Due to demographic shifts and a post-pandemic re-evaluation of work, employees now hold more power. This requires a fundamental leadership mindset shift: from managing people and processes to enabling their success. High turnover and disengagement are no longer employee problems but leadership failures. A leader's success now depends entirely on the success of their team, meaning 'you work for them'.

Today's leaders are expected to manage employee emotions and take public stances on social issues, roles for which their traditional training did not prepare them. This requires a new skillset centered on empathy and public communication to build trust with a skeptical younger workforce.

As AI handles technical tasks, uniquely human skills like curiosity, empathy, and judgment become paramount. Leaders must adapt their hiring processes to screen for these non-replicable soft skills, which are becoming more valuable than traditional marketing competencies.

Young employees' perceived lack of resilience isn't a generational flaw but a result of parenting that shielded them from hardship. The decline of teenagers working difficult, blue-collar summer jobs has created adults who are less prepared for the realities of the workplace.

Tim Elmore's "Peter Pan Paradox" posits that Gen Z can seem immature (tragic) while possessing intuitive authority on culture, AI, and social media (magic). Leaders must look past their unpolished exterior to leverage these valuable, forward-looking insights that don't depend on a formal title.

Senior leaders now value candidates who ask excellent questions and are eager to solve problems over those who act like they know everything. This represents a significant shift from valuing 'knowers' to valuing 'learners' in the workplace.

Unlike previous generations who respected positional authority, Gen Z grants influence based on connection and trust. They believe the best idea should win, regardless of who it comes from. To lead them effectively, managers must shift from exercising control to building connection, acting as mentors rather than gatekeepers.

As AI automates technical and mundane tasks, the economic value of those skills will decrease. The most critical roles will be leaders with high emotional intelligence whose function is to foster culture and manage the human teams that leverage AI. 'Human skills' will become the new premium in the workforce.

The pace of change in AI means even senior leaders must adopt a learner's mindset. Humility is teachability, and teachability is survivability. Successful leaders are willing to learn from junior colleagues, take basic courses, and admit they don't know everything, which is crucial when there is no established blueprint.