We Don’t have a gen z problem, we have a leadership gap

I've been working in college athletics for over a decade. Somewhere along the way, "Gen Z" became a shorthand for everything that coaches and leaders find frustrating about the job. And in that time, I've seen the conversation around this generation shift from curiosity to criticism.

"They lack resilience."

"They aren't committed enough."

"They want success handed to them."

And plenty of other sweeping generalizations.

However, since working closely with student athletes and teams on culture and leadership, I've come to a different conclusion; we don't have a Gen Z problem - we have a perception problem.

Many leaders, both coaches and administrators, are trying to lead Gen Z athletes using frameworks that were built, shaped, and proven effective for an entirely different generation (or two).

We don't move the needle enough by simply coaching how we were coached.

Previous generations were socialized around stability, authority, hierarchy and institutional trust. We did what we were told because we could safely assume the our leaders were both well-informed and well-intentioned.

Gen Z continues to be shaped by constant access to information, rapid feedback loops, uncertainty as a norm, and lack of institutional credibility. Due to these major differences, leaders who interpret behavior through an outdated lens can jump from curiosity to criticism in an instant.

• What looks like disengagement is often a need for clarity.

• What looks like entitlement is often a request for transparency.

• What looks like resistance is often a desire for shared purpose.

Gen Z isn’t rejecting leadership; they’re rejecting leadership that feels disconnected from reality.

The leaders succeeding right now aren’t lowering standards. Instead, they’re updating how standards are communicated, modeled, and reinforced.

The question can't be: “How do we fix Gen Z?”

It needs to be: “How do we evolve our leadership to meet the moment they grew up in?”

Every generation pushes leaders to grow.

This one is just asking us to do it faster.

What leadership shifts have you found most effective when working with Gen Z?