How Can Gen Z and the Corporate World Align?

The most critical and singular issue Gen Z faces today is Trust. Rightfully in the opinion of many baby boomers as well, youth has no trust in anyone today. They don't trust the family, religion, society, gurus, government, or anyone they know. In the process, they tend to lean on those whom they do not know, especially from social media, who may turn out to be predators. Gen Z today is caught between the hard rock and the deep sea.

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There are very valid reasons why there is a trust deficit. Families no longer have integrity. There are more broken families than integral ones in the Western world. Selfishness rules over the welfare of children. Religion controls and manipulates through fear and greed. Religious leaders and gurus lead the sin lists. Confessions are a good way to acknowledge and sin more. Government and politicians are self-serving. They never were benevolent and able. Now, they are fully corrupt. All these together reflect on the society at large, making youth feel that no one is trustworthy. They feel that they live in a psychologically unsafe toxic space.

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Having spent most of my adult life in the corporate business world, I know fully well how greedy and manipulative corporations can be. One thing though, this greed is explicit and not hidden under layers of false integrity and benevolence. It's a WYSIWYG, what you see is what you get space where good and bad co-mingle with no hypocrisy. Most importantly, the corporate world has the ability. With increasing social consciousness and spiritual intelligence many business entities have integrity, are benevolent and can combine these to societal good.

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69% of the largest economic entities in the world are companies, and only 31% are nations. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and 2 others forming the top 5 global corporations are richer than 150 of the recognised 190-something ?countries. Corporations, if they come together, can change the world for the better.

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How can the corporate world offer itself as a trusted space to the emerging workforce of the youth?

?Be Authentic

?Trust deficit arises from a lack of perceived authenticity. Companies should be transparent in what they do. They also should make no bones about profit making as different from profiteering. Wealth creation is critical for sustainability, however, wealth should be meaningfully deployed after serving stakeholders in the business. Mere declarations and DEI policies won't help. Youth needs to see practice and outcomes.

?Be of Service

?More corporate leaders are philanthropic than any other segment of society today. This should increase. Corporate leaders must declare their intent to be socially responsible and of service to others, instead of accumulating wealth greedily. Greed is evil as is vulgar display of wealth as it's becoming more and more common. The tribe of Buffet, Gates and Tata should multiply.

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Be Ecologically Wise

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?Sustainability depends on how we treat our environment. The world has taken massive strides in ecological awareness. This awareness needs to be acted upon. The UN manifestos tell us that animal agriculture is more dangerous than non-renewable fuels and plastics. It's not the greed of the big corporations alone that is dangerous to the world, but the invisible greed from farming, fishing and other seemingly innocuous occupations.

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Relate

?The corporate leadership needs to address and relate to its most important constituency of tomorrow's customers, employees and stakeholders, which is the youth. The youth need to be reached with integrity, not allurement of products and services designed to profiteer. I came across several agencies that facilitated these interactive relationships between youth and business entities in the USA. This needs to become a global movement.

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Catch Them Young ?

?Most importantly, corporate leadership can engage in education in meaningful ways. Unfortunately, education itself has become big business now, cloaked in swathes of non-profit labels. Can governments and corporations come together in an enlightened way so that corporations adopt educational institutions in their self-interest of creating future workforces and loyal customers, without engaging with them as businesses? Corporate leaders can become volunteer mentors and coaches to the young to create a sustainable relationship of trust. Just this one initiative can change the landscape of meaningless education. rut our youth is in and also make corporate entities far more socially conscious. Zoho is an example I see in India running Zoho Schools engaging underprivileged rural youth.

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?Reflection

?Corporations are powerful beyond belief. They are not evil. Their culture and vision can be moulded in spiritual intelligence to evoke trust from today's disillusioned youth if they make the effort. Those who are likely to benefit far more than they imagine.

?If this article ignited your curiosity about the intersection of the interaction between corporate leadership and Gen Z leading to future leadership development, share it with your network! Subscribe to my 'Coaching the Spirit' newsletter for more cutting-edge content on coaching methodologies, spirituality, and leadership in today's dynamic workplace. Together, let's shape the future of leadership in the era of interconnected systems!

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