To Generation Z: Lead with Perspective, Passion and Purpose

As college graduates embark on a new journey into the working world, another generation – yours -- is revving up to begin the experience of a lifetime. Those of you in Gen Z will soon enter the class of 2020. At EY, we wanted to deepen our understanding of your generation, so we recently hosted town halls at colleges around the country to learn more about the best ways to attract and engage you down the road.

To be honest, I could not stop thinking about everything we learned from these exciting sessions.   Here’s my impression:

1. You dream big, but also understand that sometimes it’s more realistic and better in the long run to find ways to make incremental changes for the betterment of your school, your communities and even society.
2. Not only are you creative and bold, you’re also completely unafraid to work hard. You realize that you may need to make sacrifices and work at something that may be less appealing while finding work that truly challenges and fulfills you.

 All of this, combined with the fact that you’re able to adapt easily to new environments, makes you uniquely positioned to redefine how we ALL think about work. You will have so much opportunity-- an abundance of internships, technological innovations, and more--right at your fingertips, so take advantage of them.

 There is still time before you embark on your careers, and I encourage you all to make it time well spent.   When I think back to myself at your age, there are a few valuable words of wisdom I wished someone had shared with me. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by pressure to find the right career, make the right choice and succeed. And really, what I wish I’d known is that success, however you choose to define it, is about finding three things for yourself: perspective, passion, and purpose in life. 

• Perspective - Whatever the situation, you have to find a way to step back and consider other points of view, alternate interpretations, and different ways to act--and react. There really is no better way to learn about yourself, and at the same time, learn about the world around you. And when you face challenges, which everyone does, having a little perspective will help you to keep your wits about you and focus on solving the problem at hand. Sometimes it’s easy to take a dim view of a situation and see only one or two roads to take. But viewing a problem through a different lens—or someone else’s lens—might help you to see there are more options than you originally envisioned. 

• Passion – Focus less on finding some idealistic utopia that you may have built up in your mind, and instead look for ways to find your passion every day. Finding something to be passionate about in your daily life is not only a more realistic goal, but also more rewarding. Look for ways every day to feel passionate about something you accomplish–it will help you to work toward longer-term goals and pave a pathway to a career and a life that you’ll love. 

• Purpose - There is so much more to your career than just being successful. You need to treat people well, develop your skills as a team member, and work hard to make an impact on those around you, in your community, and eventually at your future employer. Leading with purpose means not being driven solely by money, but by impact. We all have bills to pay and student loans to manage, and finding work that you enjoy doesn’t always pay those bills. But that doesn’t mean you can’t identify genuine areas of interest that also align with your strengths. What else fulfills you? Perhaps it’s working with colleagues that help you learn and grow, or having the flexibility to meet your personal and professional goals while also making a difference for your company and society at large. Another way you can find meaning and purpose in what you do by asking how your daily work impacts the goals of your company and its mission. Many companies today are defining their mission or purpose and tying it back to goals that go beyond purely financial achievements to include their impact on the broader business community and society. 

Looking toward the future, ask questions, expect the most from both your employer and yourself, exercise that creativity, and most importantly, have fun. You are a part of a cohort that is redefining the norm for the better and this will change the future - for the better - for all of us.