What Gen X Gets Right About Leadership
- Author
- Colby Morris
- Published
- Tue 22 Jul 2025
- Episode Link
- None
What Gen X Gets Right About Leadership
Episode Summary
Gen X leaders don’t always get the spotlight—but they’ve been holding organizations together with grit, practicality, and quiet confidence for decades. In this episode of Things Leaders Do, Colby Morris breaks down the six distinct leadership strengths Gen X brings to the table—and why today’s teams need them more than ever.
From solving real problems under pressure to earning respect through action (not just title), Gen X has been tested, refined, and built to lead in chaos. But many of these leaders are undervalued or underestimated—until now.
If you’ve ever felt overlooked in the leadership conversation, this episode will remind you exactly why your experience, resilience, and no-nonsense leadership style still matter.
In this episode, we cover:
- Why Gen X leads with earned authority, not entitlement
- The power of practical, fast problem-solving (and why it's a Gen X superpower)
- How Gen X mastered accountability without cruelty
- The unique “translator” role Gen X plays across generations
- Real-world stories of Gen X resilience through crisis after crisis
- Why quiet confidence is one of the most undervalued traits in modern leadership
Whether you’re a Gen Xer leading from the middle or the top—or someone who wants to understand and support them better—this episode will give you a whole new lens on what makes this generation’s leadership so effective.
Resources & References
- Visit nxtstepadvisors.com for leadership tools, workshops, and coaching
- Connect with Colby on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/colbymorris
- Subscribe to the podcast and share this episode with a Gen X leader who needs to hear it
Your Next Step
Write down three examples of how your Gen X leadership has made a difference—and pick one way to adapt your style to meet your current team’s needs.
Because building others...
That’s what leaders do.
