Why does Gen Z shut down under command and control leadership?

Gen Z was raised in an environment that emphasized emotional availability, collaboration, and understanding the reasons behind decisions. When leaders use command and control approaches — issuing directives without context or dialogue — Gen Z employees tend to internalize it as personal failure rather than push back. The result is disengagement, shutdown, and turnover. What Gen Z responds to are guides who ask questions, explain the why, and create psychological safety rather than controllers who issue orders.

What is psychological safety and why does Gen Z need it at work?

Psychological safety is the belief that you can speak up, make mistakes, ask questions, or share concerns without fear of punishment or humiliation. Gen Z expects psychological safety as a baseline because it reflects how many of them were parented — with emotional availability and open communication. When it's absent in the workplace, Gen Z disengages. When leaders model vulnerability and create space for honest dialogue, Gen Z tends to perform and contribute at a significantly higher level.

Is Gen Z actually lazy?

No. Gen Z is statistically the most entrepreneurial generation on record. The perception of laziness typically reflects a mismatch between how Gen Z works best and how previous generations were managed. Gen Z is motivated by purpose, autonomy, and understanding how their work connects to something meaningful. They disengage from work that feels arbitrary or from leaders who fail to explain the context behind what they're asking.

What is generational trauma and how does it affect families?

Generational trauma refers to the patterns of silence, avoidance, and emotional suppression that get passed down through families across generations. When topics like bodies, fertility, mental health, or emotional difficulty are never discussed, children inherit not just the silence but the shame underneath it. Breaking that cycle requires naming what was avoided and creating enough safety — in families, in medicine, and in workplaces — for those conversations to finally happen.

How does Gen Z leadership apply to medical residency training?

Medical residency training has historically relied on hierarchical, command-based structures that are poorly matched to how Gen Z learns and responds to authority. Attendings who lead with psychological safety, explain reasoning rather than issuing directives, and model vulnerability tend to get better performance and communication from Gen Z residents. The same principles that apply to corporate leadership apply to medical education — the generation is the same regardless of the setting.

Why does it matter if women are involved in building AI algorithms?

AI algorithms learn from the data and perspectives of the people who build them. When women are absent from the teams designing health AI, the result is technology that reflects existing biases — including the historical underrepresentation and misdiagnosis of women in medicine. Building more equitable health AI requires women at the table during development, not just as end users of tools built without them in mind.

From Commands to Purpose: How Gen Z Needs to Be Led | Calle Foster

Jun 19

Written By Sameena Rahman, MD, FACOG, IF, MSCP

Gen Z gets a bad rap for being lazy, but they're actually the most entrepreneurial generation we've ever had. Calle Foster, a leadership coach who spent 12 years in corporate learning and development, explains why that stereotype is costing you as a leader.

The real issue? It's how we're leading them. Gen Z was raised in a very different world than previous generations, and that context shaped how they show up at work. When leaders come at them with command-and-control, they shut down. They internalize it as their fault. They need guides, not controllers.

Calle talks about what Gen Z actually responds to: psychological safety, questions rather than orders, and understa behind the wo” behind the work. She also addresses generational trauma—how silence about bodies, fertility, and mental health gets passed down through families and how we can break that cycle.

We also dig into how this applies to medicine and residency training, parenting Gen Z kids, and building teams where multiple generations actually respect one another rather than denigrating one another.

Highlights:

Gen Z shuts down under command-and-control. Telling is yelling.
Gen Z expects emotional availability from leaders because that's how they were parented by Gen X.
Leaders' vulnerability creates safety for everyone on the team.
Generational silence about bodies and fertility gets passed down.
Gen Z has emotional language that's a strength, not a weakness.
If women aren't building AI algorithms, we're automating bias into healthcare

If you're a parent, a manager, or an attending working with Gen Z, this episode is for you. The way you lead and communicate shapes how the next generation shows up. My goal is to give you tools to understand your body, your hormones, your relationships—and how to build teams and families where people feel safe enough to actually speak.

Every episode of Gyno Girl Presents is a conversation I wish more women could have with their doctors — without the 10-minute clock running. Subscribe wherever you listen, and if this episode helped you, share it with a woman who needs to hear it.

Gen ZLeadershipWorkplace CulturePsychological SafetyGenerational TraumaWomen's HealthParentingMental HealthGen Z at WorkWomen in MedicineResidency TrainingGenerational Differences

Sameena Rahman, MD, FACOG, IF, MSCP

Dr. Sameena Rahman is a board-certified OB/GYN and founder of The GSM Collective in Chicago. She specializes in sexual medicine, menopause care, and complex gynecology, offering personalized, concierge-level care through an integrative lens.

From Commands to Purpose: How Gen Z Needs to Be Led | Calle Foster

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From Commands to Purpose: How Gen Z Needs to Be Led | Calle Foster

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Why AI is Medicine's Future (Not Its Replacement) | Dr. Ami Bhatt

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