Episode 1: Not Entitled—Intentional: Gen Z Motivation and Meaning at Work

Release Date

Guests

Ashley Beausolell

Daniel Borgatti

Sydnee Hart

Transcript

GenShift Transcript: Episode 1—GenZ

Katherine Jeffery: Hi there. Welcome to the very first episode of GenShift. GenShift is a podcast where Generations explore work, life, and leadership. I'm your host, Katherine. Jeffrey, and I'm a researcher, speaker and consultant. I've spent several years studying Generational dynamics in the workplace. My work includes coaching keynotes and team trainings.

I help organizations build bridges across Generational differences. My goal is simply to help people lead with empathy and collaborate with intention. Why did I create this podcast? I believe one of today's biggest leadership challenges is learning to work across these differences, including Generational differences.

So whether you're leading a team, starting your career, or somewhere in between, this podcast is for you. Each episode features real voices from different Generations. We'll explore what drives us and what divides us, and how we can build workplaces where everyone contributes and belongs. So before we jump into this conversation, let's take a few minutes to set the stage and talk about who Gen Z is and why their voice matters In today's workplace, Gen Z was born roughly between 1996 and 2012.

They're the first Generation to be raised with smartphones, social media, and instant access to information. They are the first true digital natives. They grew up among school lockdown drills. Climate change, anxiety and some deep political polarization. They also came of age during major global events like the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.

What shapes their worldview? Constant connectivity and exposure to global issues from a very young age, a declining trust in traditional institutions, which includes government, religion, and corporations. They have a strong sense of activism, identity awareness, and cultural fluency. They have a desire, a deep desire for authenticity, transparency, and social responsibility.

What does Gen Z want at work? They want mental health support and psychological safety. They want purpose-driven work. Where they care more about the meaning of their job than their actual title. They want flexibility over rigid nine to five structures, and they really care about diverse, inclusive environments where all voices at the table matter.

They want collaborative leadership and not top down management. Common stereotypes are Gen Z's face is lazy, entitled. Too sensitive, or you're just so unrealistic. But in reality, Gen Z is actually incredibly thoughtful. They're driven by their values, and they're working really hard to navigate a very complex world with deep clarity.

Why are we focusing on Gen Z for our very first? This Generation is already reshaping the culture of our workplace. They bring both new challenges and fresh perspectives, and their questions about leadership, wellbeing, and fairness deserve to be heard, not dismissed. So today we're asking, Hey, Gen Z, what motivates you?

What actually matters to you in the workplace? What hurdles have you faced working across the Generational divide and what helps you turn tension into teamwork? Let's dive into this conversation. I'm so excited. We have three amazing Gen Zers on today, and I'm gonna start by just if you three will introduce yourself.

Tell us your name, your role, like what do you do at work, because each of you have unique roles. And then just say where you. Fall in your Generation. If you wanna give your birth year, that's fine. If you don't, just say, if you're on the elder side of your Generation, you're in the middle, whatever. Just to give people a sense.

'cause sometimes there's some nuances, right? As we dig deeper into the Generations. So Daniel, let's start with you.

Daniel Borgatti: I am Daniel Borgatti. I am a project manager with Councilman Hunsaker and we're a engineering consultant. We do aquatics design and we design commercial swimming pools, which I have to explain a lot whenever I meet new people.

But basically what I do is I coordinate the design of new and renovating commercial swimming pools for mostly municipal facilities. And we usually work directly with architects and other mechanical engineers, structural engineers. That's primarily what I do on a daily basis is a little bit of artistic design and a lot of math.

Katherine Jeffery: Excellent. And where do you fall within Gen Z?

Daniel Borgatti: So I was born in 96. I think we talked about this when we met Katherine. I was surprised when you put me on Gen Z. I was expecting to be with the millennials. But it was interesting when we were discussing that I did relate to both, I'd say Generations.

There's some things that I could relate with the millennials. There's a lot with Gen Z as well, but I would say in between the two, but I definitely relate a lot with the Gen Z.

Katherine Jeffery: Yes. Excellent. And you're right on the cusp, right? So we'd call you a cusper. Do any of you remember the name for Gen Zs that are right on the cusp?

Zals.

Daniel Borgatti: No, it was weird because one of them was X and the other one Z. And with millennial in the middle.

Ashley Beausoleil: Yep. Ashley, do you remember? I always call myself a zillennial.

Daniel Borgatti: That's what it is.

Katherine Jeffery: You're a millennial.

And you described it perfectly, right? You're just right in between the two, but you do lean a little more Gen Z.

Daniel Borgatti: Exactly.

Katherine Jeffery: Thank you. Thank you, Daniel. All right, Ashley.

Ashley Beausoleil: Hi, I'm Ashley Beausoleil. I am working in a hospital. I do direct patient care on a medical surgical floor, so all ages and honestly, our nursing staff is all ages as well. I am only part-time there 'cause I am also at home with a child. Previously I also worked in a classroom, so I have different areas of experience within the workplace.

