Role Modeling How to Grind and Create a Hustle Culture for Gen Z workers...

[drusso]

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Question for those in the group who manage younger employees/training:

Decades of research from social science, organizational psychology, and educational experiments converge on the reproducible finding that role-modeling behavior is the most effective way to influence and change others' behavior around you.

Whether you BELIEVE it or not, you will succumb to the influence of the cultural norms around you most of the time. Be it social contagion, Stockholm syndrome, "motivated reasoning," "bandwagon effect," or mass hysteria, when enough people in a group believe or behave a certain way, you likely begin to march to the same drummer...

Still, I've noticed that Generation Z trainees and workers seem almost "immune" to certain kinds of influence--role modeling showing up on time, dressed to play; coming in early and staying late; "loading the truck" as directed without complaining, and demonstrating a generalized attitude of Stoicism and Grit seems not to penetrate them. Instead, they seem to be constantly pulled into a stew of "mental health" and "self-esteem" issues with constant disclosures about "trauma," "triggers," and "grievances" related to ordinary and perceived micro-aggressions and lack of "respect."

Is this widespread? I spend an inordinate about of time counseling some of these younger workers on basic workplace conflict resolution:

"Why was he so mean to me?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's having a bad day. Maybe he's just an *ss hole. He probably has low frustration tolerance and inflexible thinking in other areas of his life too."

"I felt triggered."

"So, what? That doesn't matter here. This is a place where you trade your time for money in service of a mission bigger than yourself."

"When I was little, my Dad was an alcoholic and would come home drunk, wake up my sister and me, yell at us, and fight with my mom."

"That's too bad. You're grown up now. And you have a job to do. Sometimes in life we encounter people who remind us of others who made a kind of impression on us. But they are not that person. They are someone different, and it is just our mind playing tricks with our emotions. Freud called this transference."

"Who was Freud?"

"Never mind. You have work to do. Go do your work now."

"Can we have a drop-in counselor hang out in the break room so we can talk to someone when this happens?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because this is not Romper Room. This is a place of business where services are exchanged for money, and people have jobs. You can access a limited Employee Assistance Program where you can select an outside mental health professional for crisis counseling if you are forced to witness a decapitation, survive being taken hostage, or have a death in your immediate family."

"Are pets considered family?"

"Get back to work."

"What if he's mean to me again?"

"Remember Freud and transference."

 

[SSdoc33]

Question for those in the group who manage younger employees/training:

Decades of research from social science, organizational psychology, and educational experiments converge on the reproducible finding that role-modeling behavior is the most effective way to influence and change others' behavior around you.

Whether you BELIEVE it or not, you will succumb to the influence of the cultural norms around you most of the time. Be it social contagion, Stockholm syndrome, "motivated reasoning," "bandwagon effect," or mass hysteria, when enough people in a group believe or behave a certain way, you likely begin to march to the same drummer...

Still, I've noticed that Generation Z trainees and workers seem almost "immune" to certain kinds of influence--role modeling showing up on time, dressed to play; coming in early and staying late; "loading the truck" as directed without complaining, and demonstrating a generalized attitude of Stoicism and Grit seems not to penetrate them. Instead, they seem to be constantly pulled into a stew of "mental health" and "self-esteem" issues with constant disclosures about "trauma," "triggers," and "grievances" related to ordinary and perceived micro-aggressions and lack of "respect."

Is this widespread? I spend an inordinate about of time counseling some of these younger workers on basic workplace conflict resolution:

"Why was he so mean to me?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's having a bad day. Maybe he's just an *ss hole. He probably has low frustration tolerance and inflexible thinking in other areas of his life too."

"I felt triggered."

"So, what? That doesn't matter here. This is a place where you trade your time for money in service of a mission bigger than yourself."

"When I was little, my Dad was an alcoholic and would come home drunk, wake up my sister and me, yell at us, and fight with my mom."

"That's too bad. You're grown up now. And you have a job to do. Sometimes in life we encounter people who remind us of others who made a kind of impression on us. But they are not that person. They are someone different, and it is just our mind playing tricks with our emotions. Freud called this transference."

"Who was Freud?"

"Never mind. You have work to do. Go do your work now."

