Simon Sinek, an American author and inspirational speaker, appeared on Raj Shamani’s podcast, ‘Figuring Out.’ Discussing everything from India’s future, trust crisis, and the Gen-Z burnout in corporate culture, Simon Sinek expressed his take on the opportunity an entire generation faces, viewing commitment as a challenge.
He divulged about his changing priorities that came with age, describing the early years in a corporate job like a school for life. Later, he shared how giving up easily would mean dropping out of school, just because homework was hard, one day.
At the same time, he explained how knowing when to quit is equally important, especially when the cost is no longer worth it. Segueing into the situation of ‘opting out’ of situations, Gen-Z, for the longest time, has been at the helm of this imagery.
Shamani then questioned Sinek about Gen-Z and their growing relationship with AI and how they lack of emotional or cognitive intimacy as a cost to bear, while turning to technology for warmth. “Gen Z have started thinking about cost so much that they’ve almost started avoiding hard conversations,” commented Shamani, bringing up that the generation uses avoidance like a defence mechanism.
Simon Sinek about Gen-Z in corporate
Identifying the trait of avoiding conflicts as a means to run away from ‘discomfort’, Sinek said, “They don’t like discomfort…the cost of starting a new job is better than being uncomfortable.” However, advising as a generation that reportedly ‘avoids conflict’, he said, “It’s recognising that you’re not the only person in the world. It’s recognising that you have accountability.”
“You’re not always the victim,” Simon Sinek remarked, commenting that every Gen-Z individual has a role to play and is a part of something much bigger than themselves. “There’s some benefit to learning the skills of human interaction and human confrontation that will benefit you personally, professionally, for the rest of your life,” he told Shamani on the podcast.
Coming back to his analogy of his early life being like school, he said, “Treat your job like it’s a graduate degree.” He explained how dropping out or not showing up to for a lecture is not mere avoidance, but stems from a ‘lack of accountability to the team.’ He further expressed, “Goes back to the selfish behavior which is it’s totally fine for me to leave.”
At the same time, he added that opting out of this cost would mean that
‘you are letting people down’. Further, “Maybe a little tension is you’ll teach you a little bit of grit. Build up a muscle, and I learned this the hard way,” Simon remarked. “You never want to make decisions out of fear. You want to make decisions out of opportunity,” he shared.
Avoiding conflict and going to AI: A pattern or caution sign?
Raj Shamani then brought up how Gen-Z, today, is relying heavily on AI for outsourcing their feelings. Be it happy or sad, they are dumping out on AI chatbots, just like Gen-X and boomers are rapidly using them like a search engine, sometimes even befriending a version of the algorithm that they created.
“I would be worried if AI was the only friend that somebody had,” Simon remarked and added, “if AI is your only friend, we probably have a problem.” At the same time, he accepted that seeking validation from an external source is optimal, as long its an healthy amount. Adding other validation-seeking sources like video games, social media, and even alcohol to the situation, he emphasised the need to create your limits, but that too comes with a cost.