5 Things Gen Zers Wish You Understood (Taylor's Version)
Fundamental insights into those born between 1997 and 2012
➸ Did you know that 53% of American adults are Taylor Swift fans?
Indisputably, Taylor Swift is brilliant, both as a musician and as a businesswoman.
With her now billionaire status and popularity across generations and demographics, it is hard to deny her success.
One thing I love about Taylor Swift (I’m a Swiftie all the way!) is how masterfully she uses her lyrics to convey complex emotions, situations, and relationships. She truly has a gift — a gift that can help all of us.
As a Gen Zer, the real work has been to put into words what my generation wants older generations to understand about us. We have wants and needs and requests that are complicated to articulate. Expected to make up 25% of the workforce by 2025, it’s essential that we begin having conversations about bridging generational communication and there is nobody better to assist than the master of words herself, Taylor Swift.
Let’s see what she has to say.
➸ “When you are young, they assume you know nothing” -- Cardigan, Taylor Swift
We, as Gen Zers, are often told that we don’t know a lot because we are young. We’re told that we should stop talking and start listening to older and wiser people. It is frustrating to us that older generations assume that because of our age, we don’t understand how life works. Often dismissed in the workplace (even when we have good ideas) or interrupted, we also find this playing out at home by being spoken over at family dinners.
We know we are young. But we want to scream “Don’t call me kid. Don’t call me baby!”
We deserve to be treated as adults, even though we don’t know everything.
Sure, some people act like they know everything. But those people exist in every generation.
For the majority of us who know and understand more than we are given credit for, this assumption that we don’t know anything becomes a constant source of frustration. It sometimes feels as if we are on the outside looking in, and all we want is to have a voice in the conversation.
If we are continually shut down and shut out because of our inexperience, we won’t have the opportunity to learn and grow. So we’ll have this thing where we get older, but just never wiser. And that’s not good for anybody.
⚡ If you are working with a Gen Zer, really listen to what they have to say. Ask yourself how you would respond to an older colleague who said the same thing, and then respond that way to the Gen Zer.
➸ “We’re happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time” -- 22, Taylor Swift
I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22.
Like many of my Gen Z peers (many of whom are around 22 years old), I am often experiencing simultaneous and opposing emotions.
Sometimes I want to get out of this town, drive out of the city, away from the crowds. And other days I think it’s best if I just stay, stay, stay.
Identifying and tracking all of the opposing feelings becomes a job in itself.
We are falling in love with strangers and dealing with constant deadlines and trying to fit in with the “cool kids” and handling heartbreaks and bad news and… and…and…
I mean, this is exhausting, you know?
We are human beings who experience a range of emotions, and those emotions are often conflicting. We cannot be expected to turn off these emotions or to pick and choose how we want to feel on a certain day. Because life as a Gen Zer is exciting and confusing and filled with freedom and it can also be isolating. And we should be allowed to experience all the nuanced emotions that go along with growing up.
⚡ Working with a Gen Zer who is on an emotional rollercoaster can be frustrating. But remind yourself that emotions are data points that can be used to better identify what someone values. And that will give you insight into how to communicate more effectively with your Gen Z employee or colleague.
➸ “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can” -- The Man, Taylor Swift
Many Gen Zers have grown up with the idea that our job is to keep pushing, keep running, and keep fighting to get into the dream college or get the dream job.
Like many previous generations, we’ve been taught that the right path is to do well in school, go to a good college, and get a high-paying job. And to do that we have to compete against everyone else who is trying to do the same thing. That the only way to win the race is to get the competitive edge, often by any means necessary. This has become such an ingrained part of how we are growing up that some of us don’t even realize that we have the option to stop running.
Sick of running the rat race, as a generation collectively, we are choosing to bow out. We are setting boundaries between our work/school lives and our personal lives and prioritizing our mental well-being. We, along with some Millennials, are finally deciding that if we stop running, we may actually have a life filled with joy, passion, and success. And a life where our wildest dreams become reality.
⚡ If you want to get the most out of your Gen Z employees, it is crucial to understand that the “hustle culture” that your generation often conforms to doesn’t work for us. You may want to find ways to incorporate work-life balance and well-being practices at your work to make it a place where your Gen Z employees want to stay.
➸ “Wish I’d never grown up, I wish I’d never grow up.” -- Never Grow Up, Taylor Swift
The older members of the Gen Z generation are learning how to “adult.” And we know that being an adult comes with great things like being able to make our own decisions, but it also comes with hard things like having to make our own decisions. Sometimes it would be nice to go back to when we had fewer responsibilities, to when our biggest worry was who to make a friendship bracelet for.
It sometimes feels like we are being told “You’re on your own, kid.” And while we know it’s time for us to learn how to take care of ourselves, it can feel lonely and scary being on our own. When we were younger, all we wanted was freedom and independence. But now that we have it, it turns out freedom ain’t nothing but missing the days when we had someone to make the hard choices for us.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I know for sure I have days when I wish I’d never grown up
⚡ While we don’t want to be kids again, we are looking for guidance on how to move forward at work and in life when we are just having our first experiences being independent. Your Gen Z employees would appreciate and benefit a lot from a mentorship program at your company. If that’s not something you already have in place, it is something to consider for the future.
➸ “He seems fine most of the time, forcing smiles and neverminds” -- Forever Winter, Taylor Swift
According to a 2022 survey of young adult Gen Zers (age 19-24), 42% have been diagnosed with a mental health condition. Compare that to the 25% of people in general who have a mental illness. We are more likely than any generation to report high rates of anxiety and depression. And this makes sense when you think about the world we are growing up in, with a global pandemic, constant school shootings, racial and social injustice, a climate crisis, and much more.
Many people in older generations think that mental health is a delicate topic to discuss and that because it is personal, it should stay a private issue. But Gen Zers want to talk about mental health openly, despite the concern that it will make us look weak or broken. We need to talk about it, because many of us are not fine. Sometimes it takes everything in us to get up each day.
We don’t want to force smiles and pretend we are fine. That’s common for older generations, but it’s not going to work for us.
⚡Because we are so open to talking about mental health, we want to make sure that wherever we work is a safe place to have mental health-related conversations. Even if you don’t feel comfortable sharing your mental health experiences at work, you can make an effort to let your Gen Z employees know that they are free to share theirs and that you’re willing to listen.
There’s clearly a lot that we want you to understand about our generation. We have great ideas and complicated feelings. We are challenging the norms and pushing boundaries, both in what we do and what we talk about.
Ultimately, here’s what you need to know:
When the first Gen Zers were born in 1997, it may have been near the end of a decade, but it was the start of an age.
Want to learn more about Gen Z in the workplace? Leading Gen Z: Bridging the Generation Gap at Work / Udemy Business Course