Adapt to Survive
Generation Z are writing their own rules and breaking down old walls using the power of their wits, their deep understanding of digital culture, and their smart devices. This generation encompasses those born between 1995 and 2015, and accounts for nearly 74 million people in the US alone. These “Zoomers” (as they call themselves, a quick way to show they are “speeding ahead” of the Boomers), are sophisticated, no nonsense, activist-oriented and fully aware that the old guard is handing them a broken country to run.
Most of the GenZ young adults I have mentored are ambitious but have different ideas of what “being a grown up” means than prior generations. For them, many of the tried-and-true rules don’t apply simply because they don’t make sense. One of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered in coaching members of this group is in helping them understand that some conformity is necessary in order to achieve a position where you can impact change.
A Zoomer, let’s call her Lainey, confronted me about something I had posted on about “dressing the part.” She was ready for a fight. “Why should the clothes I’m wearing have anything to do with my abilities?” she demanded.
I spoke to her about her current job, a position on the management track of a large landscaping company. Her first rung on the ladder is to work in the retail yard of the company advising and selling plants. This particular company is located in a wealthy suburb and its well-heeled clientele spends generously. I asked her what her colleagues wore to work, and she explained the “office casual” uniform of the others. “But why should I look like them? Why can’t I stand out?” she asked.
I explained that in business, you have to know your audience. You have to understand how to work a room. In sales, it’s sometimes less about what you say and more about what your customer wants you to say. Possibly, your customers seek out other salespeople because they feel more aligned and comfortable with how the others are dressed. “You don’t have to change who you are,” I told her. “But your target customer, whoever that may be, has to find you relatable and approachable.”
What Lainey came to understand and what we all need to learn is that while we want to be in total control of our lives, we sometimes have to bend—maybe not to fit the mold, but at least to fit into it in some way.
In my twenties, I had the personal style of someone who had grown up in a small western town and moved to Frankfurt, Germany, and then onto Manhattan—because that was my path. But boy, was I out of place. I started studying the women who seemed to have it altogether. Little by little, I reinvented myself from hick to confident professional. It worked. I became the first female to be promoted in the company and the first female vice president. Sometimes we have to bend to grow.
Get more tips about getting out of your own way in Your Self Sabotage Survival Guide by Karen Berg: https://tinyurl.com/y786t4ax