Episode: 576

Episode Title: The Engagement Bridge

Engaging Gen Z is like building a bridge that works both ways. Here’s why it works, next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 576 show:

It’s a new week on The Perna Syndicate—welcome! I’m your host, Mark Perna. I’m a firm believer that to bring out the best in the younger generations, we need to do three things: connect, engage, and answer why. If we don’t take these steps, we’re going to lose them. And they simply won’t tune into the things we want them to accomplish. 

This goes for every context and relationship in which we interact with these young people—home, school, and the workplace. They have tremendous potential and we can unleash it—if we know how. That’s what this whole series is about. Last week we covered various strategies for the first step, connect. And now we’re going to talk about step two, engage. 

This step assumes that you’ve forged a human connection with the young person by showing them you see, hear, and value them. You’ve demonstrated respect for them; they know you view them as a person with worth and dignity. So now what?

Engagement is really just maintaining and deepening that initial connection so that it doesn’t fade away. If connecting is like building a rope bridge to the other side, engagement is adding handrails and planks and all the things that strengthen the bridge and allow transfers from one side to the other. 

And the best part? This bridge goes both ways. Engaged young people can share with you, just as you share with them. Engagement is the bridge.

So as parents, educators, and employers, do we have to be hip and trendy to keep Gen Z engaged? Not necessarily. True engagement is based on meaningful strategies that we’ll talk about this week on The Perna Syndicate. See you tomorrow for more!