"Can we have a drop-in counselor hang out in the break room so we can talk to someone when this happens?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because this is not Romper Room. This is a place of business where services are exchanged for money, and people have jobs. You can access a limited Employee Assistance Program where you can select an outside mental health professional for crisis counseling if you are forced to witness a decapitation, survive being taken hostage, or have a death in your immediate family."

"Are pets considered family?"

"Get back to work."

"What if he's mean to me again?"

"Remember Freud and transference."

socrates:

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”​

sounds to me like you need some new employees.

its not shocking that your employees dont fall in line when they see you working hard or dressed well. they dont care.

i do think that the pandemic has bolstered this issue as well

 

[callmeanesthesia]

socrates:

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”​

sounds to me like you need some new employees.

its not shocking that your employees dont fall in line when they see you working hard or dressed well. they dont care.

i do think that the pandemic has bolstered this issue as well

Damn, I just spent 5 minutes looking for that same quote but you beat me to it. So I’ll just leave this instead:

It’s not that the young people are getting worse; it’s that you’re getting old and crotchety.

 

[drusso]

socrates:

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”​

sounds to me like you need some new employees.

its not shocking that your employees dont fall in line when they see you working hard or dressed well. they dont care.

i do think that the pandemic has bolstered this issue as well

But the older employees are different even if they haven't worked since the GWB administration. I just hired a 40 y.o. employee who has two high school-aged kids (twins)--took time off to stay at home while her husband started a business and now has returned to the workforce. She hasn't had a job since 2005. She hustles like muthafuka--runs circles around people half her age. Understands things like "don't check your phone at work," "stay in your lane," and "your shift starts 10 minutes before it does," It's a generational shift in habits. It's like a whole generation of parents just gave up on their kids.

 

[Agast]

Wait, are we not complaining about Millenials anymore? Sweet!

 

[Ducttape]

older generations have always looked at younger generations as lazy, but there are always other factors. its also just that you see things from a different perspective, because you grew up in a different environment.

and that 40 yo employee also sees things from a different perspective than she did when she was 20. this is her second chance to make a name for herself and she knows its unlikely there will be another one after this.

The Younger Generation Isn’t Lazy; They’re Burned Out

Today’s young people are intelligent and kind, but they are overworked and burned out.

greatergood.berkeley.edu

How about self-control? Are today’s young people more prone to instant gratification than those in the past? Quite the opposite. Indeed, two recent studies found that today’s children are able to wait longer for rewards than children in previous decades.

Another common stereotype about younger generations of Americans is that they are lazier than previous generations. Yet recent generations of American children have been in school for more of their lives, for more hours per week, with more jam-packed schedules, and with less free play, than earlier generations. Thus, young people today are anything but lazy: They are working more and having less unstructured leisure time.

As for narcissism and empathy, my previous research found that narcissism was increasing and empathy was declining between the late 1970s and 2009. However, updated research has found that these trends dramatically reversed after the Great Recession, with a decrease in narcissism and increase in empathy among young Americans since then. (We recently presented the latter at the Association for Psychological Science in May 2022.) This confirms other research finding that people tend to turn to others during times of economic crisis, and that cooperative behavior is increasing in youth over time.

role modeling behaviors will not work on the Gen Z population.

https://medium.com/swlh/no-you-arent-****ing-lazy-552bc1bb7ac8

Naming the struggle​

We’re called lazy for 3 key reasons:

1. We aren’t reaching for the same goals as our parents.
2. We are facing up to the obstacles and challenges they chose to ignore at the expense of their kids’ mental health and wellbeing, and it takes an immense amount of effort and time.
3. When we get the opportunity, we work smarter not harder, whether or not they understand it.

Fundamentally, all of these reasons come down to a simple misunderstanding; the issue is that it’s a misunderstanding in bad faith. When older generations punch down on younger generations, they’re doing so instead of making any attempt to grok where we are, where we’ve come from, where we’re going and how we’re feeling.

their expectations of work and work life balance are different than yours. you have focused so exclusively on work, and everything good for you is probably derived directly from your work life.

they do not and cannot expect to achieve the financial goals and aspirations and benefits that you have - things have been priced out of their expectations, such as home, children, even college. so they naturally percieve that there is more to life than to be stoic, put your nose to the peddle and good things will come to you, because for them, with the current economic inequality, it wont.

yet they are hard working and willing to invest time and energy when it fits with their goals towards achieving life satisfaction.



it comes around, again, to the fact that it is not always about $$$.


and fwiw, your generation is lazy as all get out. as the last of the boomers, i mean your 6 am to 9 pm job is wimpy; i used to get up at 3 am after going to sleep at at 2:59 am so i could be in for my 7 am shift 4 hours early to prep, and stay at least 3 hours after a 24 hour shift ended to make sure patients were tucked in. they would force me to go on vacation because they felt i needed to take a shower at home and not just sponge off in the men's locker room sink.

