Why Every Generation in the Workforce Thinks the Others Are Ridiculous

By Jon Antonucci, guest columnist 

If you have spent more than five minutes on a modern, multi-generational workplace floor, you have likely sensed it. The subtle eye-rolls when a younger employee asks to block out an hour on their calendar for a “mental health reset”. The deep, collective sigh from the back of the room when a senior manager insists on printing a 40-page PDF document for a meeting that could have easily been an email. 

We see it everywhere. Every single generation currently sitting in the workforce—from the Baby Boomers right down to Gen Z and the emerging Gen Alpha—looks across the cubicle aisle or the Zoom grid and thinks, at some point, “These people are completely ridiculous”. 

But why does this happen? Is it because the human species is progressively degrading, as older generations love to claim? Or is it because older workers are stubborn, rigid relics who refuse to adapt, as younger employees often complain?

As someone who spends my life working with frontline supervisors, middle managers, and C-suite teams through the work of SML Consultive, I can tell you that the friction has almost nothing to do with a lack of ambition, capability, or character. Instead, it has everything to do with a fundamental failure in how we define, practice, and teach leadership.

The Trap of “Leading How You Were Led”

The primary reason generations find each other absurd is a massive, structural trend occurring in organizations worldwide: frontline supervisors and managers are trying to lead the younger workforce the exact same way they themselves were led years ago.

Think about it. A manager who entered the workforce twenty or thirty years ago likely grew up in a command-and-control corporate culture. In that environment, leadership was equated entirely with positional power—the title, the corner office, and the unchallenged authority to issue orders. Success meant compliance. You put your head down, you did things exactly how the boss told you to do them, and you did not ask questions.

Now, fast forward to today. That same manager is suddenly tasked with leading Gen Z employees who comprise nearly 30% of the active workforce. This younger generation operates on a completely different blueprint. They treat the office like a collaborative ecosystem. They speak openly about emotional intelligence, boundaries, flexibility, and transparency. When they are given a task, they do not just want to know what to do; they want to know why it matters, and they are fully prepared to offer a different, more efficient route to achieve it.

When an old-school supervisor encounters this behavior, their immediate knee-jerk reaction is to view the younger worker as entitled, soft, or combative. They have that classic “baffled” look because people are doing things differently than how they think they “should” be done. Conversely, the younger worker looks at the supervisor and sees an outdated, micromanaging autocrat who is entirely out of touch.

Both sides leave the interaction fully convinced that the other is ridiculous.

Assessing Success Over Conformity

To bridge this gap, leaders must undergo a massive mindset shift: we must learn to value success over conformity.

I recently watched an illuminating video concept that perfectly illustrates this dynamic. Imagine a task where the goal is simply to get a collection of loose blocks into a bucket. A traditional leader stands on the left, demonstrating a highly specific, meticulous, step-by-step method for picking up each block individually and placing it inside. They believe this is the “correct” way because it is the way it has always been done.

Then, a younger worker comes along on the right side. Instead of copying the leader’s exact motions, they find a way to tip the entire platform, sliding all the blocks into the bucket simultaneously in a fraction of the time.

A standard manager focused on control will get angry. They will focus entirely on the fact that the worker did not follow instructions or respect “the process.” But a servant-minded leader steps back and looks at the reality of the outcome: the task was fully accomplished, and it was likely done far more efficiently.

The younger generations entering our organizations are not lazy. They simply refuse to sacrifice their well-being for blind conformity. Their motto is to work hard, but not at the cost of their mental health or personal lives. When they set firm boundaries, clock out on time, or push for hybrid flexibility, they are not trying to escape work; they are managing their energy so they can return and be even more productive. If they achieve the desired results, why do we care so much if their path looks different than ours?

The Misunderstood Needs of the Frontline

When communication breaks down across generational lines, it is incredibly easy to assume the gap stems from a lack of shared goals. But in my years of conducting SML IMPACT workshops and training programs, I have found that this is rarely true.

At their core, human needs across generations are remarkably consistent. No matter the birth year, people want to do meaningful work, feel respected, and contribute to something that grows. The disconnect shows up entirely in the execution—the communication styles, the expectations of leadership, and the lenses through which we view career timelines.

Notice that the younger workforce isn’t asking for less direction from their managers—they are actually asking for clearer direction. They are actively seeking feedback and trying to voice their needs. However, because they communicate with an openness that older generations were taught to suppress, their transparency is frequently mischaracterized as disrespect.

We are constantly expecting people to instinctively respond to things based on experiences they simply do not have yet. Expecting a 22-year-old entry-level employee to navigate corporate politics or unwritten workplace norms with the seasoned grace of a 50-year-old veteran is, ironically, the most ridiculous expectation of all. 

The Path Forward: Servant-Minded Leadership

If your organization is suffering from generational warfare, the solution is not to send your staff to a “check-the-box” training program that simply labels people by their generation and calls it a day. The solution is to fundamentally change how you equip your leaders.

True leadership is not about being in charge; it is about helping people become capable, confident, and effective over time. It is about moving away from positional authority and stepping into servant-minded leadership—a framework rooted in integrity, alignment, and genuine care for people.

When you build a leadership culture focused on developing people, generational differences stop being an operational bottleneck. Instead, they become an incredible organizational advantage. 

• For the Older Generations: True servant leadership requires the humility to listen. The supervisors who are willing to drop their defensive guards, look past the unfamiliar terminology, and actually listen to what their teams need are the ones who will keep their groups intact.
• For the Younger Generations: Alignment requires understanding that the structures put in place by older workers often came from a deeply rooted desire for stability, resilience, and proven execution under pressure 

We must stop forcing everyone into a single, rigid mold of working. A cohesive, high-performing team is built by defining crystal-clear expectations, maintaining unwavering consistency, and establishing a shared baseline of what success looks like. 

The next time you find yourself utterly baffled by a coworker from a different generation, take a deep breath. Stop managing appearances, stop demanding blind conformity, and start leading with relationships. When we shift our focus from judging others’ methods to empowering their potential, the things that once made us look ridiculous suddenly become the very strengths that allow us to succeed together.

If you are ready to stop losing good people to bad management and want to equip your frontline leaders to actually engage and inspire every generation on your team, let’s collaborate. You can learn more about our foundational corporate programs by checking out the SML’s Foundational Pillars of Leadership curriculum.

What leadership challenges are you facing? Jon wants to hear from readers. Submit a topic you would like to see covered in a future column to [email protected].

About SML Consultive:

Jon Antonucci is the founder of SML Consultive and author of “Servant-Minded Leadership: How Mindfulness Changes Servant Leadership.” A speaker and corporate trainer with more than 20 years of leadership experience, he helps organizations equip front-line leaders to build stronger teams and cultures. Learn more at servantmindedleadership.com.