The New Reality: Evolving Succession Planning for Today’s Workforce (Part 4)

Disclaimer: We use the term Gen X to describe broad workforce trends. These observations are not meant to overlook the individuality of each person from this generation. Respecting each individual’s uniqueness is a value we strongly hold.

Gen X: Who Are They?

Gen X workers were born between 1965 and 1980. Their expectations of work, leadership, and career progression have been shaped by a distinct mix of economic, social, technological, and cultural experiences:

• Economic instability from the oil crises of the 1970’s, recessions, corporate downsizings ending the expectation of lifetime employment, and the shift from manufacturing to service and knowledge economies encouraged Gen X to develop strong self-reliance and financial caution.
• Latch-key Upbringing – with the increase of women in the workforce, higher divorce rates, and less after-school supervision, Gen X became comfortable with early independence and responsibility resulting in being highly autonomous and resistant to micromanagement.
• Institutional Distrust brought on by events such as the Watergate scandal, aftermath of the Vietnam War, Iran – Contra affair, with wide media coverage taught Gen X to question official narratives resulting in healthy skepticism and an aversion to hype.
• Existential Threats from the nuclear arms race resulting in regular exposure to world-ending scenarios were made real through school drills and media graphically projecting nuclear annihilation. As a result, Gen X focus shifted to resilience, a calmness under pressure, rather than thinking that things will always get better.
• Analog Childhood/Digital Adulthood – Gen X grew up before the internet, witnessing the rise of email, smart phones, and the web in adulthood. They view technology as a tool for efficiency, adaptable to change but not enamored by its novelty.
• Overshadowed Demographically – sandwiched between Boomers and Millennials, much larger generations, Gen X was often overlooked in cultural and organizational discussions. They learned to operate without attention or affirmation being comfortable influencing behind the scenes resulting in very practical leadership approaches and less need for recognition.

What This Means for Leading Gen X

Gen X’s need for autonomy, pragmatism, and clarity combined with their natural skepticism, low tolerance for hypocrisy, and discomfort with self-promotion and performative leadership make them powerful stabilizers in volatile environments. They are often the “glue” between strategic intent and frontline reality prioritizing execution, delivery, and ROI. They are wary of grand strategies without operating plans insisting on strategy that is grounded, measured, and resourced.

Gen X is comfortable making tough decisions independently and work best when leaders set clear direction, then get out of the way. They have a strong accountability mindset and are trusted holders of operational and cultural legacy. They expect recognition systems to reward impact, not visibility.

Because of Gen X’s preference for understatement and quiet competence, they can be overlooked or considered disengaged.  Their influence comes from results, not presence, and should be leveraged in areas such as developing others or change adoption.

Gen X in the Leadership Pipeline and Succession Planning

Gen X holds an interesting position in today’s leadership pipeline.  They are:

• The current operating core in most organizations
• The primary successors to late-career Boomers
• The bench builders for Millennials and Gen Z

Because of their deep organizational and industry knowledge, credibility across stakeholders, and crisis-tested leadership, Gen X is the most realistically ready near-term successors. They are doing the work of succession without being named successor as they are often viewed as “safe” but not bold charismatic leaders. It is important to look at readiness and capability rather than style or these gifted leaders will become disengaged and burnout.

Gen X are very effective at translating strategy into operating reality and provide a stabilizing force particularly during times of change and disruption:

• CEO transition
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Reorganizations
• Business model shifts

The roles they play during these times are succession-critical especially if they are explicitly defined, not assumed.

The quality of your 2 to 5 year bench is highly dependent on Gen X leaders today. They excel at coaching high potential Millennials, translating Gen Z expectations into business reality, and institutionalizing leadership standards. Gen X enables emerging Millennial and Gen Z leaders to succeed.

Traditional succession often looks at a leader’s personal branding, expressed desire for upward mobility, and executive presence.  Looking at Gen X differently would better inform the strength of your pipeline as they rarely self-promote or seek the spotlight.  Consider the following for Gen X:

• Decision quality under pressure
• Judgment and trade-off discipline
• Ability to build leadership capability below them
• Recognizing themes and patterns across business cycles

In Conclusion

It would be easy to skip past what Gen X brings to your succession planning.  Known as the “invisible” generation, their “quiet” could be interpreted as lacking inspiration, but their contribution to the organization’s future would be greatly missed.

Gen X is the backbone of the present and the architect for the future.

Keep them engaged by giving them real authority, involvement in strategic formation, and explicit recognition for bench-building responsibilities.

Leverage Gen X for a stronger leadership bench, smoother transitions, and more resilient leadership systems.