Effective Leadership style for Generation Z

Abstract

Generation Z (Gen Z) is expected to reach 2.56 billion individuals globally by 2020 and estimated to occupy 20% of work-place. Each generation has its unique ability and competency. Leveraging them is a key to the success of an organization. Gen Z is known to be more risk-averse, have lower expectations, confident but cautious, demanding. This generation is known as digitally naïve and hyper-connected junkies. Their attention span is short and need extensive feedback, but not micromanagement. Gen Z prefers face-to-face interactions. With those characteristics, this study aims to see what leadership style is effective for Gen Z. A qualitative study was conducted to 92 Gen Z see the frequent keyword to identify the effective leadership style. Voyant analytical tools was used to analyze the keywords. The most frequent keywords mentioned were friendly, good, humble, wise, polite, honest, providing, supportive, understanding, caring, giving and appreciate. However, words such as encouraging, challenging were not mentioned at all. Therefore, according to the keyword finding, the effective leadership style is servant leadership.

Personality and leadership style in generation z: A quantitative study in a higher education institution in Mexico

“…Previous research has indicated that Generation Z exhibits unique characteristics and preferences in leadership, valuing aspects such as authenticity and humility (Dwidienawati et al, 2022). In filling this research gap, our study extends the current literature in two fundamental ways.…”

“…A slight instability might even elicit empathy from followers, making them connect with their leaders in a more humane way. Studies such as those conducted by Dwidienawati et al (2022) suggest that leadership characterized by its focus on the growth and well-being of people, is particularly effective with Generation Z. This aligns with the emerging consensus that younger generations in the workforce and educational settings prioritize value-based and relational leadership styles.…”

“…These include their highly achievement-orientation and want their managers to become private mentors (Gabrielova & Buchko, 2021), preference for autonomous decision-making (Titko, Svirina, Skvarciany & Shina, 2020), responsiveness to rewards and recognition (Bejtkovský, 2016), emphasis on work-life balance and openness to change (Gabrielova & Buchko, 2021;Titko et al, 2020). They tend to be collaborative and know how to respect the opinions of others (Magano, Silva, Figueiredo, Vitória, Nogueira & Dinis, 2020), valuing aspects such as authenticity and humility (Dwidienawati, Syahchari & Tjahjana, 2022). Accounting for these generational factors is crucial, as leadership approaches tailored to previous cohorts may not motivate and engage Generation Z employees to the same degree.…”

Digital natives of the labor market: Generation Z as future leaders and their perspectives on leadership

“…Satisfaction at work is very important for them because they can easily leave their jobs if they are not happy (Bridges, 2015;Ozkan and Solmaz, 2015). A permanent career plan at work is not important for them as they do not like routine work and can easily get bored with their job, which means that they can easily change their workplace (Dolot, 2018;Dwidienawati et al, 2021). The results of studies conducted on the expectations and priorities of Generation Z in working life generally reveal similar and consistent findings (Lanier, 2017;Kızıldağ, 2019;Düzgün, 2020;Pekel et al, 2020;Racolţa-Paina and Irini, 2021;Çaşın, 2022;Ngoc et al, 2022;Uğurbulduk, 2022;Vengrouskie et al, 2023;Koç Aslan et al, 2024).…”

“…Research shows that Generation Z employees have expectations regarding their freedom, wages, flexible workspaces, use of technology and personal rights, which requires leaders to satisfy Generation Z and provide the necessary motivation in accordance with these expectations (Lidija et al, 2017;Güleç, 2021). In research conducted on the expectations of Generation Z from their leaders, it has been revealed that they have expectations in that the leaders should be fair, act in accordance with the law, be responsible (Bresman and Rao, 2018;İlhan Nas and Doğan, 2020), act equally, be democratic, and be understanding (Dwidienawati et al, 2021;Gabrielova and Buchko, 2021;Saracel et al, 2023) and it is expected that a management approach that does not put pressure on them or cause them to lose their enthusiasm should be adopted and respected (Aydoğdu and Kara Özkan, 2021;Demirbilek and Keser, 2022).…”