Simon Sinek argues younger workers aren't entitled but shaped by decades of layoffs and short-term profit pressure that killed company loyalty. They demand higher pay upfront because they've watched merit mean nothing when shareholders come first. Leaders need empathy and psychological safety, not judgment.
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We bring our own story to work and that story is a lens and we evaluate everybody else that we are with through our lens. And what we need to do, doesn't mean you have to agree with people, but it does mean you have to understand where it comes from. We have all these labels and judgments, especially of younger generations. And I guess the younger generations have it of us, again, based on that lens. But I'll give you an example. So when I was young in my career, if you wanted a raise or a promotion, the way you got it was you work really, really hard, you accomplish something, you go to your boss and be like, look what I did, I deserve a raise or a bonus. And that was the how things were done. And kids now, will come to me and be like, "Pay me more and you'll see what I can do." And I'm like, "Shouldn't you do something first?" And we label that as entitlement, because it sure sounds like it, right? So the question I'm asking is, where did that come from? That's the empathy. Where did that come from? And then you take one step back and be like, all right, let's look at how capitalism and business and leadership has sort of progressed over the past 20, 30 years, 30, 40 years, right? And you know, you start to see a pattern where in the '80s and '90s, this Jack Welch, GE rise of short-termism, you start to see short-termism become normalized, like quarterly results are the thing. You start to see the rise of shareholder supremacy where we now prioritize the wants, needs, and desires of a disinterested external constituency over a customer or an employee. That's now normal. And by the way, we used to think private companies were better than public companies because they didn't have the same pressure. The number of companies that are venture-backed, you now have a disinterested external who's putting pressure on you so they can meet their financial goals, not yours. So I think the pressure is just as bad in a lot of private companies as well. We start to see mass layoffs where the company is profitable, but we want it to be more profitable. So you get to lose your job, right? Like, that is now normal. Like, we don't even think that's shocking. And so now you look at a young generation who's entering the workforce, and I guarantee you close to 100% of them, one of their parents was laid off or one of their friend's parents was laid off. Through no fault of their own. It's not a meritocracy. The company missed its annual projections. They did fine. They just missed the number and somebody lost their job. So what they've seen, they've grown up now in a world that demands loyalty but offers none. And so now you look at their behavior and they're thinking to themselves, right, this is not, you know, the cultural response is, well, the company's going to offer me nothing. I might work my brains out and at the end of the year, I'm just gonna get laid off anyway, might as well cash in early. Might as well get that money upfront because there's no guarantees. And they're right. That is the correct response for the business world that we live in today. And so that's what I mean by empathy. Because if you don't ask, where did that come from? And you don't like peel the onion a little bit, what you'll do is you'll call them entitled. You'll treat them as entitled. You will put all these barriers up and try and teach them your way, which is not appropriate for the times we live in. And so once you know that, you say, "Got it. They're afraid of losing a job through no fault of their own. Okay. So the next time the company goes through a really difficult time, I'm going to make sure that they feel safe. The next time they screw up, I'm going to say, 'Okay, try again,' instead of making them afraid that they're going to lose their job." And I have to earn and prove to them that it's okay. And eventually, to the point you made before, eventually the feeling will reverse.
