As a new generation of business leaders rethink what success looks like, many are prioritising strategic skill building and having a meaningful impact over climbing the corporate ladder. Others are fast-tracking their own career paths – raising questions about what leadership of the future might look like.
When Emily Bobis (BA ’16, MCom ’19, DipLangStud ’21) reflects on the moment she realised she didn’t want a traditional corporate career, it comes back to a single internship. “I had imagined a fairly standard career path. I didn’t ever plan to start a technology company,” she says. “But I was interning at a large corporation, and I remember thinking, there’s no way I can do this now, let alone forever.”
That clarity galvanised her move into the start‑up world. She had already helped to establish and sell bike‑sharing platform Airbike, with fellow student Angus McDonald (BA ’21), while at university – and they were already in discussions about their next venture. When she finished the internship, she decided to take the plunge and launch Compass IoT, a data intelligence company that uses data from cars to solve complex transport problems related to congestion, safety and city planning. “That was in 2018,” Emily says. “Now we employ 27 people and have mapped over 20 million freight trips, reduced crashes, informed government policy and major infrastructure investment, and supported flood disaster recovery efforts.”
Her experience reflects a broader shift underway among Gen Z (generally considered to have been born between 1995 and 2012). For decades, leadership followed a familiar script, but for today’s emerging workforce, that script no longer works. Many young professionals are stepping away from traditional management pathways – not out of apathy, but intention.
When people ask for my job title, I hesitate. Modern work culture isn't as tied to titles, especially in the start-up space."
Emily Bobis
The end of the old ladder
There was a time when the career ladder made perfect sense – you took a step, then another, steadily climbing toward seniority, a bigger pay cheque and perhaps even a corner office. But the workplace has shifted a long way from that tidy paradigm. Few of us still reach for the traditional ‘next rung’, as careers increasingly move sideways, diagonally, or even down in strategic plays to learn and grow before rising again. And now, yet another shift may be on the horizon.
Insights from recent studies, including Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, point to a generational rethink of leadership. In Australia, 94 percent of Australian Gen Zs say that meaningful work is a priority, often choosing roles aligned with personal values and sustainability, while just 7 percent aspire to senior leadership, favouring work‑life balance instead.
Sometimes described as ‘conscious unbossing’, this trend raises questions about future management styles and the emergence of more collaborative forms of leadership.
Leadership without the labels
For Emily, leadership has always been about working independently and making a real impact, rather than power or status.
“When people ask for my job title, I hesitate,” she says. “Modern work culture isn’t as tied to titles, especially in the start‑up space. It’s about what you deliver. And my generation is probably more accepting of accelerating staff.”
She has seen how quickly early‑career employees can grow when given responsibility and the right support. “Young people come out of uni, and sometimes if they’re sucked into a corporate machine, they can feel as if they have no ability to make an impact,” she says. “My experience is that graduates really want the opportunity to make a difference. For example, we hired a student in her final year of university who was helping with copywriting tasks. Eighteen months later, she runs marketing in the UK,” Emily says. “It wasn’t overnight, but it was definitely a shorter lead time than she’d have at a bigger organisation.”
With a team spanning staff in their 20s to 60s, Emily believes that mindset matters more than age. “We look for adaptability and openness,” she says. “Empathy matters – it’s not revolutionary, but it’s meaningful. Our culture helps us retain people, and that builds knowledge over time. It’s carrots rather than sticks – that’s the way I would like to be led, so that’s the way I lead.”
Authenticity over authority
Dr Nate Zettna (BA(Hons) ’17, PhD ’21), a lecturer in Leadership and Organisational Behaviour at the University’s Business School, believes that Gen Z’s leadership mindset has been shaped by timing as much as temperament. “They lived through COVID at a significant moment in their lives,” he explains. “They’re entering the workforce with a very different perspective as a result.”
“The idea of ‘conscious unbossing’ is interesting because this generation, I’ve found, prioritises values. For many, the traditional trade‑offs of management – long hours, emotional labour and blurred boundaries – no longer align with their values or capabilities. I’ve heard young people say, ‘If you become management, you don’t get paid overtime.’ Taking on extra responsibility isn’t the lure it once was.”