I was also born in 1996, but there are oftentimes where there's. Comments made about millennials that I'm like, I have no idea what you're talking about. And then I also didn't grow up like dancing to TikTok. So there's this kind of in between where I'm like, I definitely think I resonate more with Gen Zs, especially with what I expect in the workplace and how I interact with individuals.

But on the same side, like I didn't have a smartphone until I was in middle school.

Katherine Jeffery: Yes. So well said. That gives us some great context, right? So why you two feel like you're in the middle or pulled a little in both directions. Excellent. Thank you. Okay, Sydnee.

Sydnee Hart: Hi, I'm Sydnee Hart. I am the marketing coordinator for Summit Legacy Strategies.

Basically a financial services firm that helps. Individuals and families focus on building long-term strategies for wealth, retirement, and just overall financial wellbeing. I run the social media pages. I do a lot of strategy with our advisors and overall just support through different marketing avenues.

I am a 2001 baby a little bit further, a little bit more into to Gen Z, but it's funny, even though I'm 2001, I actually do resonate with both millennials and Gen Z, even though I am definitely Gen Z.

Katherine Jeffery: Do you have older siblings that are millennials?

Sydnee Hart: No, I am actually the oldest. So my brother is 15 and he is very much, he's at the end of Gen Z.

The differences between that are also very interesting. Yeah.

Katherine Jeffery: Yes, so good. Okay, so Gen Z is coming into the workplace and I think oftentimes you're very misunderstood. People are reading you in one way, but your intentions are very different. There was one thing that you wish other Generations understood about Generation Z.

What would it be?

Ashley Beausoleil: I can go first on this. Something that I often feel teased about is setting boundaries and expectations up front, which you touched on earlier as coming off as sensitive or maybe even lazy or whatnot. But I find that I can be very efficient in a very short amount of time. So if I have already set the expectation or asked for what I need.

That's not me being whiny or entitled, but instead creating an environment where I'm gonna give you my best product.

Katherine Jeffery: So well said. Thank you, Ashley. Really good. Yeah. Okay.

Sydnee Hart: I would say for me, I often face judgment for my age, especially since I'm freshly 24, graduated college only two years ago. Even some Gen Z, a lot of Gen Z might still be in college and working.

But for me, I feel like there is a. Understanding that, oh, we're just so young and we don't know what we're talking about. We don't know. We just stare at a screen all day. So how can we know what the world is actually like and how things actually work? Obviously not claiming to know everything by no means, but we do know what's going on and I would argue we have a very strong resourcefulness.

We know how to find things. We know how to access things really quick too. There's those jokes about Gen Z being FBI aGents, just because we're so good at finding things out. Research all of that in, in all aspects. Especially work too. That's what I would add to that.

Katherine Jeffery: Yes, very resourceful. I love that.

And I just wanna throw out there that your Gen Zs, right now, they're age 13 to 29. That's the age span we're looking at. Okay. Daniel, what's your response to that question?

Daniel Borgatti: I was just going to agree with everything that was said and then build on that. And I totally agree with what Sydnee just mentioned about.

Not being taken seriously because of our age. I can't count how many times I've been the youngest person in the media because my scope is so niche. I'm the one who has to lead a lot of these discussions, and a lot of times, because I'm the youngest one in the room, I'm not taken seriously and they expect me to not know what I'm talking about.

I think it is exactly what was said just because. We're stepping up to the plate probably at a younger age than a lot of other people did in our positions, doesn't mean that we don't know what we're doing.

Katherine Jeffery: Yeah, I love that. So how do you feel, Daniel, if I'm your boss and I say, Hey kiddo, can you come help me with this?

Daniel Borgatti: If my actual boss were saying that, I would laugh it off because I know he was joking. I know that it would just be, it was just gonna be joke, a joke, but if it was actually something that was being said by a superior, by a supervisor or someone, something like that, someone like that, I would be taken aback a little.

And just because everything goes back to respect just because. We might be younger than everybody else, doesn't mean we don't deserve respect. So that's, that goes with any other term that can associate you with Gender, sexual, or anything like that shouldn't be reduced to a single word like that.

Yeah,

Ashley Beausoleil: and I think that also, if I can interrupt there, you had said that our Generation is one that is like very intentional about the words than the ways that we describe people and. Kiddo. What I probably would laugh at if somebody called me that, I would be like, seriously, but I get a little bit prickly when somebody calls me girl.

And I don't know if that's so much like a Gender thing or an age thing. I think it's probably the intersection of both, but I'm like, I am somebody who has authority, deserves respect, and I actually know what I'm doing. So please don't call me a girl, especially in front of a patient or somebody that I'm supposed to be showing my authority to.

I would be like, that is not okay. I honestly probably wouldn't say anything, but it would hurt. It would hurt and make me feel diminished.