 

[drusso]

older generations have always looked at younger generations as lazy, but there are always other factors. its also just that you see things from a different perspective, because you grew up in a different environment.

and that 40 yo employee also sees things from a different perspective than she did when she was 20. this is her second chance to make a name for herself and she knows its unlikely there will be another one after this.

The Younger Generation Isn’t Lazy; They’re Burned Out

Today’s young people are intelligent and kind, but they are overworked and burned out.

greatergood.berkeley.edu

role modeling behaviors will not work on the Gen Z population.

https://medium.com/swlh/no-you-arent-****ing-lazy-552bc1bb7ac8

their expectations of work and work life balance are different than yours. you have focused so exclusively on work, and everything good for you is probably derived directly from your work life.

they do not and cannot expect to achieve the financial goals and aspirations and benefits that you have - things have been priced out of their expectations, such as home, children, even college. so they naturally percieve that there is more to life than to be stoic, put your nose to the peddle and good things will come to you, because for them, with the current economic inequality, it wont.

yet they are hard working and willing to invest time and energy when it fits with their goals towards achieving life satisfaction.



it comes around, again, to the fact that it is not always about $$$.


and fwiw, your generation is lazy as all get out. as the last of the boomers, i mean your 6 am to 9 pm job is wimpy; i used to get up at 3 am after going to sleep at at 2:59 am so i could be in for my 7 am shift 4 hours early to prep, and stay at least 3 hours after a 24 hour shift ended to make sure patients were tucked in. they would force me to go on vacation because they felt i needed to take a shower at home and not just sponge off in the men's locker room sink.

Okay, Boomer...

 

[hyperalgesia]

socrates:

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”​

sounds to me like you need some new employees.

its not shocking that your employees dont fall in line when they see you working hard or dressed well. they dont care.

i do think that the pandemic has bolstered this issue as well

Socrates was talking about "children".

drusso is talking about ADULT EMPLOYEES.

 

[Ferrismonk]

Question for those in the group who manage younger employees/training:

Decades of research from social science, organizational psychology, and educational experiments converge on the reproducible finding that role-modeling behavior is the most effective way to influence and change others' behavior around you.

Whether you BELIEVE it or not, you will succumb to the influence of the cultural norms around you most of the time. Be it social contagion, Stockholm syndrome, "motivated reasoning," "bandwagon effect," or mass hysteria, when enough people in a group believe or behave a certain way, you likely begin to march to the same drummer...

Still, I've noticed that Generation Z trainees and workers seem almost "immune" to certain kinds of influence--role modeling showing up on time, dressed to play; coming in early and staying late; "loading the truck" as directed without complaining, and demonstrating a generalized attitude of Stoicism and Grit seems not to penetrate them. Instead, they seem to be constantly pulled into a stew of "mental health" and "self-esteem" issues with constant disclosures about "trauma," "triggers," and "grievances" related to ordinary and perceived micro-aggressions and lack of "respect."

Is this widespread? I spend an inordinate about of time counseling some of these younger workers on basic workplace conflict resolution:

"Why was he so mean to me?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's having a bad day. Maybe he's just an *ss hole. He probably has low frustration tolerance and inflexible thinking in other areas of his life too."

"I felt triggered."

"So, what? That doesn't matter here. This is a place where you trade your time for money in service of a mission bigger than yourself."

"When I was little, my Dad was an alcoholic and would come home drunk, wake up my sister and me, yell at us, and fight with my mom."

"That's too bad. You're grown up now. And you have a job to do. Sometimes in life we encounter people who remind us of others who made a kind of impression on us. But they are not that person. They are someone different, and it is just our mind playing tricks with our emotions. Freud called this transference."