Instead, Gen Z is reframing leadership expectations. “They want authenticity,” Nate says. “They want leaders who admit mistakes and show that they have overcome adversity. It’s not about being inspirational; it’s about being your ‘authentic self’.
“There are actually a lot of misconceptions about generational differences at work, and something I’m keen for people to know is that, in fact, recent research shows there is no strong evidence supporting systematic differences between different ‘generations’. There are, however, often perceptions of differences. You feel there is a difference, you make your own assumptions – and in an organisation, that’s where we see issues stemming from.”
He points to bi‑directional mentoring as a powerful opportunity. “We often think of mentoring as a one‑way street – older workers training younger team members,” Nate says. “But younger workers are tapped into trends, they’re AI literate and native to new technologies, while senior staff offer institutional knowledge and context. If that diversity is well managed, it can be incredibly productive. It’s a real chance for organisations to advance collectively.”
“We're proactive about our careers and try to make things happen for ourselves instead of letting them happen to us."
Ricky Rangra
Ambition on new terms
Not all Gen Z professionals are stepping away from senior leadership. Ricky Rangra (BCom/ BAdvStudies ’24), an associate with a multinational consulting firm, represents a cohort that is ambitious – but on its own terms.
Ricky sees a shift away from more conventional ways of navigating the corporate hierarchy, with young people creating their own pathways. “As a generation, I’d say we’re high‑agency and outcomes‑driven,” he says. “We’re proactive about our careers and try to make things happen for ourselves instead of letting them happen to us.”
That mindset emerged early for Ricky. Straightout of high school, he worked full time at Westpac and later AMP, while studying at university. At 18, he emailed the then‑CEO of Westpac asking for a chat over coffee. The following week, the CEO’s chief of staff invited him in for a meeting. “My biggest takeaway early in my career was the importance of being active in your own career development and seeking out the right people to learn from.”
Ricky chose consulting with a clear strategic goal – to build a strong leadership toolkit. “Consulting requires you to develop an informed point of view grounded in data, then convey it clearly – often at critical moments for a client,” he says. For Ricky, who hopes to work in senior leadership in government, these foundations matter. “My future success will be built on the skills I’m developing now. People my age definitely want to get to senior levels earlier, though.”
Among Ricky’s peers, ambition often means moving sideways rather than up. He sees his peers embracing flexibility – moving between start‑ups, sustainability ventures and established firms, often across borders – to gain broader, global experience.
“Getting ahead doesn’t always mean moving up in your current role,” he says. “Sometimes it means moving sideways for new experiences.” For Ricky, management today is not necessarily about traditional hierarchy, it’s about influencing organisational change and the ways you can serve and lead. “It’s about developing institutional knowledge, and using that to build a narrative to inspire diligence, work and change. That, to me, is really exciting.”
Redefining what's next
Taken together, these perspectives point to a generation not so much opting out of leadership but rather expanding its definition, and questioning inherited assumptions about power and success.
“It used to be work, work, work, retire,” says Nate. “That’s changing. It’s not about being anti‑work or anti‑management, but we have to admit this generation has grown up in an anxious time and they have a different mindset of life and how they want to work.
“This generation is showing that there’s a different way to approach life and career, and even in big organisations, individual needs matter,” he adds. “Managers need to understand their own leadership style, but also pay attention to what their employees need. It might sound trite, but it’s true – everyone brings something different to the table.
“That said, you can’t perfectly adapt to every employee or every generation. But leaders who are open to listening, learning, and meeting their teams halfway will make the workplace stronger for everyone.”
What can different generations learn from each other
Up to five generations are currently working side by side in the workplace – each influenced by different values, expectations, experiences and ways of working. So what can we learn from each other?
Generational trends can offer clues, but they’re just assumptions that shouldn’t replace understanding people as individuals.
Move away from rigid hierarchies to more collaborative leadership so that decisions are guided by expertise, rather than job titles.
Be open to different working hours, communication styles and ways of getting things done. Ask team members what motivates them and how they like to work – and adjust where possible.
Bring people of different ages together to exchange ideas and experiences.
Encourage mentoring and reverse mentoring across generations, so that knowledge flows in all directions.
Source: Dr Nate Zettna, lecturer in Leadership and Organisational Behaviour, University of Sydney Business School
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