Katherine Jeffery: Yeah, and you almost, it sounds like you feel undermined, right? Like I'm trying to do my job and do it well, but you're actually reducing my capacity to do that when you call me that name.

Yeah. Sydnee, did you wanna add anything?

Sydnee Hart: No, honestly, I completely agree. I also, I think for me, if you called me girl or kiddo in anything other than like a friendly situation, like one of my friends calling me that or my. Family calling me that. I think I would be very frustrated with it.

Katherine Jeffery: Yeah. I hear all the time with, from people from older Generations.

This is like gold to them. If you could answer this, okay. What actually motivates you when you're at work? What is it that gets you to bring your best self to your job?

Daniel Borgatti: Personally, I am motivated by my own results. Like I need to see my own results to fruition. Being able to perform, being able to show to myself and to my team that I'm bringing value, that I'm bringing my own thoughts and my own spin into things, and being part of the team, that's what motivates me.

I like being part of a team and I like being a good addition to that team.

Katherine Jeffery: Love that. Thank you. Daniel.

Ashley Beausoleil: I think similarly to Daniel. I have a lot of intrinsic motivation, so I want whatever I do to be like my best possible version. I'm, I set really high expectations for myself in that, but when it comes to the workplace, I don't necessarily need somebody to pull me aside and.

Tell me like, Hey, you did great at this moment, or I noticed this. I want it more and that I'm compensated appropriately. That the expectation is that I'm gonna do a good job. But if I am having like a worst day, it's not like I've set this bar so high for myself that if I don't reach it one day it's something's unraveled.

And also just in like benefits, I wanna be able to spend time with my friends and family and travel and. Do the things that help me to be a good worker in the workplace.

Sydnee Hart: Excellent. Similar, but I actually really do appreciate. Like verbal acknowledgement or acknowledgement just in General. Even if that's, Hey, I just really what you added to the meeting that day, or, I don't know what it is, but verbal acknowledgement I think is huge for me.

Just a small sentence is more than enough. I also think being, like Ashley said, being compensated and. Overall just being valued and shown empathy too. That's just what motivates me. I feel like the environment you work in is just as important as the work you do. That can also be super important as well for me in motivating me to keep going and keep working hard and just get better every day.

Katherine Jeffery: Now, Sydnee, you said a word that I hear from a lot of Gen Zers that. People from older Generations aren't always sure how to translate that in the workplace. You said the word empathy. I wanna be shown empathy. Can any of you build on that? So I'm a Gen Xer, right? As a Gen Xer. If I show you empathy, what does that mean?

Sydnee Hart: Empathy in the workplace is just, I feel like Gen Z because we grew up with technology. No matter what that technology looks like and at what point it was at, there's a lot of pressure on us as well for things to be common sense that maybe are not common sense to us. And so just the empathy and the understanding that you might have to show me a couple times, but once you show me, I'll do it 150% and I'm a perfectionist and I will, I'm a people pleaser and I feel like a lot of Gen Z we're, we just wanna please you.

We just wanna make you happy and for you to be proud of us, as silly as that might sound. But empathy is just understanding that we're still learning and growing, but we're trying.

Katherine Jeffery: Talk about real quick. You mentioned like these things that feel common sense, like what are some of those that you've experienced in the workplace where you're like, no, I just don't know how to do this.

Can you just teach me like slow down and teach me?

Sydnee Hart: I'm blanking on specific examples, but I feel like a lot of it is in terms of the ones that come to mind right now are in terms of communication. For me at least, I don't wanna respond until I have something completed. So I will usually, I don't know if this is common for Gen Z or not, but usually I will like the message to let them know I saw it and I just start working on it immediately so that way when I next email them and say, got it, here you go.

It's already done. And that kind of thing. But I, for maybe some of the older Generations, for them common sense would be. A different type of communication. I'm not sure exactly what that looks like, but I do know people have reached out to me and asked, are you working on this? And I'm like, oh yeah. And they're like, why didn't you tell me?

I'm like, oh, I liked your message. I'm sorry. I'll tell you next time for me.

Katherine Jeffery: That's really good. Ashley, go ahead.

Ashley Beausoleil: I would also just piggyback off of what Sydnee said is that if I'm not meeting your expectation or if I'm not doing something. The way that you expect that it should be done, whether it's communication or a skill or whatever, by just telling me and verbally showing without any sort of like pretense or anything.

I think that the word that comes to my mind when I think empathy in the workplace is grace. If I need to explain to somebody how to do something technological, I'm gonna do that with kindness and grace and patience. I would like that in return when I'm. Not meeting the expectation you need. And it's not so much that I expect somebody to hold my hand, but I just sometimes you have to be told when you don't know you're doing something correctly or whatnot.

Katherine Jeffery: That's really good. Thank you for that, Daniel.

