Bridging the Generation Gap – Part 1: Who Are Your Leaders For What's Next?
"They have not yet been humbled by life, nor experienced the force of circumstances... They think they know everything." Aristotle.
Since the dawn of time, mature adults have been scratching their heads about the next generation. Family business owners questioning their desire and drive to keep the shop open. Educators mystified by minds that seemed to function differently. Governments worried about the survival of the social and economic fabric. In the 21st century, the Gen Z and Millennial cohorts have sparked megabytes of academic and business studies - and a host of assumptions.
Amrop’s new 3-part series, based on in-depth interviews with senior Amrop Partners, examines the relationship between the next generation and business leadership. Beyond the hype, which Gen Z and Millennial characteristics deserve special attention for organisations preparing future leaders?
In this first article, Amrop examines how Gen Z and Millennials are reshaping next generation leadership, from workplace dynamics and digital communication to resilience, succession and leadership readiness.
Next generation leadership: new characteristics, new needs
Every generation has known uncertainties and change. For organisations asking how to develop next generation leaders, context matters. But doomscrolling new gen members have been particularly exposed to shocks beyond their control. "These trigger specific responses and behaviours that affect their working relationships and how they build their careers," says Mansour Abdulghaffar, Managing Partner of Amrop in Saudi Arabia.
Next generation leadership
Tomorrow’s leaders have evolved in a context few could have imagined. Beyond the hype, which Gen Z and Millennial characteristics deserve attention as organisations prepare their next generation of leaders?
The evolving contexts for future leaders
Tomorrow’s leaders have evolved in a world few could have imagined, changing what future leaders need to succeed.
- The Digital New Normal: Social media has affected how Gen Z and Millennials communicate at work – even if its relationship with mental health isn’t clear cut.1
- A Challenging World: Financial crises, terrorism, political uncertainty, climate change. Education and early careers disrupted by the global pandemic. A third of Gen Z in the UK believes Covid-19 affected them more than older generations.2
- New Workplace Dynamics for Gen Z and Millennial Leaders: Only 23% of remote-capable Gen Z employees would prefer fully remote work, vs. 35% among older generations. They’re almost 2x as likely as Gen X, and nearly 3x as likely as baby boomers, to report experiencing loneliness much of the previous day.3
Every generation has known uncertainties and change. But doomscrolling new gen members have been particularly exposed to shocks beyond their control. ”These trigger specific responses and behaviours that affect their working relationships and how they build their careers,” says Mansour Abdulghaffar, Managing Partner of Amrop in Saudi Arabia.
The context for leadership succession
For Boards, CEOs and CHROs, the question is not only who will lead next, but how to prepare future leaders to step into senior leadership roles. Securing the next generation of leaders is an existential matter for hiring firms. But there are mixed attitudes regarding their fitness to govern, which is why leadership succession needs a generational lens. “The picture is divided,” says Anna Bonde, Managing Partner of Amrop in Sweden. “We see people who view Zoomers as equally ambitious, engaged, and driven. Others see them as the TikTok generation – lazy, unwilling to go the extra mile.” Views also vary by C-suite function.
Clarisa Vittone is Managing Partner of Amrop in Argentina. All CHROs (and most CEOs) are acutely aware of succession questions, she says. Other CXOs are working blind: “They need a lot of help.” When interviewing leadership candidates, she asks them what younger employees would say about them, and what this reveals about their ability to lead across generations. “People imagine what might be said, but usually they’ve never asked.” Still, some firms are waking up. “Most organisations and larger conglomerates have done a lot of work over five years,” says Tarunesh Madan, Co-Managing Partner of Amrop India.
Leadership development in a less live workplace
From the executive hiring, board and leadership perspective, the digital takeover of live interaction is one of the biggest game changers. “Workplace dynamics have had the greatest impact,” says Clarisa Vittone. “We are still deeply human.” Tarunesh Madan agrees: “Most leaders learned by observing how other leaders operate in real time, how decisions get made, conflict handled, a difficult conversation steered through. You only acquire those skillsets by being in the room.” For organisations asking what leadership skills future leaders need, these live moments remain difficult to replace.
İrem Yüksel is Managing Partner of Amrop Türkiye and the CIS. She laments the loss of “micro learning moments” sparked by workplace togetherness: “grabbing tea in the kitchen, laughing, or hearing a director handle a tough client call. The office offered learning and inspiration you could absorb naturally.” For Marko Mlakar, Managing Partner of Amrop Adria, the reduction in “small interactions” risks a vicious circle: “Less live communication means more reliance on technology.”
“They are lonelier, less equipped for interpersonal conflict. They have missed the personal touch, playground rehearsals, reading body language, negotiating face‑to‑face.”
Characteristics of next generation leaders
Covid-19, a digital world, global turbulence, hybrid working. The next generation of leaders have evolved in a unique environment and developed some distinctive characteristics. Which ones will help – or hinder – their leadership readiness and their propensity to lead tomorrow’s organisation?
