The Anxious Generation: What Every Leader Needs to Know

In this episode of Tim Stating the Obvious, we tackle one of the most urgent leadership issues of our time: the growing mental health crisis among today’s youth and young professionals. Based on Jonathan Haidt’s provocative book, The Anxious Generation, we break down how smartphones and social media rewired childhood, stunted emotional resilience, and left a generation more anxious, less connected, and struggling in the workplace.

But here’s the catch—this isn’t just a parenting problem. It’s a leadership challenge. As Gen Z enters the workforce, their struggles with screen addiction, face-to-face discomfort, and emotional fragility show up in team dynamics, productivity, and culture. If you want to lead effectively in the modern age, you’ve got to understand what’s happening beneath the surface.

We’ll unpack Haidt’s core recommendations—like limiting screen time, encouraging unstructured outdoor play, and promoting real-world challenges—and translate them into actionable leadership strategies. From building grit in your team to designing environments that foster emotional maturity and deep work, this episode shows you how to lead with empathy, awareness, and intention.

Whether you're a CEO, educator, coach, or parent-turned-manager, this episode will challenge you to rethink how you support growth and resilience in the people you lead.

Key Topics: 1. Why Gen Z is struggling—and how that affects your workplace 2. Haidt’s “rewiring” theory of adolescence and tech 3. How to develop grit without micromanaging 4. The case for real-world collaboration and deep work 5. Leadership strategies that build resilience, not fragility

Connect with Tim:

Website: timstatingtheobvious.com

Facebook: facebook.com/timstatingtheobvious

YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCHfDcITKUdniO8R3RP0lvdw

Instagram: @TimStating

TikTok: @timstatingtheobvious

#JonathanHaidt  #TheAnxiousGeneration #bookreview #leadership #GenZ #mentalhealth #digitalculture #parentingadvice

Episode Transcript

Tim Staton (00:02):
Hey and welcome back to another episode.
Today we're diving into a book that got that has everybody talking.
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.
Now I know what you're thinking.
Isn't that a parenting book?
Not exactly, but it is a wake up call for any leader trying to guide the next generation through
today's hyper digital high pressure environment.

(00:25):
If you've ever wondered why your youngest employees seem more anxious, avoid conflict, or can't
stay off their phones, this book connects the dots.
So let's dig into it.
This is Tim Staton with Tim stating the obvious.
What is this podcast about? It's simple.
You are entitled to great leadership.

(00:46):
Everywhere you go, whether it's to church, whether it's to work, whether it's at your house,
you are entitled to great leadership.
And so in this podcast we take leadership principles and theories and turn them into everyday, relatable and usable advice.

Disclaimer (01:01):
And a quick disclaimer. This show process or service by trademark trademark manufacturer otherwise
does not necessarily constitute an apply to endorsement of anyone that I am employed by or favors them in representation.
The views are expressed here in my show are my own expressed and do not necessarily state or
reflect those of any employer.

Tim Staton (01:12):
Jonathan Haidt is a social psychologist and best selling author.
And he puts it plainly.
He says we're facing a mental health crisis and it didn't come out of nowhere.
Around 2010, smartphones and social media became 247 companions for kids.
Heit calls it the Great Rewiring.
A shift in how young people grow up, learn and connect. So what's the outcome?

(01:37):
Skyrocketing anxiety, loneliness and a decline in basic social skills.
He doesn't just drop statistics and walk away from it.
He gives us real solutions like limiting screen time, bringing back unstructured outdoor play,
and building resilience through challenge and independence.
It sounds like common sense, right?
But in today's world it's not all common because we're in a digital first culture.

(02:02):
So here's why this matters to leaders. You're managing this generation.
Gen Z makes up a huge part of the workforce and their personal struggles don't stop at the office door.
If you want to lead, well, you have to understand where they're coming from.
This book is trending because it explains why so many of us are sensing things.

(02:24):
But we couldn't pipe quite put a name on it.
We can't quite label it. And height.
He lays it out for us.
The rise in emotional fragility, the addiction to the likes and to the scrolling, the discomfort
with face to face interaction and it's all connected.
As leaders, we don't just manage productivity, we shape our cultures.