Daniel Borgatti: I, again, I agree with everything that was said. I'm gonna go in a little bit of a different direction with the empathy thing, and to me it's more of a, I don't like the attitude of, oh, you're having a bad time. Just rub some dirt on and keep going. Situation. If I'm having a bad day, just let me have a bad day and then understand that I'm not at a hundred percent today, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to be like this every day.

I just need to recover from whatever happened personally or professionally, and then just move on from there. Just gimme a little bit of time to just react to what happened or whatever's causing me to not be at my best. Then we'll go from there.

Katherine Jeffery: That's good. So that would reflect empathy.

Daniel Borgatti: Yeah.

Katherine Jeffery: Some older Generations would say, Daniel, I never got to have a day like that. Like I just had to suck it up. Yeah. So what would your response be to that?

Daniel Borgatti: That not everybody's the same? I'm gonna react differently to inputs than anybody else, and that's the same for everybody. And I think that I totally understand and I agree that all the Generations didn't have to, didn't get to have their own day.

And I understand, I and I empathize with that, but just because that's always how it's been done is not a reason to keep doing things that way.

Ashley Beausoleil: So well said. If there is one phrase that really pushes me the wrong way, it's like I had to do it this way. So you do too. For some reason. I would never argue back with that, and I don't know if that's like a personality of my own or a Generational thing.

I would just be like, so in my brain I would have this whole like breakdown of, I'm just supposed to deal with this. I'm supposed to deal with a patient treating me poorly. I'm supposed to deal with, everybody's just thrown into the fire. Kind of thing when we could be aGents of change. And that's really hard for my brain to conceptualize when I'm like, okay, it's been this way, but does that mean it's the best way?

I don't understand. And I think that comes off as questioning or again, whiny or young and immature. And it's just like we could create a world that is like so much more efficient. Honestly, if we just supported each other. Through every step instead of leaning back onto this is how it was done. And I think that there is some nuance to that working in healthcare because there is so much, whether it's superiors treating you a little bit poorly, or there's like the phrase like, nurses eat their own.

Or you'll often hear providers or doctors say, I worked an 80 hour week when I was in my residency. What's the problem? And it's, but was that healthy? And do you still wanna be a doctor? And that phrase itself is, if you wanted to encapsulate something that bothers me and I think really pigeons me as a Gen Z, it would be I had to do it.

So what's your problem?

Katherine Jeffery: Why do you all think that Older Generations even say that to you?

Daniel Borgatti: Because they resent, they have to do it that way,

Katherine Jeffery: right? I would say a lot of people wish they could have. Some of the things you have, a lot of the things that Gen Z is bringing into the workplace, they're actually things that people have wanted forever, but we couldn't have for whatever reason.

And so in some ways, you all are making a lot of us stop and think about, okay, we can do this differently. But that's hard. It's hard to get there, right when something's been done a certain way for so long, and so it takes. Humility on both ends of the spectrum to say, okay, how do we find a new way forward?

Ashley Beausoleil: I think it's resentment and then also not having an answer. If I have a perception of older Generations, it's like we have the answer and what my answer is, that's what goes instead of, I would like if somebody said, oh. It could be done differently. I don't know how that works. Can you help me figure out how that works?

I'm happy to figure out the, how. It's like that twofold of, oh man, they might be changing something we all had to deal with, but also like, how do we change something that's been so systemic for literally Generations.

Katherine Jeffery: Yeah. And it never happens Quickly change, if you've read anything about change management or been a part of that, it's a process.

Daniel, go ahead. We wanna hear what I was just

Daniel Borgatti: gonna say that it's not, this is not to say that just because we want things, we want something to be different, doesn't mean it's better. We're just questioning, does it have to be this way? Maybe. Maybe some things do have to be that way because that's the best way to do it.

But just because we're questioning it doesn't mean we're wrong.

Katherine Jeffery: Yes. That's such a good point, right? It's not like I'm not just automatically being disrespectful. I actually wanna understand the why and I try to tell people that, right? As a Gen Xer, we're the first Generation to start asking why. Like we started to ask that question.

But man, if millennials, and especially Gen Z, don't know why, like you all typically are not very invested at all, right? Make it make sense. Is like one of your mantras. Would you agree with that?

Daniel Borgatti: Yes, absolutely.

Katherine Jeffery: When you think about working within an organization, what matters to you most in either your job, like your position or in the workplace itself?

What are the things that you're like, yes or absolutely not?

Daniel Borgatti: I liked what you mentioned during the introduction about transparency. Firm that I work for, they are, the leadership is very transparent with how they're operating things, what they plan on changing, plan on keeping, they ask our opinions for a lot of things.

So I really do appreciate that and I think that's really important. It is made me want to stay at the company. It's made me comfortable to work here, and it doesn't feel like I'm just working for some nameless person at the top who's just profiting off of everything. I know the CEO, he works. Down the hall from me and he and I can talk about anything.

It's not like he's just above everybody else.