"Who was Freud?"

"Never mind. You have work to do. Go do your work now."

"Can we have a drop-in counselor hang out in the break room so we can talk to someone when this happens?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because this is not Romper Room. This is a place of business where services are exchanged for money, and people have jobs. You can access a limited Employee Assistance Program where you can select an outside mental health professional for crisis counseling if you are forced to witness a decapitation, survive being taken hostage, or have a death in your immediate family."

"Are pets considered family?"

"Get back to work."

"What if he's mean to me again?"

"Remember Freud and transference."

They're modeling their teachers, not you.

 

[mdo1738]

idk man i've got a few 50 year olds at my place who act like actual children

 

[Dr. Ice]

Millenials still suck..lol

 

[cowboydoc]

 

[deleted131481]

Grind has a different meaning for this generation.

 

[DrMDAware]

To play devils advocate - why hustle and grind when the reimbursements keep dwindling, respect from patients is lessening, and other careers pay better with less stress? All the while the threat of being bought out by PE remains every day? And we’re the bad guys for not filing opioids for the now “retired” doc (forced out it by DEA).

Oh don’t forget the student loan burden annnnnd the inability to buy a house comfortably after graduation (which had a bunch of standardized exams)

Annnnnnd the chart messages that aren’t reimbursed and constant clicking in the EMR.

And artificial cap on salary (no more than X% of MGMA)

And Medicare reviews.

And peer to peers.

(Btw I love what I do. Just trying to convey what others might say)

 

[drusso]

This is **EXACTLY** what I'm talking about!

 

[adiradirim]

If you're a leader in the workplace, your job is to lead the team and influence them to work in the way that's expected.

If your methods don't work, that isn't the staff's fault, but your fault for picking the wrong methods.

No amount of complaining about younger generations will make you better at leading your team. No matter how much fist shaking is involved.

 

[drusso]

If you're a leader in the workplace, your job is to lead the team and influence them to work in the way that's expected.

If your methods don't work, that isn't the staff's fault, but your fault for picking the wrong methods.

No amount of complaining about younger generations will make you better at leading your team. No matter how much fist shaking is involved.

That's shirking the responsibilities of followership. Leaders can only solve some things. Sometimes, people need to follow better. Maybe Gen Z stinks at following...

FOLLOWERSHIP: THE OTHER SIDE OF LEADERSHIP - Ivey Business Journal

The link between leadership, management and enterprise performance is widely understood and accepted. Improving leadership improves management and raises the probabilities of better performance. That boards often change leaders when enterprises are slipping confirms the importance placed on...

iveybusinessjournal.com

Good followers have a number of qualities.

First, judgement. Followers must take direction but they have an underlying obligation to the enterprise to do so only when the direction is ethical and proper. The key is having the judgement to know the difference between a directive that your leader gives on how to proceed that you do not agree with and a directive that is truly wrong.

No one disputes that good judgement is critical to being a good leader. It is just as important in the follower. Show enough good judgement as a follower and you usually end up getting a shot at being the leader. Something of an aside but there is a line that I have always liked about judgement: “Good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement.”

Second, work ethic. Good followers are good workers. They are diligent, motivated, committed, pay attention to detail and make the effort. Leaders have a responsibility to create an environment that permits these qualities but regardless, it is the responsibility of the follower to be a good worker. There is no such thing as a bad worker who is a good follower.

Third, competence. The follower cannot follow properly unless competent at the task that is directed by the leader. It is the obligation of the leader to assure that followers are competent. Sometimes things go wrong because the follower is not competent at the task at hand. When this happens, leaders should blame themselves, not the follower. A sign of poor leadership is blaming followers for not having skills they do not have.

Fourth, honesty. The follower owes the leader an honest and forthright assessment of what the leader is trying to achieve and how. This is especially the case when the follower feels the leader’s agenda is seriously flawed. Respect and politeness are important but that said, it is not acceptable for followers to sit on their hands while an inept leader drives the proverbial bus over the cliff. Good leaders are grateful for constructive feedback from their team. Bad leaders do not welcome feedback and here followers have to tread carefully. If the situation is serious enough, consideration should be given to going above the leader in question for guidance.

