Chapter 1: Understanding The Meaning Behind Work

Generation Z has a meaning problem for what they call their “work”. They need to have a calling that they strive deliberately towards. This calling has to be unique, larger than the individual, and impactful.

Solution: Establishing Military Meaning Mentorship (MMM) calls.

The way Americans respond to the question of what they do for a living is very revealing of how they view their work. One seminal organizational behavior study on work categorizes people into three groups: those that view what they do as a job, a career, or a calling.[1] The job group is those who work to live and support their lifestyles and families. A career mindset is a middle group that focuses on advancement, achievement, and growth. Finally, those who consider what they do a calling believe that their work is a crucial part of their identity. For this final group, work is their life and vice versa. Generation Z's relationship with work mainly falls into this third and final category.

With the onset of the COVID lockdowns and remote tasking, scores of employees quit their jobs and began questioning their relationship with work. Undoubtedly, these questions reached the family dinner table with developing Gen Zers eagerly listening. Under the surface emerged a new trend that Harvard Professor Ranjay Gulati calls "the great rethink.[2]” As Gen Z's parents began reflecting and rethinking their work, the door swung open for the newest working generation to do the same, even before many had formally entered the labor force. When discussing amongst each other and within their own heads, many Zers discovered they had a meaning problem for what they call their “work.” Meaning trumps most other factors in determining how a Zer chooses a job. This generation feels it needs to have a calling that they work deliberately towards. This calling has to be unique, more significant than the individual, and impactful…

[1] Wrzesniewski, Amy, Clark McCauley, Paul Rozin, and Barry Schwartz. “Jobs, Careers, and Callings: People's Relations to Their Work.” Journal of Research in Personality 31, no. 1 (1997): 21–33. https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.1997.2162.

[2] Gulati, Ranjay. “The Great Resignation or the Great Rethink?” Harvard Business Review, March 25, 2022. https://hbr.org/2022/03/the-great-resignation-or-the-great-rethink.