Katherine Jeffery: Can you talk about that for a moment? Like when you feel like there's just some big person at the top and you're just working out their aGenda, how does that make you feel versus having that CEO right down the hall and Daniel first? How many people are in your company

Daniel Borgatti: I should have led with that?

The company is about, I wanna say. 45 to 48. I forget exactly what the number is, but we're under 50.

Katherine Jeffery: Yeah. So the CEO has some capacity to interact on some level, right?

Daniel Borgatti: Yes. So it is, it's not like our work for Microsoft or anything like that, which is a different situation. But regardless, even at Microsoft, each location has its own director or I don't know what the terminology they use, but you still have different sections and like you still have that chance of whoever's at the leader of that section to act that way, act separately from that team.

And that goes back to what I was saying, I wanna feel as part of the team, even though I don't necessarily need to be. The team leader. I don't necessarily need to contribute to every single thing, but I wanna know that my opinion is being taken into account. I wanna know that I can bring something up without being shut down immediately.

Katherine Jeffery: So one, I hear you saying you want access, and two, you want to have a voice. Yes. Excellent. And I feel like

Daniel Borgatti: I do have that here.

Katherine Jeffery: Yes. Yeah, I hear that. Yeah, for sure. And I've met your CEO, so he's very involved. Yeah. I'm not trying to suck

Daniel Borgatti: up or anything, but if it sounds like that,

Katherine Jeffery: great. Okay. Ashley or Sydnee, how about you?

Ashley Beausoleil: Transparency is. Very important to me as well. I don't have a direct line to the CEO of the hospital, but my managers are very available and seemingly invested in the things that I'm encountering in my personal life, which I think can be either. Them being invested is really incredible because personal life really can be detrimental in a, like a customer facing role.

I don't get to hide behind a computer. I honestly, in a 12 and a half hour shift, I probably sit down for 45 minutes and 30 of those are my lunch.

Sydnee Hart: Yeah.

Ashley Beausoleil: And so having that feels very comforting. But I would also say, and this is. Feels contradictory since I said I don't totally want somebody to come up and be like, Hey Ashley, you did great every single time, but I do wanna feel like the work I'm doing is important.

That goes back to the why question, right? Like why am I doing this? Is it important part of the team or does it feel the term that comes to mind is busy work? Is this actively. Helping the greater team. I will say that in the situation I work with, I'm very much entrenched within a team, but we're hardly ever working side by side like you.

When you are a patient in a hospital, you see so many different people, but we come in as individuals and somehow we coordinate that teamwork without ever actually communicating. We don't have a Slack channel going or something like that, right? We do have our own messaging platform, but it's very different.

I'm not liking anything a doctor sends me. It's literally I'm doing it or answering their phone call. So I think that for me, in a workplace, I need the transparency and also the feeling that I'm an important member of the organization.

Katherine Jeffery: Very similar, right? To what Daniel said. Yeah. Sydnee, do you have anything to add?

Sydnee Hart: Very similar, but I would say opportunities for growth, adaptability, flexibility, open communication. 'cause we're all humans. Like I'm not a robot. My boss isn't a robot. Nobody's a robot here. So we're not, we haven't hit that point yet with ai. So yeah, not yet. But yeah, probably the most important thing is an open line of communication and just being willing to.

Daniel said, have a voice. And not even just people listening to me, but people hearing me like taking what I'm saying seriously and using it. That's all I would add, but pretty much the same. Same thing.

Katherine Jeffery: It's so good. I think what you all just said is really helpful for older Generations to hear. Okay. This is a fun one.

So when you think about your own Generation Z, how do you view it? What are your strengths and what are the struggles that you see?

Sydnee Hart: I think our Generation is what bred the iPad kid, and so our Generation is something that loved my brother, but he grew up, even though he is also Gen Z, he grew up also in a very different world than even I grew up.

We're eight years apart. Gen Z is the start of a lack of social skills. That's my biggest critique, probably of some people in my Generation and something that I feel like older Generations have even pointed out. And I'll be the first person to. Tell you. Yeah, that's true. Our social skills are very different than the social skills of the older Generation.

'cause alternatively, I would say, a positive of our Generation that I also really love is the fact that we are, what I said earlier, resourceful, but also very good at. Communication online or virtually or whatever that looks like. A lot of Gen Z's very good at writing because we text a lot or we have to post on social media a lot and we are very conscientious of what it is that we have to say.

I feel like Gen Z is very empathetic, like a huge, really big hearts, and we care more about a lot of different things more than the older Generations might. Even the things that might not impact us directly, we still care. We still want to be a part of that and be part of the greater good and helping lift people up.

That's one of my, one of my favorite things probably about Gen Z. It goes hand in hand with the lack of social skills sometimes something we can work

Katherine Jeffery: on. And that's one of the things I love about Gen Z, what you're doing, right? You're able to hold both intentions. Yeah. We're not so good at this, but we're really good at this.