Fifth, courage. Followers need to be honest with those who lead them. They also need the courage to be honest. It takes real courage to confront a leader about concerns with the leader’s agenda or worse, the leader himself or herself. It is not for naught that Churchill called courage “The foremost of the virtues, for upon it, all others depend”. From time to time, it takes real courage to be a good follower.

Sixth, discretion. A favorite saying in World War II was “Loose lips sink ships.” Sports teams are fond of the expression “What you hear here, let it stay here.” Followers owe their enterprises and their leaders discretion. Talking about work matters inappropriately is at best unhelpful and more likely harmful. Discretion just means keeping your mouth shut. It should be easy but many find it next to impossible. Bluntly, you cannot be a good follower and be indiscreet. Everybody who works at an enterprise has a duty of care; indiscretion is not care, it is careless.

Seventh, loyalty. Good followers respect their obligation to be loyal to their enterprise. Loyalty to the enterprise and its goals is particularly important when there are problems, interpersonal or otherwise, with a particular leader. Followers who are not loyal are inevitably a source of difficulty. They create problems between team members; they compromise the achievement of goals; they waste everybody’s time; they are a menace. Loyalty is not a synonym for lapdog. Rather, its essence is a strong allegiance and commitment to what the organization is trying to do. Followers should remember that their obligation is to the enterprise, not a given leader at a given point in time.

Eighth, ego management. Good followers have their egos under control. They are team players in the fullest sense of the concept. They have good interpersonal skills. Success for good followers relates to performance and goal achievement not personal recognition and self promotion. Sounds too good to be true and often it is. It is difficult but the best organizations tie advancement and reward to performance and goal achievement as hard as that may be to do.

 

[adiradirim]

That's shirking the responsibilities of followership. Leaders can only solve some things. Sometimes, people need to follow better. Maybe Gen Z stinks at following...

FOLLOWERSHIP: THE OTHER SIDE OF LEADERSHIP - Ivey Business Journal

The link between leadership, management and enterprise performance is widely understood and accepted. Improving leadership improves management and raises the probabilities of better performance. That boards often change leaders when enterprises are slipping confirms the importance placed on...

iveybusinessjournal.com

Good followers have a number of qualities.

First, judgement. Followers must take direction but they have an underlying obligation to the enterprise to do so only when the direction is ethical and proper. The key is having the judgement to know the difference between a directive that your leader gives on how to proceed that you do not agree with and a directive that is truly wrong.

No one disputes that good judgement is critical to being a good leader. It is just as important in the follower. Show enough good judgement as a follower and you usually end up getting a shot at being the leader. Something of an aside but there is a line that I have always liked about judgement: “Good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement.”

Second, work ethic. Good followers are good workers. They are diligent, motivated, committed, pay attention to detail and make the effort. Leaders have a responsibility to create an environment that permits these qualities but regardless, it is the responsibility of the follower to be a good worker. There is no such thing as a bad worker who is a good follower.

Third, competence. The follower cannot follow properly unless competent at the task that is directed by the leader. It is the obligation of the leader to assure that followers are competent. Sometimes things go wrong because the follower is not competent at the task at hand. When this happens, leaders should blame themselves, not the follower. A sign of poor leadership is blaming followers for not having skills they do not have.

Fourth, honesty. The follower owes the leader an honest and forthright assessment of what the leader is trying to achieve and how. This is especially the case when the follower feels the leader’s agenda is seriously flawed. Respect and politeness are important but that said, it is not acceptable for followers to sit on their hands while an inept leader drives the proverbial bus over the cliff. Good leaders are grateful for constructive feedback from their team. Bad leaders do not welcome feedback and here followers have to tread carefully. If the situation is serious enough, consideration should be given to going above the leader in question for guidance.

Fifth, courage. Followers need to be honest with those who lead them. They also need the courage to be honest. It takes real courage to confront a leader about concerns with the leader’s agenda or worse, the leader himself or herself. It is not for naught that Churchill called courage “The foremost of the virtues, for upon it, all others depend”. From time to time, it takes real courage to be a good follower.

Sixth, discretion. A favorite saying in World War II was “Loose lips sink ships.” Sports teams are fond of the expression “What you hear here, let it stay here.” Followers owe their enterprises and their leaders discretion. Talking about work matters inappropriately is at best unhelpful and more likely harmful. Discretion just means keeping your mouth shut. It should be easy but many find it next to impossible. Bluntly, you cannot be a good follower and be indiscreet. Everybody who works at an enterprise has a duty of care; indiscretion is not care, it is careless.

