Last week, we started a conversation where we shared 3 out of the 10 commandments I curated as a guide to support leadership reinvention and evolution as we seek to enagage this powerhouse generation for meaningful and visible impact. The three commandments for last week are: Commandment 1: Thou Shall Mentor, Not Moan | Commandment 2: Thou Shall Build Capacity, Not Just KPIs | Commandment 3: Thou Shall Inspire, Not Intimidate
COMMANDMENT 4: Thou Shall Not Compare Eras
Gen Z is not you. And that’s the point. The statement “Back in our day” is irrelevant in an age of NFTs, AI, creator economies, and remote realities. You were raised to survive. They were born to thrive in disruption.
Let’s settle it now; this is not your time. You didn’t have ChatGPT in 1995 or 2005 when you started your career. You weren’t juggling remote internships, digital disruption, climate anxiety, and three side hustles while navigating a pandemic by age 22. So please, stop expecting Gen Z to work like your generation.
The industrial-age leadership model is expired. “Back in my day” has no bearing in a hyper-connected, AI-driven, cause-led world.
When you compare Gen Z’s behavior to your own youthful days, you’re not mentoring; you’re invalidating. And invalidation shuts down potential faster than any resignation letter.
Instead of judging them for the tools they were born into, engage them with curiosity. Learn the rhythm of their reality. What excites them? What offends them? What drives them? You don’t have to agree with everything as they’re not asking for clones. They are asking for respectful collaboration.
I once trained a Senior Manager that used to grumble that a particular Gen Z designer “lacks work ethic” because she didn’t respond to emails at 7am like he did. When I asked him to share a bit more about this lady, we discovered that this same designer had single-handedly built a campaign that went viral on TikTok, earned a telecom brand contract, and raised the firm’s visibility. The real issue? The manager was stuck in outdated benchmarks of what productivity “should” look like, instead of valuing results over routine.
When he eventually took time to understand her workflow, he realized she was working smarter, not lazier. The shift in his mindset unlocked better team synergy and reduced internal friction by 50%.
Leaders, you must avoid the temptation to force your past into the future of GenZs. I honor the wisdom of your journey, but you must trust the genius of GenZs. True leadership adapts, it doesn’t antagonize a new reality.
COMMANDMENT 5: Thou Shall Co-Create Culture
Culture is no longer a top-down transmission. It’s tribal, organic, evolving and a living, breathing ecosystem. In the Gen Z economy, culture is not what you announce on your website—it’s what your youngest team members experience, whisper, and share on TikTok or Glassdoor.
Gen Z don’t just want to adapt to your workplace culture; they want to shape it, own it, and infuse it with relevance. They don’t want company-branded slogans; they want values they can feel, challenge, and contribute to. If your culture doesn’t invite their voice, they will check out or call you out.
Too many leaders make the mistake of preserving a “professional environment” that feels robotic and rigid. Gen Zs flourish in spaces where culture is dynamic, creative, and co-owned. The moment you stop controlling culture and start curating it with them, you’ll begin to see higher engagement, loyalty, and even advocacy.
A Nigerian bank struggling with disengaged Gen Z employees once engaged us in CHAMP GLC to advise them on managing the attrition rate. We worked with the leadership to introduce Work & Vibe Fridays. But this wasn’t just a DJ and snacks gimmick. It was co-designed by a cross-generational team. Gen Z staff introduced mini tech demo corners, mental wellness check-ins, and a peer spotlight program. Senior managers started showing up in sneakers, listening more, and laughing louder.
This led to improved collaboration, fewer sick days, and an influx of job applications from Gen Z talent through word-of-mouth.
The shift didn’t come from perks. It came from permission—permission to belong, express, and shape the atmosphere they work in.
Let GenZs help design the place they want to belong. When people feel seen in a culture, they start to serve that culture with pride. Empower them to be co-architects of your workplace soul.
COMMANDMENT 6: Thou Shall Offer Purpose, Not Just Pay
You can’t buy loyalty with salary slips anymore. Gen Z wants meaning, not just money.
They want to know What impact are we making? Whose life are we changing? If you can’t answer that, don’t be shocked when they bounce.
You can’t bribe Gen Z into brilliance. You can only invite them into meaning. This is the generation that will quit a job that pays well if it’s boring, toxic, or has no visible impact. They’re not driven by salary alone they want significance.
Of course, they want financial stability, but they’re even more obsessed with legacy—what are we building? Who are we helping? Is this work making any difference in the world? If your answer is “just do your job,” you’ve already lost them. If your mission can’t be felt in daily work, they’ll disengage, even if the paycheck is fat.
Purpose isn’t just a CSR strategy or a nice phrase on your mission wall. It must be woven into the very DNA of how tasks are assigned, how projects are celebrated, and how feedback is given. Purpose should live in your operations—not just in your “About Us” page.
A long time friend of mine who runs an agri-tech startup in Ghana discovered that many of their young hires were zoning out during operational meetings. So they changed their approach. Instead of talking in charts, they introduced a weekly impact showcase where each team member was shown a real-life story of a farmer or rural community directly benefiting from their work. They began linking every employee task—no matter how small—to a visible, emotional, social outcome. That month, one junior analyst who had considered resigning proposed a new logistics model that cut distribution delays by 40%. Why? Because she finally understood how her spreadsheets helped someone feed a village.
Pay gets you attention. Purpose gets you devotion.
Show them who they’re helping—not just what they’re doing. Purpose is not a perk. It’s the pulse that keeps talent alive. Align your performance metrics to impact markers. Let employees track how their work advances community development, environmental change, or customer transformation.
Next Steps
If you need help implementing a capacity developing bootcamp tailored to Gen Z learning styles, contact us on +2347026668008 or hello@abiolachamp.com
Let’s work with you to unleash the GenZ power in your organization.
We will continue with the with Commandment #7 next week.
About Dr. Abiola Salami
Dr. Abiola Salami is the Convener of Dr Abiola Salami International Leadership Bootcamp ; The Peak PerformerTM Festival Made4More Accelerator Program and The New Year Kickoff Summit. He is the Principal Performance Strategist at CHAMP – a full scale professional services firm trusted by high performing business leaders for providing Executive Coaching, Workforce Development & Advisory Services to improve performance. You can reach his team on hello@abiolachamp.com and connect with him @abiolachamp on all social media platforms.