But they impact each other. And I was laughing as you were speaking because you said Gen Z's really good at writing. And I bet if someone from an older Generation is listening to this, they're going, really? Y'all don't even use periods. So they would be like, how do you define good writing Sydnee? But to your point, you're doing a lot of texting, social media, right?

And you're thinking very well. You all have learned about cancel culture and all that stuff. And so you have to think well about what you post and how you say it, and you are empathetic towards other people. Awesome.

Ashley Beausoleil: Also, I've heard broadly millennials being described maybe as like the me Generation, like it's about me.

I'm having me, thoughts me, whatever. And. Something I'm proud of in being a Gen Z is that it's a shift toward more of a community culture or whether it's not necessarily, we might not be part of a community in person as the me saying, like some of those I think have deteriorated, but we are really aware of what's happening in like the social sphere.

Around the world. We're aware of things that are happening outside of our city, state, country, and more communal in that this is a very personal opinion. I don't think cancel culture is perfect by any means because I also think we need to offer some grace and like what somebody says on social media doesn't necessarily reflect, I don't know, anything could be taken out of this podcast and used as a sound bit, right?

Or even with the terrifying culture of ai. Something could be made to sound like me and I wouldn't wanna be canceled over that as somebody who prides himself on being very intentional with my wording and very empathetic in my, with my being in the world, not just the wor workplace. So I think that's something I'm proud of.

Is this more community minded. And I think you can see that in the activism and what we expect in the workplace. It's not just for ourselves, it's for everyone. I wanna see that my CEO has time when they're having a bad day, but I also expect that your actions match what you're saying. So if there's constant dissonance in that, then I might lean towards you're not speaking and acting the same way.

Katherine Jeffery: Something's not adding up here. Yeah, over the long term, but in the moment, you might be more prone to offer grace.

Ashley Beausoleil: I also would say that we're pretty good. There's a term when multiple languages and it's co code switching, and I would say Gen Z is pretty good at that, where I can have a conversation with somebody of an older Generation, even like the traditionalist, I work with a lot of folks that age and I know not to use something like slang.

I. Use or even verbiage, like empathy, right? I'm gonna meet them where they are. That's something that we're really good at from consuming so many different types of media, movies, to YouTube, to social media, to also reading, like we still had to read and do things.

Katherine Jeffery: So thank you. Daniel, do you have anything you wanna add?

Daniel Borgatti: I think the only thought that I had that wasn't necessarily, it was a little bit touched on upon, but not completely different. But anyway, I think one thing that our Generation does really well is like to stand up for ourselves. Like we were talking about, a lot of times we're seen as sensitive and then like we don't, we're entitled whatever.

Pejorative word you wanna use. I think that's just misconstrued as we're trying to protect ourselves and we're trying to protect each other from something that could potentially be harmful is a harsh word, but not productive. Let's put it that way. In the workplace, we're at home or whatever. We're not here to be put down.

We're not here to not be happy. That's, I feel like that's the main goal of this Generation is just to be happy. So if something's. Happening. We're going through something that's not making us happen. We're going to stand up against it and stop from not being happy.

Katherine Jeffery: And find a different way.

Daniel Borgatti: Yeah, exactly.

Katherine Jeffery: What have you found to be a challenge when you're working across the Generations? Like Ashley, you just mentioned you work with some traditionalists, right? They're like on the opposite end of the Generational spectrum from you. What have you found those challenges to be?

Ashley Beausoleil: The one that I would say first, I would like to note that I feel very, this sounds very arrogant, but I feel very competent working across Generations.

That's something I'm very comfortable doing, and I think that's also telling in the workplace that I'm in, if I didn't feel comfortable working with all sorts of people at different ages, backgrounds, whatnot, I probably wouldn't be very good at my job. But I would say it's a breakdown of communication.

That's the hardest part. That instead of continuing to collaborate to understand it's this like constant friction of, this is what I said, and. I don't understand back and forth from both directions. There can be like a collective degradation if you're passing among different levels in different Generations, like almost like telephone.

So I would say it's like miscommunication with the same like intent and hope for good.

Katherine Jeffery: Really good. Thank you.

Daniel Borgatti: Yeah, I would agree. I think communication is the biggest hurdle and that I feel like it stems from a lack of understanding of why each Generation behaves the way they do. Katherine, I think you've done a really good job at breaking that down and explaining that to each generation.

So I think that's gonna be one of the benefits of these discussions we're having is that hurdle is gonna be, I think, diminished. Not necessarily eliminated, but I think it's going to be diminished, so we can jump over it. But like Ashley said, it's finding a way that we can relate to each other, not just.

In the workplace, but outside as well. But in the workplace, we need to really be able to talk about things that are not work so that we can relate to each other. So understanding why each Generation behaves is the way they do, I'd say, is a way to go over that hurdle.