Seventh, loyalty. Good followers respect their obligation to be loyal to their enterprise. Loyalty to the enterprise and its goals is particularly important when there are problems, interpersonal or otherwise, with a particular leader. Followers who are not loyal are inevitably a source of difficulty. They create problems between team members; they compromise the achievement of goals; they waste everybody’s time; they are a menace. Loyalty is not a synonym for lapdog. Rather, its essence is a strong allegiance and commitment to what the organization is trying to do. Followers should remember that their obligation is to the enterprise, not a given leader at a given point in time.

Eighth, ego management. Good followers have their egos under control. They are team players in the fullest sense of the concept. They have good interpersonal skills. Success for good followers relates to performance and goal achievement not personal recognition and self promotion. Sounds too good to be true and often it is. It is difficult but the best organizations tie advancement and reward to performance and goal achievement as hard as that may be to do.

Maybe these tenets are outdated and not relevant to our current workers. There is much more of an adversarial role between leaders and followers in our current workspace, so why should followers take advice from the leaders?

There are ways for the leaders to coax these qualities from followers which may include increased pay, benefits, workplace culture, etc. I don't think that having expectations while treating followers poorly is enough anymore?

Culture changes, young people have different priorities and older people need to catch on and adapt.

 

[drusso]

Maybe these tenets are outdated and not relevant to our current workers. There is much more of an adversarial role between leaders and followers in our current workspace, so why should followers take advice from the leaders?

There are ways for the leaders to coax these qualities from followers which may include increased pay, benefits, workplace culture, etc. I don't think that having expectations while treating followers poorly is enough anymore?

Culture changes, young people have different priorities and older people need to catch on and adapt.

The Greatest Generation taught us that taking orders never goes out of style.

 

[deleted875186]

I agree with Ducttape, time shave changed, this isn’t a career for your employees, just a job. If they are paid well and feel valued they would put more effort in.

 

[drg123]

I agree with Ducttape, time shave changed, this isn’t a career for your employees, just a job. If they are paid well and feel valued they would put more effort in.

This. Younger people see their job as a way to pay the bills and so they're intentional about their effort. Dedicating one's whole life to their job is a losing game and most young people probably look around at older generations and don't see them much happier, healthier or better in any way. Perhaps the opposite.

It's also important to define what 'hustle' means. Is it about quantity or quality? One could work defined hours (not more, not less) and focus on excellence, producing quality, methodical work but be less caring about volume of work, impressing others, or absolute income earning. Medicine is a relatively high-paying specialty. Given the choice between a moderate jog for a $300K take-home vs grinding through tons of patients for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week to make $500K, many would probably gladly take the $300K and make room for life outside work to enjoy their earnings. Just different perspectives, and this is not likely a new thing, just more young people taking the former option.

If there are certain standards and behaviors you expect from your employees, I think it just needs to be codified into rules. Leadership implies influencing by convincing people to follow you, not necessarily directives or rules. But if your employees don't share your values or worldview (see above) you're probably not going to get them to willingly follow you. On the other hand, rules are rules. If you say no phone during work hours, specific start times.. you can't argue with that. Doesn't need convincing. It's a condition of employment.

The lack of mental resilience and 'triggering', that's a different thing. May or may not be related to work ethic. It's dumb, I agree, and seeing the mid-20 yo med students in my environment doesn't make me hopeful for the future.

 

[runfastnow]

This. Younger people see their job as a way to pay the bills and so they're intentional about their effort. Dedicating one's whole life to their job is a losing game and most young people probably look around at older generations and don't see them much happier, healthier or better in any way. Perhaps the opposite.

It's also important to define what 'hustle' means. Is it about quantity or quality? One could work defined hours (not more, not less) and focus on excellence, producing quality, methodical work but be less caring about volume of work, impressing others, or absolute income earning. Medicine is a relatively high-paying specialty. Given the choice between a moderate jog for a $300K take-home vs grinding through tons of patients for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week to make $500K, many would probably gladly take the $300K and make room for life outside work to enjoy their earnings. Just different perspectives, and this is not likely a new thing, just more young people taking the former option.

