Discussion 1: Affinity Group Checkpoint #2
In this Discussion, you will have the help and support of your peers by engaging in a discussion of your coursework with your Affinity Group. Please be thoughtful in the comments that you give to other class members, assuring that the information is both relevant and useful.
What you discuss this week depends on the particular project track you have chosen:
· For those in the Research Paper Track:
· Post the Introduction,
· Overview, and Statement of the Problem, and discuss how the literature is shaping the description of your study for your Affinity Group
· For both tracks, your initial post should be 4–5 paragraphs.
· Refer to the Assignment 1 area of this week for more information.
To prepare for this Discussion:
Review this week’s Learning Resources, especially:
Wiseman, L. (2017). Multipliers: How the best leaders make everyone smarter (Rev. ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins.
· Chapter 5, “The Debate Maker”
· Chapter 6, “The Investor”
Assignment:
Respond to two of your colleagues’ postings that contain a perspective other than yours:
· Share an insight about what you learned from having read your colleagues’ postings and discuss how and why your colleague’s posting resonated with you professionally and personally. (Note: This may be a great opportunity to help you think about passions you share with your colleagues who could become part of your Walden network.)
· Offer an example from your experience or observation that validates what your colleague discussed.
· Offer specific suggestions that will help your colleague build upon his or her perceptions as a leader.
· Offer further assessment from having read your colleague’s post that could impact a leader’s effectiveness.
· Share how something your colleague discussed changed the way you consider your own leadership qualities.
· 2–3 paragraphs
· No plagiarism
· APA citing
1st Colleague – Natasha Mills
Introduction/Overview, Problem Statement-Research Paper
Top of Form
Introduction/Overview
The lack of a standard definition of effective leadership has led to an endless quest of this concept by leaders. Madanchian et al. (2017) describe effective leaders as those who practice specific behaviors and leadership styles. From this perspective, effective leadership varies from one leader and setting to another. While this argument makes effective leadership seem easy to attain, leaders continue to experience various challenges that impede their effectiveness. One of the factors that pose this challenge is diversity, which continues to rise as a result of increased globalization. Diversity is a double-edged sword because it can be a source of leadership success or failure. Currently, leaders already understand the importance of diversity to organizational success. However, studies show that leaders are still unable to practice the inclusion of their diverse workforce effectively.
The aim of this research project is to investigate the leadership challenge of the inclusion of Gen Z. Gen Z are the newest members of the workforce, with a significant number of them still earning their college degrees (Pichler et al., 2021). This means that employers have to be ready to work with an even greater population of Gen Z in the near future because a majority of them are coming into the workforce. At the same time, Gen Z has been described as digital and technology-driven, a term that originates from their upbringing (Pichler et al., 2021). This aspect is considered as an asset to organizations since technological innovations have become critical to organizational competitiveness and success. Therefore, organizational leaders need to learn how to leverage the uniqueness of Gen Z for the achievement of goals.
On the contrary, most, if not all, leaders are struggling with the inclusion of Gen Z in the workplace despite their understanding of their uniqueness and how that is an asset. As a result, reports of high attrition rates among Gen Z are common, leading to the categorization of these employees as the most vulnerable in the contemporary work environment (Jetha et al., 2021). Hence, leaders need to prepare themselves for the arrival of even more Gen Z to the workplace, how to manage their inexperience and youthfulness, as well as how to tap on their uniqueness for organizational success.
This research project seeks to provide insight into such factors by studying the relationship between leaders and Gen Z in the workplace, including the challenges that both experience during their interactions, and the kind of support Gen Z need from their leaders. Investigating these aspects will help leaders and employers prepare themselves for the coming influx of Gen Z in the workplace. More research is needed in this area since managers are still struggling with supporting Gen Z and leveraging their technological strengths and overall talents. This is because Gen Z is very different from the earlier populations and the reliance of leaders on misconceptions about this generation is making their inclusion more difficult (McCrindle & Fell, 2019).
Problem Statement
Leaders need to make the work environment conducive for all the diverse groups that exist within it by effectively including them in all organizational processes. Current practices show that this is not the case due to the dramatic rise of diversity stemming from an equally rapid increase in globalization. One particularly disadvantaged group in the workplace is Gen Z. Leaders need to be prepared and adopt a more effective inclusion criteria for Gen Z to allow them to tap on their uniqueness for organizational competitiveness and success. This can only be achieved through a deeper understanding of this group, as well as their needs in the workplace for support efficiency.

How Literature is Shaping the Description of My Study
Researchers have and continue to develop more interest in understanding the relationship between Gen Z and organizational leaders. First, several studies understand the uniqueness of Gen Z in various aspects, including communication, behaviors, and talent, and how this uniqueness is an advantage to organizations. For instance, Schroth (2019) argues that Gen Z brings new patterns of behavior to the workplace despite sharing some traits with Millennials. Such literature is fundamental to my study because it provides a foundation that my research project will build on for more insight on the subject.
At the same time, literature on the struggles of leaders in understanding and accommodating Gen Z also exists. Schroth’s (2019) asks employers whether they are ready for Gen Z. A simple interpretation of this literature is that organizations and researchers alike have foreseen the pending influx of Gen Z in the workplace. Therefore, the latter is assessing the former’s readiness to deal with the challenges displayed by Gen Z that is already in the workplace. Pichler et al. (2021) also address the same subject by providing statistics on Gen Z in the United States, how a higher proportion are currently earning their college degrees, and how the organizations are about to absorb a majority of them. Pichler et al. (2021) also address the need for organizations to capitalize on the distinct characteristics of Gen Z, and provides several recommendations on how to achieve this capitalization.
Thus, literature is significantly shaping my study by highlighting the various angles my research project could take in investigating the relationship between Gen Z and organizational leaders. From the literature, it is evident that organizations already expect an influx of this group of employees in the near future (Pichler, 2021). There is also adequate literature explaining the uniqueness of Gen Z and how leaders can maximize on it for remarkable achievements for themselves, Gen Z, and their organizations. Other literature elaborates the struggles of leaders in supporting Gen Z. However, there is not enough literature on specific forms of support leaders can provide Gen Z to mitigate their high attrition rates. Hence, my study will likely take this angle because there is a potentially existing gap.
References
Jetha, A., Shamaee, A., Bonaccio, S., Gignac, M. A., Tucker, L. B., Tompa, E., … & Smith, P. M. (2021). Fragmentation in the future of work: A horizon scan examining the impact of the changing nature of work on workers experiencing vulnerability. American journal of industrial medicine, 64(8), 649-666.
Madanchian, M., Hussein, N., Noordin, F., & Taherdoost, H. (2017). Leadership effectiveness measurement and its effect on organization outcomes. Procedia Engineering, 181, 1043-1048.
McCrindle, M., & Fell, A. (2019). Understanding Generation Z: Recruiting, training and leading the next generation. McCrindle Research Pty Ltd.
Pichler, S., Kohli, C., & Granitz, N. (2021). DITTO for Gen Z: A framework for leveraging the uniqueness of the new generation. Business Horizons, 64(5), 599-610.
Schroth, H. (2019). Are you ready for Gen Z in the workplace?. California Management Review, 61(3), 5-18.