The 3% Problem: Why Gen Z Should Be Chairing Your Meetings

Leadership Across Generations In An AI-First World - Is Your Team Divided? | Dr Paul Redmond Interview Five generations now share the same workplace, and most leaders are still managing them through one lens: their own. Meanwhile, some are quietly handing their leadership to AI, right down to the condolence letters. In this episode of the Business Growth Podcast, powered by ActionCOACH UK, James Vincent sits down with Dr Paul Redmond to find out how to bring every generation to the table and stay fearlessly human while you do it. Paul is one of the UK's leading voices on generations at work. He delivers 70 to 80 keynotes a year on the subject, and organisations including Google, the NHS and Royal London bring him in to help them lead multi-generational teams. His latest book is Leadership in an Age of AI: How to remain fearlessly human. What You'll Learn: Make Every Generation Feel Wanted: Why the first job is making it safe for everyone, and what walks out the door when your boomers leave with 30 years of undocumented wisdom. Reverse Mentoring: How pairing a Gen Z mentor with an older leader works, as long as the older person listens and the younger one feels safe enough to speak. The 3% Problem: Research shows Gen X dominates most meetings, while Gen Z speaks the most in just 3%. Paul's fix is simple: let the youngest person chair. Learn AI From Your Youngest Employee: Sit with them, let them show you the AI tools they use every day, and say nothing. Blockbuster's rejection of Netflix shows what happens when leaders stop listening. Why People Quit Managers: The link between losing Gen Z talent and millennial managers avoiding honest conversations, plus the opening words that set the tone for difficult feedback. The Generational Audit: How to review the way you recruit, engage, support and retain each generation in your team. Expert Or AI Builder: Paul's view that the future belongs to people who either go deep in one field or learn to build and direct AI. The danger is sitting in the middle. RQ, Relational Intelligence: Why getting on with people and handling conflict is the one skill AI can't yet replicate. Key Quotes: "From now on, vulnerability is a strength." "Your generation isn't a straitjacket." "IQ has been automated. EQ has been simulated. All that's left is what I call RQ, relational intelligence." "The first 30 minutes are your golden time." Dr Paul Redmond's Background: Dr Paul Redmond has spent his career in education and is one of the UK's leading voices on managing the generations at work. He delivers 70 to 80 keynotes each year and works with organisations such as Google, the NHS and Royal London on how to engage, retain and lead a multi-generational workforce. His latest book, Leadership in an Age of AI: How to remain fearlessly human, explores how leaders are adapting to AI and the human skills, like courage, curiosity and relational intelligence, that we risk losing if we hand too much over to the machines. Timestamps: 00:00 - AI Condolences Hook 00:50 - Leading Five Generations 01:36 - Make Everyone Wanted 03:43 - Reverse Mentoring Wins 05:41 - Spitfire Succession Model 06:41 - Booby Traps and Bias 08:16 - Gen Z Voice in Meetings 10:10 - Learn AI From Youth 12:28 - Blockbuster Warning Story 13:55 - Multi Gen Meetings Strategy 16:59 - No Tech Write by Hand 17:59 - Why People Quit Managers 19:12 - Millennials And Feedback 20:02 - Managing Upwards 21:01 - Radical Candor UK Style 22:48 - Generational Audit 24:45 - Fearlessly Human AI Leaders 27:30 - Expert Or AI Builder 30:35 - RQ Relational Intelligence 32:17 - Challenging Work Assumptions 34:01 - Golden Time Journaling 35:37 - Final Reflections And Thanks Action Steps: If You Haven't Started: Ask the youngest person in your business to show you the AI they use each day. Don't comment, don't judge, just watch and listen. If You're Already Leading A Mixed Team: Run a generational audit of how you recruit, engage and retain each age group, then let your youngest team member chair your next meeting. For Everyone: Spend the first 30 minutes of tomorrow at a table with pen and paper, no phone and no laptop, and write your plan for the day. Then keep it up. Whether you're a business owner, a manager with a mixed-age team or a leader working out where AI fits, this conversation will change how you see your people. Subscribe for weekly conversations. This episode is sponsored by Yes Foundation UK, helping 12 to 22 year olds build confidence, understand money and develop real entrepreneurial thinking. Find out more at yesfoundation.org.uk.