Virtual working and leadership readiness
It is the virtual environment, with its light and shadow sides, that has most impacted the next cohort of leaders. Consider a global management team meeting. Gathered around the table are senior executives with different cultures, expertise and personalities. In these physical spaces, conflicts, nuances and insights are surfaced, and biases called out. Insights are explored, information scrutinised and synthesised. Water cooler encounters open up new and unexpected territories: risks and creative opportunities.
In the ebb and flow, few could deny feeling the occasional urge to leave the room. An online meeting permits these circuit-breakers. And when it comes to executive and board hiring, and assessing future leadership potential, this is a clear concern. “Being brought up in a digital environment has made it easy for the next gen to hide behind a screen,” warns Anna Bonde.
İrem Yüksel agrees. “They are lonelier, less equipped for interpersonal conflict. They have missed the personal touch, playground rehearsals, reading body language, negotiating face‑to‑face.” Even phone conversation is being abandoned in favour of an email or SMS, says Marko Mlakar. “Their minds aren’t structured around speaking with people.”
AI, critical thinking and leadership judgement
Online algorithms serve up information snippets. They create echo chambers by adapting seamlessly to our search history. Info snacking affects cognitive processing. A recent study found significant international declines in adolescents’ academic performance – linked to electronic devices.4 Marko Mlakar: “They operate in nutshells. They look at ChatGPT and think they’ve formed an opinion, even if it’s not clarified or verified.” But executives and boards need more from future leaders: accurate, verifiable and robust information. Depth and discernment.
And, as AI encroaches on critical thinking, its limits are emerging. As previously explored,5 machines may miss data and nuance, suffer bias, hallucinations and narrow-mindedness. Trapped in their own gene pool, a phenomenon of 'model collapse' is looming.6 Leaders cannot rely on ChatGPT to perform their roles. Critical thinking remains a core future leadership capability.
Education, experience and the future leadership pipeline
Deloitte recently reported7 that a third of Gen Zs and millennials will not pursue higher education. We could partially ascribe this to online access to a vast ocean of constantly updated knowledge, glowing portraits of successful young entrepreneurs, and enticing sources of capital. A dual exodus beckons: not only from academia, but from corporate employment, raising new questions for leadership pipeline development. Jeff Rosin is a Managing Partner of Amrop Rosin in Canada and a global Amrop Board Member. “Many people think, what is this going to do for me? Versus getting into the workforce now, doing something more entrepreneurial.”
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Entrepreneurship, freedom and future leaders
“There are so many interesting career options," adds Tarunesh Madan. "The previous generation focused on creating conventional assets, giving a solid education to the next generation.” The next is more interested in enrichment - doing something they genuinely believe in. For employers, this changes how to attract and retain future leaders. Mansour Adbulghaffar can see the attraction: “Many unicorn founders are college dropouts – Microsoft, Scale AI, OYO. They become billionaires young, without degrees.” The new gen is watching, says Marko Mlakar. “They don’t have mental barriers such as needing Harvard or elite credentials. They think, “Give me a computer, I can program, and off I go. If I fail, I don’t care.””
Tarunesh Madan welcomes the digital democratisation of learning. “Technology has largely done away with the class divide.” Marko Mlakar concurs: “In the US, if you don’t get a scholarship, you graduate with massive debt. But now knowledge is freely available globally.” Jeff Rosin goes further: “There’s a 
How realistic are these would-be business-builders? Anna Bonde has doubts: many children of successful entrepreneurs only saw the golden years. “Not the struggle, bankruptcy, restarting, failing again.”
Purpose, wellbeing and next generation leadership
Mistrust. Entitlement. Impatience. Aversion to detail. Entrepreneurial yearnings. It would be easy to stereotype and amalgamate these characteristics into a ball labeled ‘selfish.’ This would be an error. İrem Yüksel acknowledges a shift from a collective ‘we’ to the survivalist ‘me’ – a rupture of the loyalty contract. She nonetheless insists that the new gen “are naturally more well‑being‑focused – caring for the team, the environment, and their own well‑being. These are leadership characteristics we’ve been trying to train into previous generations for decades.” Purpose is a primary attraction and retention factor, she notes, and an important signal for organisations shaping future-ready leadership.
Feedback, recognition and leadership confidence
Comparing ourselves with others is a core aspect of human behaviour.8 But the new gen is exposed to a constant stream of flawlessly filtered social media content.9 Jeff Rosin recalls a recent interaction with a board containing several junior members. “The board felt threatened by the caliber of people we were presenting, because they would be seen to be inferior to them.”
