The Challenge with Gen Z | Simon Sinek

Some of the human skills that are under-appreciated and under-trained in this age are: How to have difficult conversation, how to have an effective confrontation, and how to give and receive feedback.

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Simon is an unshakable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together.

Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Simon has devoted his professional life to help advance a vision of the world that does not yet exist; a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work that they do.

Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, and The Infinite Game.

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Simon’s books:

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#SimonSinek

[Jayquinator-X]

I’ve just finished my college applications. I wrote an entire essay on why I struggled so much when asking for help. I was one of the “gifted” kids, so I never once struggled in school. I then went into the STEM Programs at 17, and began struggling. I didn’t know how to ask for help, and was afraid too, because I felt it made me less of a person.

[mikeaninger]

I’m Gen X, 46. I may have been taught to ask for help, but it was demonized, by either staff or peers. You were ostracized for not understanding out of the gate

[Keithen]

I’m GenZ, and I’ve been watching Simon Sinek since 2011. Just about, everything he says I agree with. And he totally hit me on the marker with this.

[yavebarkhordari]

@3:20 "I am struggling! Can you help me?" Wow. I never thought I could talk this simple. I'm impressed by the simplivity of this sentence and also by imagining how I would react if I hear someone say that when I'm in a position that I can help them.

[DrDeeDot]

I have absolutely observed the directness and the black & whiteness from Gen Z. I completely agree that the skill and the courage to ask for help is key.

[mahimaagrawal]

If someone is asking for help or raise from managers, they just devalue it by giving you count of things on which you missed out to be perfect at the time of appraisal but whole year they will remain silent and will not come to you for feedback if someone is lacking on something, that is why people with hard skills prefer to leave the organisation than to caught up into baseless arguments

[arteeejr]

Simon Sinek highlights the struggles of today's young generation, which I personally relate to in dealing with stress and confrontation. It's apparent that there's a gap in teaching essential human skills. This also reminds me of how Lisa Haisha's mission to provide the training helps me have difficult conversations and cope with stress effectively, ultimately creating a better, more confident version of myself.

[evasccl]

I remember as a child asking for help at homr and have very negative responses everytime, so i developed a fear of asking for help and as a coping mechanism, i promised myself to do thing, on my own, not to depend on others and also seek solutions on my own/by myself...
At work, i managed to swim in the field of asking to learn because i understood that if i knew how to do things as the company expects, i'd be better for the company and that lead to a thriving and growing more interdependant dynamic UNTIL my quick learning and ambition became a botheration and that took me to point zero again... affecting me morally, emotionally and mentally. I stayed under all that black cloud too long, i should have made my case give deadline and elope if no positive outcome. So i admire the youngsters that just are really off to somewhere else.
I find it somehow ironic for Simon to say this OR perhaps the problem is this particular short taken from a bigger interview 😉
The TOP people need to be more human to begin with. Care for those who work for them, as they are the ones who form the business.... While the TOP dont get educated in human skills... it is going to be easier to blame the Z or whoever... and THAT is not right.
Sure the young generation lacks... why is that? ther were not taught but some of the TOP have invented apps that feed that lack!!! Let us be honest and transparent here!
Invest in your people through training, be a good example to the young, edify and dont point at them... because when you do, 3 of your very own fingers are pointing back at you!

[Troy]

Same goes for relationsships between lovers or friends or even family members. Right now we've got the best methods and tools for conversation that this planet has ever seen but people simply aren't clever enough to use them properly.

[andyneillie]

Here’s the problem I have with his assessment. He says about 3 minutes in that when GenZ doesn’t get what they need from the relationships they have at work, they turn to social media and other places. He’s looking at it backwards. By the time they enter the workforce, their perception of reality has been significantly impacted by the messages they have been receiving on social media, which primarily make things look good and easy and exciting and fun. They aren’t turning to social media after they’ve been disappointed by work; they come to work with wrong impressions of hard work and reality because the images they’ve been consuming make life look easy, conflict-free and successful.

[howardtiersky]

Valuable insights, Simon! As leaders, we are in a position to help Gen Zs realize their full potential. No generation is perfect, and the best we can do is impart necessary human skills and develop the younger generation to be the best they can be.

[augustoliver]

Is it me or does it seem that Americans are always complaining about previous generations? First, it was the baby boomers hating on Gen X, then Gen X hating on millennials, and now apparently it's the millennials hating on Gen Z? I think we have it backward. I mean, we raise these kids, and then at work, we demonize them? Why? Also, since I am just ranting here, it seems like a good time for me to add that older workers should be valued more. We need to value each other more and learn to work together as one instead of placing people in groups with labels just as Gen X, Z, boomers, millennials, etc.

[augustoliver]

Gen Z sounds great! I don't see a problem with avoiding confrontation, black-and-white requests, and not wanting to deal with stress.