Katherine Jeffery: Yes. Building that awareness, which then exactly.

Empathy. Thank you. Daniel Sydnee.

Sydnee Hart: Yeah. Similarly to Ashley, I have been in several different positions, whether it's like a mentorship role, a training role. Educational type role, and I've worked with several different Generations, even down to Gen Alpha and love it too, because I feel like there's so much I have learned from them so much.

I continue to learn from them. And I actually have my degree in media studies with a minor in communication. So communication is so fascinating to me and something that I find really important. I pride myself in trying to adapt to other people's communication, but I feel like a hurdle. Again, in regards to communication is we get told it's always been this way, so you have to adapt.

And I'm not saying no, we need to meet in the middle. You know what I mean? We need to meet in the middle. It's not a US problem, but it's not a other Generational problem either. It's a, we're just from different eras. And so I think the biggest thing is that I feel like Gen Z as a whole tends to pride itself on adapting to communication.

Since we have had access to online and seeing so many different types of people from so many diff backgrounds, I feel we are the first Generation to jump all over. Trying to be sensitive towards them and empathetic towards them, not offend them, use their vocabulary. I had a meeting not too long ago, a few days ago where it was someone from an older Generation and I just met him where he was at, and there's no problem with that.

I have no issue with that. And he was very kind back. But I have in past, with previous jobs experienced where I was willing to meet them halfway or meet them where they're at and be empathetic towards that. They weren't necessarily willing to do that for me, and I was just written off as, oh, they're just young.

You'll learn. That's just not how the work world works. It can, we can change it if we want to. It's up to everybody, not just us and not just them. So good

Katherine Jeffery: Sydnee, whenever I do workshops or speaking, I talk about the Generations. What if we started thinking about the Generations as if they were different cultures?

And I think that's what you were really hitting on, right? We're all, we've grown up in these different eras, so even if I grew up in the same state as you, the same country, same city, whatever, the world as we know, it was so different when we were being formed. And so we're coming into the workplace and into life looking through these different paradigms and operating out of a different operate, out of a different paradigm.

And so meeting each other where we're at is. So important. And one of the things I talked about just this morning, if we're all working on our own emotional intelliGence, this all gets a lot easier. Understanding ourselves, how we show up, and then making space for other people and building those relationships.

Really well said. Okay. Last question for you all. What is something along your journey that you've learned that has helped you build stronger relationships across that Generational divide? Sydnee, you start, you answered that a little bit, right? I'm meeting them where they're at. I call it moving towards someone.

If we're moving away from someone that's not gonna help. We have to move toward,

Sydnee Hart: I tried to get ahead of any miscommunication before it can even happen. So like I'll reach out and be like, what do you prefer? Just tell me, do you prefer it this way or this way? Just tell me point blank. I wanna hear from you before even anything can happen.

Just make sure we're on the same page because I've learned what's common sense to them is not common sense to me. What's common sense to me might not be common sense to them. I try to, if they haven't already tried to initiate that transparency. I think Ashley mentioned that earlier, the importance of transparency.

That's what, how I go about it.

Ashley Beausoleil: I've never thought of that as something specific to our Generation, Sydnee. But I also do find myself giving people options. I can see us going about it these two ways. Can you tell me and honestly, I have a toddler. I interact the same way, right? Like we gotta get to the same end point, but like I'm happy to work on how we do it and create the best way to get there for you.

I appreciate for you for saying something about that. 'cause I've never, I've now thinking back on like emails and communication and you don't really get options from older folks in your workplace.

Katherine Jeffery: Daniel, what do you got for it?

Daniel Borgatti: I'm gonna sound like a Brooklyn record, but to, to me, it all goes back to respect.

If Generational differences, as much as we try to break them down, we can do a really good job. And I think we can at breaking them down, they're not gonna go away. So as long as you're respecting each other, that's to me is the best way to, to interact. It doesn't matter what if it's us trying to reach out to a previous Generation or them trying to reach out to us.

As long as you're being respectful, that's the best way to, to break the reach I

Ashley Beausoleil: give for me to make work life better is to remember that everybody is human. And so allowing for space for humanity, right? Everybody comes with their own individual backgrounds, their own cultures, their own ages, what they've experienced.

As somebody who's not even 30, like somebody who's decades older than me, has experienced so much more and can teach me in so many ways, and I honestly and sincerely want to learn from them. I want to learn their wealth of knowledge from experience and both life and book learning experience. But I think that what's helpful is to be like.

We're human right? We're gonna have bad days, good days. And also that there's more to them than their work personhood. Sometimes just knowing about somebody's partner or if they have children or pets. I know it seems baseline. I don't really like icebreakers so much, but I do like to, every once in a while, check in on some of those like personal things that help my coworkers and also myself be seen as humans with this beautiful collection of things.

So I would say that's like what I really try to be intentional about in the workplace.

