them for their input to make sure that they are in agreement and they know exactly what’s expected of them, and checking in is this, is this what they want to be doing and how they want to spend their time? Yeah, yeah, that’s one example.
Scott Ritzheimer
Excellent. Now you have eight kind of critical questions that make up the bulk of the book, eight, to some extent surprising, to some extent obvious questions. Which of these eight questions do you think or just quickly, if you could kind of list them off. Force, and then which one of them represents the biggest generational communication gap in your your opinion?
Anna Hislop
Yeah, okay, so the questions are, first of all around expectations. Do I know what’s expected of me? Do I know why it’s expected of me, and do I agree with those expectations? So that’s, that’s the first kind of section of the of the framework. The second piece is around, who cares? I don’t want to be a number. I need someone to care for me at work. And then we move on to, can I do it so? So kind of tackling that inner critic and and inviting people to to build on their skills and to do training and, and are they set up for success? Yeah, and, and then it’s about the confidence as well. It’s about the limiting beliefs that we all have, which Gen Z are very kind of attuned to. And they know about this. They read about these things, so they are fully aware of it. To be able to have that conversation with their manager is really freeing them. I feel like this about presentations. How can I support myself to do a better job? And then we move on to the critical stage of feedback. And then lastly, it’s about the reward that they are getting from the the the effort that they put in. Yeah, and I think what’s really interesting with Gen Z is that they they focus a lot on the WHO CARES question. They want to have a manager who is supportive, who guides them, and who cares for them. That is, you know, top three leadership skills and traits that they are looking for in their managers. And then it’s around the AM, I confident to do it, this generation needs reassurance, because they doubt themselves. They’re not sure, and this is a part of the generational development generally. So we we talk about something called Slow living in kind of generational context, and it’s not about having a slow paced life, because we all know that we’re not we’re living in a very fast paced life, that it’s slow living is that it takes longer to grow up. It takes longer to become an adult. Today, kids or adult, young adults and adults who are 30 years old, they’re still living at home because of the cost of living crisis, because of the level of the rents, you know, today, and the lack of housing so so it takes longer to grow up today. So a lot of the expectations that employers have on their new recruits and their early careers people, they are not being fulfilled because they are still very young in their mind you know?
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, yeah, that’s so true. So there’s a question that I ask all my guests. I’m very interested to know what you have to say to it. So questions this, what would you say is the biggest secret that you wish wasn’t the secret at all. What’s that one thing you wish everybody watching or listening today knew?
Anna Hislop
So that would my answer would be to listen more and talk less.
Scott Ritzheimer
Wow. And it’s so hard in the moment because of that, that silence that sits there, right, and and so one of the things that I found, and maybe can speak to this, is that listening is every bit as much of a skill as is talking, right? You can talk effectively. You can listen effectively. What’s one or two things that we could do, maybe even as soon as today, to start listening more effectively?
Anna Hislop
Well, we can start to to apply a bit of a curious mindset. And when we listen to go, Oh, I wonder why that is, or I wonder why they have that opinion or that approach, rather than trying to find ways to to give your answer or to give advice, or whatever it might be to give a suggestion, but keeping that curious mindset alive in every conversation and kind of go to yourself, I wonder why that is, and I’ll ask a follow up question to go slightly deeper into the conversation and not make assumptions.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. So, Anna, we’ve only scratched the the tip of the tip of the iceberg. And what you cover in the book, tell us a little bit about or tell us a name, title of the book again, where we can find it, and what you hope readers can get out of it.
Anna Hislop
Yeah. So the book is called, you only have to ask. And it’s, it’s a collaboration between myself and Peter Lightfoot, and it’s all about how to realize the full potential of Gen Z at work. That’s the subtitle of it. And and there’s a reason for that realized word. It’s, it’s both to do with senior leaders needing to realize the potential of Gen Z. But also find the tools to actually make it happen to be that supported leader for them. And I really want readers to and listeners from from this podcast to take away the understanding and valuing the perspectives of Gen Z can really transform the workplace dynamic. Yes, it can make a huge difference, and there’s something that we can’t ignore, because in very few years, we will have the absolute majority of our workforce as a part of this gen, or within this generation, or the millennials. So this shift is coming, and it’s a matter of, do you want to be on that train or not, and if you choose not to, then you’ll miss out on future proofing your business.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, it’s so true. It’s so true. Well, I had a chance to read through the book. It’s fantastic. Highly recommend it. Get a copy of it if you’re listening to the any of what we’ve talked about resonates with you, if you want to help Gen Z to really realize their potential and to be part of that. It’s an excellent, excellent resource to do that, and I thank you so much for putting it together. Thank you so much for for being on the show, for sharing your wisdom with us today. Just really an honor having you here. And for those of you watching or listening, you know your time and attention mean the world to us, I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I know I did, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.
Contact Anna Hislop
Anna Hislop is an experienced leadership coach, facilitator, and author known for her expertise in understanding and maximizing the potential of Generation Z in the workplace. With her Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential from the International Coaching Federation, Anna brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her coaching practice. She is currently doing an MSc in Business and Organizational Psychology. Her book, “You Only Have to Ask! How to Realize the Full Potential of Gen Z at Work,” is a comprehensive guide for organizations aiming to harness the unique strengths of Gen Z employees.
Want to learn more about Anna Hislop’s work at Unfolding Success? Check out her website at https://unfolding-success.com/
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