CURATED READS FOR GEN Z—AND THEIR Z-CURIOUS COLLEAGUES

first up

Welcome back! This week, we’re talking about turning Gen Z ambition into action.

Another day, another data point that shows generational stereotypes can be—and are often—wrong! Lazy Gen Z? Not according to our latest Women in the Workplace report, which found that nine in ten women under 30 want to be promoted and three in four aspire to become senior leaders.
 
OK, that’s just Gen Z and zillennial women, right? Nope. Gen Zers are growing their network on LinkedIn 28 percent more than millennials, 54 percent more than Gen X, and more than twice as much as boomers.

While Gen Zers are off to a great start along their career journeys, turning their ambitions for professional success into results requires a bit more than sending connection requests and hoping for the best. Here are four things ambitious young achievers should keep in mind:

1. Look within. Networking inside your company is just as important as networking outside of it, even if your current job isn’t the be-all, end-all. Internal networking, which could also be thought of as building “social capital,” has been tied to improved individual performance, increased knowledge sharing between colleagues, greater innovation, and increased career mobility, as McKinsey senior partner John Parsons and coauthors explore.
  
2. Be nimble, be quick. As Gen Zers forge connections both at work and beyond it, they’ll also want to cultivate a spirit of adaptability along the way. Adaptability orients professionals to the opportunities ahead, not just the challenges. Put another way: think of adaptability as a meta-skill, learning how to learn and knowing when to put that learner’s mind into action.

3. Take the long view. Setting a five-year plan can also help Gen Z level up—even if they hop from one job to the next during that period. Taking a long view helps insulate career growth from the kinds of things that could derail a short-term plan, such as changing jobs or daily responsibilities. This detailed outline charts which steps to take and who to involve along the way.  

4. Remember well-being. Being ambitious doesn’t mean you have to work so hard that you’re sacrificing more fulfillment in life, as author and McKinsey alumnus Nicolai Tillisch puts it. When Tillisch interviewed subjects as part of the research for his book Return on Ambition: A Radical Approach to Your Achievement, Growth, and Well-Being, he saw that the most successful people nurtured those three factors on an ongoing basis.

“The big disease of ambitious people is that they try to do too much,” Tillisch says. “They have too many goals or equivalents to goals. They spread themselves thin.”

VISUALIZE IT

A lack of meaningful work is just as big a factor in employee unhappiness as inadequate comp.

WAIT, DON’T SCROLL

Crystal clear. Having trouble getting your point across? To be a more effective communicator, start by being authentic.

Upgrade U. Early-tenure workers who prioritize skill development are more likely to get ahead.

Risk it for the biscuit. Business risk is about so much more than sociopolitical and economic shocks, as this McKinsey Explainer reveals.

NOT US; STILL GREAT

Not-so-funny business. Consumer brand social media marketers have long tried to be in on the joke … too long. [NYT]

Dream job? Dream on. Some job seekers are feeling “ghosted” by employers who fail to follow up with them about their applications. [Bloomberg]

CROSSWORD

— Edited by Alexandra Mondalek, editor, New York