Sydnee Hart: I love that. I was just gonna say something that you just made me think of. I feel like the older Generations, you just know very little about them, and I think Gen Z, we like to know more. You're going through a breakup.

Tell me, I know we're colleagues. But you could tell me it's okay, I'm here for you. We like to have that personal relationship instead of just, oh, we're all just here to work, which we are. But it just makes it for a better environment. So that just what you said, Ashley just made me think of that.

Katherine Jeffery: Excellent. I love that. Love that

Daniel Borgatti: we can't turn out to be like the show is severance, right? Where you work, life is completely separate from your personal life. So it's, it shouldn't be like that.

Katherine Jeffery: And we wanna be humans in our work, like our big. Chunk of our lives is spend at work. I feel like you're all talking about like a shared sense of humanity.

We're all in this, we all have bad days, right? We all have good days. We all can show compassion. We all might not be in the mood to show compassion, right? But we're all in this together, and if we can offer respect and even curiosity for one another and empathy, that can really change the direction of the conversation and even the relationship exactly.

Yeah. Is there anything else that you would wanna add? Are there any thoughts that have gone through your head that you haven't been able to say that you're like, if I want someone from another Generation listening to this, I want them to make sure they know this?

Sydnee Hart: Katherine, you brought this up earlier and I've attended one of your workshops ever since you mentioned this.

It has blown my mind the thinking of Generations as. Cultures, we would go into different cultures, respecting the culture, doing research about the culture, figuring out how to communicate with them, what they wear, what they act, what's manners for them what's rude to them even So I that ever since I heard you talk about that, I have tried to apply that in my own life and I think that.

Something that a lot of people need to hear. I wish everyone could hear it. I have told everyone I know about that, and it has been eyeopening for so many different people just to think of, instead of saying, oh, those millennials, or those Gen Zers, or even those boomers, or whatever, it's, that's a different culture though.

So I feel like respect across all Generations, and I'm not just talking about. Gen Z, but treating every Generation as a culture, I think that is so eye-opening and helpful in opening up the pathways for conversation and discussion around this.

Katherine Jeffery: Excellent. Thank you Sydnee, and I'm glad you're spreading that word.

'cause I too believe that is core to this being like to this working right to us, building those bridges.

Daniel Borgatti: I couldn't agree more and especially, I'm a foreigner. I'm from Brazil, so that's one of the things that. I like it when people ask how it was different for me to grow up in another country. So it's the same, it's the same thing with the Generations, right?

It's, it shouldn't be bad to ask questions to about how it was different for them than it is for us.

Katherine Jeffery: You three. Thank you so much. This conversation was so rich and I think that people are just gonna be like, oh my gosh, that's so helpful. And you're all three so articulate. So the way you even explain things was really helpful.

It wasn't vague, it wasn't out here, really. It's just been a joy for me to be with you. I so appreciate your time and I know that other people will really benefit from this.

Daniel Borgatti: Absolutely. Thank you very much, Katherine. I was very happy to be a part of this and I think like what we've all been saying, this is gonna be very helpful for a lot of people.

Awesome.

Ashley Beausoleil: Yeah. I'm also gonna sound like a broken record, but. Sydnee said, I've talked about your workshops so much since going, it was so valuable to me, I think to have a space where we could have those vulnerable conversations and laugh with a whole bunch of different people. It was just like a special place for me to learn and also reset my compassion a little bit.

Be reminded that I need to take a step back and restart every once in a while because you can get on your narrow track. So thank you for creating that space and that opportunity.

Katherine Jeffery: Thank you. You are so welcome. You're so welcome. And thank you for entering into it with an open mind 'cause that's what it takes.

Sydnee Hart: Thank you so much. I am so grateful to have this opportunity. Like I said, and Ashley just said, I feel like it is something that everyone can learn from. I've even learned from other Gen Zers. I think it's just the first step in a process that needs a lot of steps in order to enact change amongst the different Generations and in how we understand each other.

So thank you again so much.

Katherine Jeffery: Thank you all. You are the best. This was a great way to spend an hour and a half. I can't think of any way I'd rather have done this, and I just appreciate you all stepping out and doing the first episode with me. Okay, wrap up and reflection. This conversation reminded me why I started Gen Shift in the first place.

It's easy to make snap judgements across the Generations, but when we pause to truly listen, we uncover shared values, untapped potential, and honestly new ways forward. What Gen Z is showing us, it's time to rethink how we define success. We have to prioritize wellbeing in meaningful ways, and we need to adapt how we lead in uncertain times.

And this isn't just a Gen Z conversation. These questions matter whether you're a Genzer, a millennial, a Gen Xer, a boomer, or a traditionalist. So what's next on Gen Shift? Future episodes will feature leaders from every Generation. We're gonna explore values, assumptions, and the cultural shifts shaping today's workplace.

Thanks for tuning in. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone navigating Generational dynamics at work. This is GenShift where Generations explore work, life, and leadership.