Despite this pressure for perfection, Gen Z and Millennial leaders have an appetite for feedback. But it may be a proxy for recognition and reassurance. A new gen colleague asked an Amrop Partner: “I'd like to know what's working, what's not.” He replied: “Great. I'm going to be constructive, I'll tell you what is working well, and where the concerns lie. And then he started getting extraordinarily defensive.” Anne Bonde: “Younger people say they want feedback, but can they handle it? I’m not sure.” Clarisa Vittone has hope. “The new gen will easily accept feedback if they feel respected and understood as a generation. You must ensure, like a coach, that you say: “I understand X, Y, Z. Do you understand A, B, C? Please correct me if I’m wrong.” And pay close attention to things that get lost in translation.”
Resilience, burnout and leadership readiness
Only around of half of Gen Z’s or Millennials rate their mental health as good or extremely good. About a third put much of their stress down to their jobs and work/life balance.10 In the UK, absenteeism due to stress was over twice as high in workers aged 18-24 than in the over-55s.11 Resilience is a core leadership attribute, and a key marker of leadership readiness. As we reported in ‘The CEO Struggle’, life at the top is gruelling. In the first half of 2025, 1,028 CEOs left their posts in the US alone; a 19% increase over the previous year.12, 13
“In leadership assessments, we look at how people react to negative feedback,” says Anna Bonde. “Resilience is about how you bounce back, how you act on it. If you can’t take feedback, you’re less likely to get it. That’s why emotional resilience matters.” A comfortable upbringing may hinder the development of grit – “the ability to deal with a crisis, resilience, patience, tenacity. I would associate these traits with the previous generation,” muses Tarunesh Madan.
As ever, virtuality has some explaining to do. For Jeff Rosin, Covid-19 pushed digital reliance beyond the tolerance of even the new gen. The long-term damage cannot be understated. However, people also risk misdiagnosing themselves with stress: “Drs. Google and ChatGPT are answering their questions.” İrem Yüksul urges caution: “Burnout is not a personal failure – it’s structural. With an always‑online culture, there’s no true disconnection, no ability to unplug. That’s why collapse happens.” She is also concerned about quiet quitting.14 “Gen Z often doesn’t raise a red flag by saying they will resign. They quietly walk away instead of fighting for better conditions.”
Building resilience in next generation leaders
For organisations looking to develop next generation leaders, classic management solutions still hold. Setting parameters, for example. Tarunesh Madan: “With clear priority-setting and communication, the next gen can absorb stress well. They just need direction and candid conversations without fear of judgement. That's a fundamental difference with the previous generation.” İrem Yüksel also advises structural answers. “You need efficiency solutions first. Energy management is a strategic asset today. Because, if employees lack resilience for a long career, we won’t have anyone to manage in the future. However, structural solutions can only work when accompanied by empathy. It’s about “well‑being, work‑life balance, being treated as human, caring for the planet and others. Sleepless nights and working 24/7 aren’t sustainable. Their mindset is fair, and we have a lot to learn from them.”
In our next article, we examine next generation career expectations, and unpack the hiring and talent strategies that can strengthen the future leadership pipeline and bring out the best in the Leaders for What’s Next.
*Ages: Gen Z: 20-26 | Young Millennials: 27-34 | Old Millennials: 35-42 | Gen X: 43-60
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Bridging the Generation Gap - Part 1: Who Are Your Leaders For What's Next?
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1 Coe, E., Doy, A., Enomoto, K., Healy, C. (2023). 'Gen Z mental health: The impact of tech and social media' McKinsey 2 Health Institute. A survey of 42,000 respondents in 26 countries across continents.
2 Wright, O. 'Only 1 in 10 Gen Zers want to work in the office full-time.' (2024). The Times, February 14, 2025 2024 sample size: 1,161 GB adults aged between 18 and 27.
3 Pendell R., Agrawal S., (2025) 'Fully Remote Work Least Popular With Gen Z'. Gallup (US).
4 Twenge, J.M. (2026). ‘International Declines in Academic Performance and Increases in Loneliness Are Linked to Electronic Devices’. Journal of Adolescence, Vol 98, Issue 1, pp 250-261. A survey of 1,766,128, 15 and 16-year-old students, from 36 countries.
5 Amrop (2025), ‘I Am Not a Robot’ AI and Leadership Hiring: Pitfalls, Risks and Solutions.'
6 Gomstyn, A., Jonker, A., ‘What is Model Collapse?’ IBM Think.
7,10 Deloitte, 2024 'Gen Z and Millennial Survey: Living and working with purpose in a transforming world'.
8 Benitez, M.E., Brosnan, S.F., 'The Evolutionary Roots of Social Comparisons, in: Social Comparison, Judgement, and Behavior' (Jerry Suls (ed.) et al. Oxford University Press, 2020.
9 Lim, A.J. (2020). 'Social Comparison'. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham.
11,14 Mental Health UK (2024) 'The Burnout Report.'
12 Challenger, Gray & Christmas, (2025). 'CEO Turnover Slows in May, but 2025 exits hit record high.'
13 Hayes, J., (2024). 'CEOs Quit In Record Numbers in 2023. Here Are 3 Solutions.' Forbes, Feb 26, 2024.