Gen Z: Uncharted Territory

“Talking to Gen Z’s is always a treat,” this I say often. Because each time I do, I navigate an unknown territory.  I see familiar terrains, but when I go closer, they are unrecognizable. It’s like being lost in my own space. Scary, but in fear, there is adventure. 

When Gen Z nieces (daughters of BFFs) invite me to a Gen Z gathering, I can’t say “no.” One such invite was Hanna’s. She said her Literary Society was considering me to be a speaker for its career seminar.  

It was my undoing. 

Preparing my talk required me to see the topic “Outside the Box” from their POV. There are gray areas in what this means to different generations. Just look at how differently we visualized the concept. 

But from my experience and research, there is a common ground among all life stages: not theories, but stories. We all like to listen to real-life stories that touch our own. 

So I interwove age-old theories on success with authentic stories from the workplace, my milieu for 20 years. 

Although I got hugs of appreciation at the end of the event, I was concerned whether my message resonated with them. Then I read this article on their social media page: 

 

After the successful event 𝗢𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘅: 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰, let us share impactful moments that truly resonated with our Literature majors.   

“ . . . [she] opened up with stories about her career. She shared a well-designed acronym to help in navigating the jungle which is the workplace. IMHO: Innovate, Move emotions, Hone abilities, and Overcome weaknesses. She highlighted the importance of excellence as the standard for working.

Grace enabled us to be on the same page!   

Yet I maintain: Gen Z remains an uncharted territory. My friend Ggie, who accompanied me to the event, said I failed to answer one question, “Would you advice taking a gap before applying for a job?’” 

Gap?! What's that?! Duh. In my time, we had to keep going . . . and going . . .and going.