If there are certain standards and behaviors you expect from your employees, I think it just needs to be codified into rules. Leadership implies influencing by convincing people to follow you, not necessarily directives or rules. But if your employees don't share your values or worldview (see above) you're probably not going to get them to willingly follow you. On the other hand, rules are rules. If you say no phone during work hours, specific start times.. you can't argue with that. Doesn't need convincing. It's a condition of employment.

The lack of mental resilience and 'triggering', that's a different thing. May or may not be related to work ethic. It's dumb, I agree, and seeing the mid-20 yo med students in my environment doesn't make me hopeful for the future.

Cannot echo this more. I'm solidly in the Millennial generation and I would much rather have my current set up - $400ish comp working 40ish hours per week with minimal clinic call and time to be a father/have a life outside work - than my partners who are solidly in the Boomer generation and think work = life and want to work 12+ hour days and until they die in the OR. Any increase in my effort at work is going to be all streamlining efficiencies, maximizing revenue/hour worked and revenue per employee, and finding a sustainable competitive advantage in my local/regional market ... not just brute force clinic/OR hours just to 'work' or have more money.

We have a few staff who are Boomer generation and they understand/respect the work=life mindset and go along with it understanding the sacrifices and 'followerhship' mindset previously mentioned. However, Gen X/Millennial are rarely going to be happy with work=life. Get over it.

There has been a generational shift from "work is what/who I am" to "work is what I do". Figure out a way to play in the new paradigm.

 

[Doctodd]

The majority of American kids want to be YouTube influencers. The majority of Chinese kids want to be astronauts.

 

[deleted875186]

The majority of American kids want to be YouTube influencers. The majority of Chinese kids want to be astronauts.

I would say the social media influencer is a more realistic career than astronaut …

 

[bedrock]

I would say the social media influencer is a more realistic career than astronaut …

Yes but one of those careers required intelligence, stamina, determination.

The other is to be paid for being yourself when that isn’t particularly special.
(Even though most millennials think they are uniquely interesting) NOT.

 

[Doctodd]

I would say the social media influencer is a more realistic career than astronaut …

I would say that is not the point. But yea your statement is obvious….odds are less in favor of one over the other.

 

[Agast]

Boomers are selling out to Private Equity and then wondering why the next generations don’t want to throw themselves into their job where they’re valued as widgets.

And realistically, when you guys start looking for your 2nd/3rd wife, a nice Gen X woman is already considered “too old” for you :X

 

[drusso]

Boomers are selling out to Private Equity and then wondering why the next generations don’t want to throw themselves into their job where they’re valued as widgets.

And realistically, when you guys start looking for your 2nd/3rd wife, a nice Gen X woman is already considered “too old” for you :X

Next wife? I can barely afford this one.

 

[jsaul]

Boomers are selling out to Private Equity and then wondering why the next generations don’t want to throw themselves into their job where they’re valued as widgets.

And realistically, when you guys start looking for your 2nd/3rd wife, a nice Gen X woman is already considered “too old” for you :X

this gen x woman is never too old

 

[hyperalgesia]

View attachment 364457
this gen x woman is never too old

Interesting that you chose a picture of Winona Ryder when she was 23 to state how appealing she is at 51...

 

[jsaul]

Interesting that you chose a picture of Winona Ryder when she was 23 to state how appealing she is at 51...

i chose it because it was publicity still from the ultimate gen x movie- reality bites

 

[SSdoc33]

still looking good at 51.

btw, why am i starting to find 50-60 y/o women attractive? this is disturbing

 

[Ducttape]

because 50-60 yo women are now starting to dress and look less "grandmothery" than ever before, which is a good thing.

but gosh, doesnt she look a lot like tina fey?

 

[Doctodd]

because 50-60 yo women are now starting to dress and look less "grandmothery" than ever before, which is a good thing.

but gosh, doesnt she look a lot like tina fey?

YUCK...... and no......get your vision checked.....more like Paz Vega

 

[Ducttape]

let me ask another question, drusso...

you are interested in having Gen Z follow in with role modelling

yet on multiple separate posts, you have railed against physician burn out.

why would any right-minded Gen Z want to role model someone who is burnt out?