The power of asking 'why'

By Christine Won

When Megan Gerhardt, PhD, heard Generation Z feared periods at the end of messages, she sought to understand why and just "how correct punctuation is scary" in a since-viral social media post.

Dr. Gerhardt is the creator of Gentelligence, a framework for using generational intelligence to leverage age-gap diversity for better collaboration and outcomes in the workplace, and co-author of "Gentelligence: The Revolutionary Approach to Leading an Intergenerational Workforce."

In January, Dr. Gerhardt will give the Zoetis-sponsored keynote at the 2026 AVMA Veterinary Leadership Conference (VLC) in Chicago.

"Gen Z might find the use of the period harsh—while Gen Xers my age might see emojis as unprofessional. In both cases, the intent doesn't match the way it's received, leading to tension," she said. "It's time for smarter intergenerational conversations."

Wondering 'why'

Dr. Gerhardt received her bachelor's in psychology and a PhD in organizational behavior from the University of Iowa.

From there, she taught management at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she is now a professor of management and leadership in the Farmer School of Business, and serves as director of the Isaac and Oxley Center for Business Leadership.

Dr. Gerhardt's two decades of experience in the classroom working across multiple generations has been instrumental in shaping her approach to intergenerational dynamics. "Research supports that an age-diverse workplace can be a huge asset, but only if it's managed and led well," she says.

Her Gentelligence framework was featured as Harvard Business Review's (HBR) Big Idea in March 2022, and listed among its 10 Must Reads for 2024.

"Gentelligence means stepping away from generalizations and really becoming curious about why we're seeing generational norms and beyond that, how can we benefit from that?" Dr. Gerhardt said.

Ahead of her keynote session at VLC on January 9, Dr. Gerhardt outlined ways veterinary professionals can apply generational intelligence in the workplace.

An age-diverse workforce

This era has the most age-diverse workplace yet, with five generations in the workforce, Dr. Gerhardt wrote on "Why We Need Intergenerational Friendships at Work" in HBR in 2024.

One way generational differences have shown up at work is over mental health. Once largely stigmatized, the topic is now more openly discussed as societal norms have shifted.

As a result, Dr. Gerhardt says, "The biggest challenges we’re seeing right now are different views and expectations about the responsibility a workplace has to support your mental health."

Remember that Gen Z—those born between 1997 and 2012—grew up under the umbrella of the No Child Left Behind Act, enacted in 2002.

"Now you have a generation who went through [school] with some degree of accommodation for their challenge being required or expected," Dr. Gerhardt said. "Then they go to work—and unless we're talking about something covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act—a lot of that falls away. … So, for our youngest generation, that seems very strange—why are all these supports suddenly not available when they always have been?"

Gen Z is bringing those mental health concerns to their bosses who were likely taught that mental health is a personal problem, and you don't bring it to work. "That's creating a tension," she said. "It's not right or wrong, but it's very different in terms of a norm."

Another area where generational differences can pop up is when giving feedback.

When younger employees at an organization were quitting after receiving feedback they felt was harsh, Dr. Gerhardt examined what kind of experience Gen Z has had with tough feedback, and how that might be shaping their reactions.

A few generations ago, she said people weren't thinking about kids' self-esteem, whereas modern parenting urges against damaging a child's sense of self-worth.

In this situation, generational awareness means realizing that younger generations may have had less exposure to criticism than previous generations, and therefore, less practice responding to it. This can help managers figure out how to guide their development.

"Given the goal of feedback is to develop employees and help them reach their potential, my suggestion was to meet people where they're at," Dr. Gerhardt said.

She advises taking an extra step before providing feedback to establish confidence in their ability to succeed. That step will go a long way, she says, urging people to "make the implicit explicit" and to not assume someone knows you care about them and their best interests.

For instance, a baby boomer practice manager can practice generational fluency the next time they get an emoji or a "lol" from the millennial veterinarian, understanding the person's intent is to soften their message.

Likewise, a Gen Z veterinarian who runs into that feared period at the end of the practice owner's text message can take a breath as it may be more about punctuation than tone.

Power questions

To boost generational intelligence in the workplace, Dr. Gerhardt has devised several "power questions."

Her favorite power question, she said, is: "How would you approach this?"

For example, rather than singlehandedly mandating an ethical artificial intelligence-use policy for her students, she asked them how they would go about devising one.

Some other power questions to facilitate smarter intergenerational conversations are:

• What led you to that conclusion?
• Can you help me understand?
• Can I share my perspective on this?
• How would you envision an ideal outcome for both parties?
• Can we brainstorm together?

"It's a way to ask for advice," Dr. Gerhardt says. "Whether or not you ultimately take it, you're developing that great partnership and showing mutual respect by being open to other generational perspectives."

When it comes to wellbeing, veterinary practice owners or managers noticing burnout or compassion fatigue among staff members can invite them to the table and engage them in the brainstorming session. Ask them power questions such as:

• How would you approach better supporting the people in our profession, so we are less likely to lose them to burnout?
• What barriers exist for you that leadership is not seeing?
• What resources do you think may help?

"This is not because you as an organization or as a leader have a magic wand to fix all the things—but it's really the act of asking the question that goes so far," Dr. Gerhardt said. "I don't know what would be helpful to you. I can guess, but I want to know. Then I can see what's possible to meet you where you are at."

In a 2017 TEDx talk on "Why I love Millennials (and You Should Too)," Dr. Gerhardt, who is Generation X, said the goal of these Gentelligence workshops are not to help leaders change certain generations, but to change themselves and their perspectives on what may be possible if they opened their eyes to the untapped potential of generational diversity.

"There is a real cost to not getting this right," she said. "Age-diverse organizations can either be an asset or a liability, and research shows it depends entirely on how they are led and the cultures we create to support them. If we get it wrong, we will lose valuable talent of all ages, experience lower engagement, team dysfunction, and impede knowledge transfer. It’s expensive to not be Gentelligent."