(02:44):
We model what it means to be human in a tech driven world.
That's what height is challenging us to do. With this book.
He's not asking us to throw out our phones or become digital hermits.
He's asking us to be intentional in your workplace that might look like encouraging in person
collaboration, protecting your deep work time from digital distractions, or designing an onboarding

(03:08):
process that builds confidence in people, not just competency.
Here's what I appreciate most about the book.
Height backs it up with research and relatable stories and he cites neuroscience, developmental psychology and global trends.
But it never feels like a lecture, never feels like you're in a classroom just being talked to.

(03:28):
And it goes on and on and on.
He gives us a mirror and says take a look at it.
And once you do, you can't unsee what you have just seen.
He also keeps it actionable.
For example, he recommends play based learning to help kids grow emotionally, something we can
easily adapt into the workplace through innovation challenges or team off sites and encouraging healthy risk taking.

(03:53):
And one of my favorite takeaways is he reminds us that overprotection stunts growth that applies
just as much to employees as it does to kids.
If you want resilient teams, we have to stop micromanaging every bump and let people develop grit.
We need to let people have the freedom to learn, to grow, to do challenging things, to make

(04:16):
mistakes, to fail, to continue to fail, and teach them what it's like to work through hardship,
what it's like to work through setbacks and obstacles and never giving up and overcoming that
and knowing that you're there to help guide them through the process, not telling them what
they need to do every step of the way through the process, that is what helps develop grit.

(04:40):
Of course, this book isn't perfect, right?
So some critics say it focuses too much on the diagnosis and not enough on real solutions, especially for the workplace.
And I'd agree height suggestions like ditching screens and getting outdoors don't always translate
well to high demand corporate environments.
Also, this isn't a leadership book by design, so if you're looking for a plug and play strategy

(05:03):
for handling anxious employees or building digital boundaries at work, you're going to have
to fill in the gaps.
But I would offer up that if you're a leader, you need to do that anyway.
If you're a leader worth any of your salt, or you're worth anything that you bring to the table.
You know that adapting a great principle to your context is part of your job.
And if you didn't know that, well, now you do.

(05:24):
And this book gives you plenty to work with. So let's be honest.
Leadership today isn't just about vision and execution.
And we have been talking a lot about vision lately.
It's about building cultures that foster well being.
It's about empathy, clarity, and intentional connection, especially with the next generation of workers.
The Anxious Generation helps you see the why behind behaviors we often label as entitled or disengaged.

(05:52):
This book equips you to lead differently. Not softer, but wiser.
It helps you spot the root causes behind the symptoms and adapt your leadership style accordingly.
So I'm going to offer up a challenge for you.
Get a copy of the Anxious Generation.
Read it not just as a parent or citizen, but as a leader.
Look at it through that lens.
Then ask yourself, how can I lead better in a world that's changing fast, where anxiety is the

(06:18):
norm and attention is the new currency?
And if you don't think that your currency is fighting for someone's attention span and fighting
for someone's time, then you're already behind.
You are always fighting for someone's attention and someone's time in any capacity.
So I'm interested in what you think about the book.
If you've read it or you got a copy of the book, go ahead and look at the description below.

(06:41):
We have our social media there.
You can message on any one of those, or you can go to tim statingtheobvious.com and send me a direct message.
I want to hear how this lands with you.
And if this episode helped you see leadership through a new lens, please feel free to hit that
subscribe button, the likes and share this with other people that you think might find it.
Next month we're going to have a bunch of episodes from talking about intergenerational leadership

(07:07):
with an interview we did with Maya Moore.
We're going to be reviewing another book and then of course we're going to have another monologue coming up next month.
So we've got a lot packed in for you for next month, a lot to come to come forward.
So if you like any of that stuff, really look forward to seeing you in the next episodes.
As always, thank you for stopping by and checking out this episode and listening to it.

(07:28):
I really hope that you enjoyed it.
Before we go, I'd like to ask a favor of you if I could.
If you could please share this episode with one or two people who you think might like this topic.
If you haven't followed or subscribed on the platform that you're listening to, and hit all
the bells and icons and all the whistles so that you know that when we post another episode
you'll be alerted, please go ahead and do all that before you go.

(07:49):
If you got some value out of this episode, please leave a review or a comment so we can help
spread the show to other people who might be interested in the topics that we've talked about
here today, but may not have found our show yet.
Again, thanks for stopping by. I'm Tim Staton. Staten the Obvious Sam.