What's Wrong with Today's Kids? The Stereotypes and Realities Shaping Gen Z at Work

Dr. Laura welcomes Ryan Vet, generational futurist, USA Today bestselling author, keynote speaker, and host of The Ryan Vet Show, to explore the stereotypes and realities shaping Generation Z at work. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience at the intersection of leadership, technology, and organizational change, Ryan explains why generational labels rarely tell the whole story. He introduces the generational prism as a way to consider age alongside the moment in history people experience. This assists leaders in looking beyond assumptions that younger employees are lazy, entitled, or unwilling to work. Dr. Laura and Ryan discuss delayed life milestones, anxiety, technology, parenting influences, and the experiences that have shaped Generation Z as they enter and establish themselves in the workplace.

Ryan and Dr. Laura examine why perceived generational differences can also point to leadership challenges. They explore changing approaches to productivity, the influence of smartphones and artificial intelligence, and what can be lost when technology removes friction and real-world experiences from everyday life. Ryan emphasizes that effective leadership can’t rely on a single framework or generational stereotype. Instead, leaders need to understand each person, recognize their individual skills and experiences, and adapt their leadership style accordingly. The conversation encourages leaders to examine assumptions, understand what has shaped Gen Z, and help younger employees grow into the next generation of leaders.

“Instead of getting frustrated, how about you spend the time to get to know the individual and who they are and what drives them?” - Ryan Vet

About Ryan Vet:

Ryan Vet is a generational futurist with two decades of practitioner experience at his back. He is not a researcher who decided to speak. He is not an academic who wrote a book. He is an operator, entrepreneur, and builder who researched, synthesized, and wrote because what he observed in his own organizations demanded explanation.

He is a USA Today bestselling author whose work has been recognized nationally and featured in Forbes, ABC, and NBC. His Collide newsletter reaches organizational leaders who want honest, practitioner-grounded analysis of how generational dynamics and technology are reshaping the way people work and lead.

His research focus spans: generational leadership and multi-generational workforce dynamics, AI adoption and organizational readiness, change management and the human cost of transformation, and employee engagement across organizational cultures.

Ryan Vet is actively speaking, writing, researching, and investing. Not as separate pursuits, but as a single integrated practice.

Key Moments:

00:00 Introducing Ryan Vet and the Generational Conversation

04:18 Why Generational Differences Became Ryan’s Focus

08:42 Looking Beyond Generational Stereotypes

12:35 The Generational Prism and the Problem with Labels

17:48 Understanding Generational Blur

23:10 What Has Shaped Generation Z

29:32 Parenting, Technology, and the Bubble Wrap Generation

36:45 Why Leadership Frameworks Cannot Replace Leadership

42:58 How Stereotypes Shape What Leaders See

48:40 Productivity and Different Generational Approaches to Work