And just like that, a new year has begun. I hope you took some time to reflect on 2024 and think about 2025. If you haven’t, block some time on your calendar to ponder two questions: In 2025, what do you want more of, and what do you want less of? Keep it simple.
Here is a better question: what is one thing you want more of and one thing you want less of in 2025? When I think about that, my head spins with many ideas. Focusing on one has merit. It clarifies what will matter most and what will significantly impact you throughout the year.
Worth the share
Last year, many of my clients and colleagues spoke a lot about the challenges and joys of Gen Z. Right before the holidays, I did a team-building workshop for a very cool tech startup where almost half of the leadership team was Gen Z, and the others were Millenials. They were a great group, open and curious. It was so much fun!
Gen Z is a young cohort, also known as Generation Now, the iGeneration, or the Internet Generation, representing those born between 1997 and 2012 (13 to 28 years old). With a population of almost 69 million, Gen Z is known for craving feedback, needing information now, preferring speed over accuracy, being self-directed, and wanting to make a difference. They are a growing part of our entry-level workers and new managers, as some Millennials (ages 29 to 44) are already in middle age.
Gen Z also has its own language. This article from the Free Press features the winner of an essay contest for high school students to address the question: How are we misunderstanding Gen Z? It is well-written, articulate, and engaging.
Here is an excerpt from the winner of the contest, 16-year-old Mallory Valis’s essay on
internet slang for GenZ:
“Besides, why should anyone care what words we use? ChatGPT has swept up the dilapidated student into its arms and the two have ridden off into the sunset. Gen Z is free to speak in vapid internet jargon as we scroll through Instagram Reels and let the
machines do the brute work. So there mustn’t be anything meaningful to our slang, right?”
Cap. (That’s Gen Z for not true.)
This viewpoint entirely discredits the importance of slang itself. While language takes decades to evolve significantly, its fast-living alter ego, slang, shows us how things really are: It has the power to critique and mock contemporary society for the benefit of those stuck in it.”
Some of my slang favorites include:
• Aura: a transcendental sense of cool
• Cooked: doomed
• High-key: intense, undisguised
• Salty: upset, in a jealous way
In my opinion, it’s pretty slap. If you have any GenZ employees or family members, I encourage you to read Do You Have Aura – Or Are You Mid? A GenZ Slang Dictionary. It will help you better connect, and isn’t that what it’s all about?
#wisewords
“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
And Finally...
Speaking of connection, think about how you are genuinely connecting to those in your life, personally and professionally.
As I reflect on connection, two of my favorite books from last year come to mind:
Supercommunicators: How to unlock the secret language of connection by Charles Duhigg, and How to Know a Person: The art of seeing others deeply and being seen by David Brooks. Both are worth reading. At the very least, commit to making one shift this year.
And finally, what is YOUR word for 2024? If you haven’t guessed, mine is connection.
Have a fabulous 2025,
Mary Jo