*Any generation that complains about young people
First there were the boomers, then generation X and the millennials. then Z, Alpha and Beta. And so was born an army of “experts” on how to relate to each of these generational alphabet soups. Since time immemorial, the older one gets the easier it is to see young people as problematic. “Kids these days. They don’t have the same values, the same work ethic my generation had.” I remember my elders whining the same thing when I was a lad in the 60s and 70s. Lately there is no shortage of voices explaining what to do about it, and trying to sound scientific.
I’ve done my own action-research on the challenge of integrating young people into the workforce. Sure, each generation grows up on new technologies, and new social, political, and economic situations. But the fundamentals of being human remain the same. “Kids these days” respond to the same dynamics we all do. Treat them with respect, allow them to influence their work, give them the structure that any employee needs (role clarity, goal clarity, enough guidance and interaction with whomever they are reporting to), and people of all ages respond to that. Too much chaos, unresponsive and/or overly bossy leadership, and people of all ages are demoralized.
I work with lots of young people who are excited when they are able to influence what they can, and yearn for clear, effective, and compassionate leaders. I also see lot’s of young people bewildered by poorly run organizations, and quickly influenced by older demoralized peers.
Kurt Lewin’s leadership model got it right. Create the right mix of freedom and effective leadership/structure, and you will go far with any generation. Stop lamenting the new generations…that just comes between you and them. Figure out how to more effectively lead. Start with yourself. Develop yourself. Get help as needed (hint: if you are prone to blaming others, you need help). As the great philosopher Pogo once said, “We have met the enemy, and they is us.”
Crosby & Associates Leadership and Organization Development Blog 
There’s a parallel universe in which I see this happen. In recent work with 5 teams in India, where youth below 30 years of age are creating ventures with AI and Robotics at the core of their products, I sense that they reflect rather in pleasant surprise than with disdain.
While I work on the challenge of balance between freedom and structure with a particular team among these, I sense that they favour autonomy and learning from their own actions than being supervised or directed.
It is teams reporting to them that struggle to get more out of themselves as they confuse the entitlements of their generation from the opportunity structure in their immediate work environment. That’s the leadership struggle of the young leaders too.
Let’s not write off the young, and their struggles in a world whose foundations our forefathers and our peer laid.
Glad you wrote on the issue and shared as such, with Lewin’s contribution to work you do.
Thanks for the comment, Joseph. The challenge for the leader, when this is true, “…that they favour autonomy and learning from their own actions than being supervised or directed,” is to allow as much autonomy as possible, while being clear about what limits to freedom are necessary, and to not abdicate monitoring in some way, transparently, those who want autonomy. Freedom without structure is chaos.