[ozzitor]

I’m proud of Gen Z. They’re not taking the BS from corporate America.

[mapleloot]

I love Simon, but he’s wrong. Gen Z isn’t taking corporate bs. The only reason they can confidently demand a raise or quit, is because there’s dozens of competitors that will pay that or more.

Gen Z knows their value and they’re not going to wait. Time are changing, are for once in favour of the employee

[Llloooliii]

I am gen z + I have debts but i still quit my job. Because my manager was an a** so were the higher ups and Hr.. I don’t think I am required to educate other generations about respect, their job, etc. and they really need to get a life outside of work.

[manwiththeredface]

I remember when Simon did these "Oh, those young people, they just need help, compassion, blablabla" videos when WE Gen Y were the young people.
Dear Gen Z! Simon is a smooth talker, he comes from marketing so he knows exactly what to say to make you let your guard down. Many people in life (Simon is exhibit A) will tell you what you want to hear in order to get from you what they want. Simon wants to sell books and get paid by executives to convince their young workforce to stay at their company and continue being taken advantage of. As someone put it: he's a vaseline salesman - he makes you forget how badly screwed you are.

[jadeishimura]

I value Simon's views, and in most cases I find his words to be correct. However, I believe that making some of these labels is not correct, and not isolated to Gen Z.

Why do Gen Z seem impatient? Because there are countless number of videos all over showing people become successful in a short amount of time, becoming self-employed, and finding success through social media, being an "influencer", and being entrepreneurs. After being constantly under the influence of these success stories, does anyone want be part of the typical mainstream 9-5 job where the possibilities are "work out a plan with your boss for 8 months, then being told that budget cuts and the business not being successful is why at the end of 8 months, we cannot give you that raise?". Maybe the issue is the lack of trust in the supervisor or corporation in wanting to invest 8 more months? Why can't the boss say, you want that raise, what about an incremental raise or perks that you receive every two months?

The reality, and this is obviously my opinion, is that I don't promote what Simon is saying in this video. Gen Z, if you're listening, be your own boss, get that money, get that 100% raise that you give yourself by being a entrepreneur and an influencer, and don't buy into that old way of thinking that you need to work for someone or some business to be successful. As far as being a Gen Z thing, we have more self-employed people worldwide that are not so willing to get into that 9-5 with broken promises and layoffs when companies "do not meet their arbitrary goals" as Simon so eloquently stated in another video.

Blaming Gen Z is incorrect. The real issue that companies now need to face the reality that they are no longer the only viable solutions, and that their competitors are all the ways in which people can become self-employed. That is the real issue. That these companies are competing with jobs where we can choose our own hours, how much of the profit we get paid as someone that is self-employed, choosing when we get to take our vacation instead of putting in our hours and letting our boss decide and in some cases using that as a way to leverage power over us, and being able to work from home or anywhere we want with our own online businesses. Gen Z is not to blame. Corporations are now getting the wake up call that people have other options and in many cases, way better options.

[kaankumru]

We had better check the mechanism(s) that enables this generation to have no fear of doing that or have no fear of quitting easily. As they socialize especially with people at work, they continue having a lot of problems in communication. That is clear that we have raised those young people. We absolutely miss out a big thing that is able to make them more equipped to deal with stress. We have to seek those mechanisms and make them better from the start.

[TheodoraHex]

i get this truthfully i do as i'm only 23. I know how to ask for things and I'm ok with quitting if I feel it best for me. I also couldn't care less if people call me soft for doing so. He talks about being black or white and honestly most gen Z believe that is the best way of doing business. Think about it, why is “professional talk” so unnecessarily wordy? Why can’t I just let you know that I would like a raise. It’s not as yes or no as he said. If you tell us that there's a plan or set of actions needed to be done in order to get the raise; then let that be your reply. If the employee doesn’t like that then that's unfortunate. Every generation improves something that that generation believes the previous could have done better. And everytime the generations before ridicule them for it “because it makes them soft” when that's not the case it's just that as humans grow there are less and less struggles we should have to face. And even if we are getting soft, why does it matter if along the way we are bettering society one gen at a time. The thing that these people don't understand, which is weird because they went through it too, is that the younger generation don't just use our experiences when making decisions we use the experience we observe around us. And with the added lens of the internet we see a bunch more than past generations. Which is not a shot at them, it's just the fact they didn't have this tool like we do. Example if I'm in a line and at the end of the line there are three doors. And every person in front of me has to choose between those three doors but all doors lead to different destinations. I'm not going into the door where most people come out beaten and battered. I’ll go into the one that releases the more positive results.I do that in my real life as each time I closed a door the next I open always ended up doing me better. But if i listened to these people and tried to "push through the troubles" all id be is miserable.