Bridging the Generational Gap: Nikhil Raval on Leading with Emotional Intelligence & Purpose

What happens when five generations share one workplace — but don’t speak the same language?
In this sneak peek from my full interview with Nikhil Raval, we explore how emotional intelligence, empathy, and curiosity can bridge the gap between Gen Z and seasoned leaders. Whether you're just entering the workforce or leading a multi-generational team, this is a must-listen.


In this upcoming episode of the Life & Leadership Connected podcast, host David Dahlén D’Cruz speaks with Nikhil Raval, author of "Target Gen Z" and "Generational Fusion" and expert in business transformation and leadership development.

Together, they unpack the real tensions and opportunities that come with today’s multi-generational workplaces — where Gen Z brings new expectations, values, and questions, and older generations are learning to adapt in a post-COVID landscape.

Nikhil offers wise, practical advice on how young professionals can grow in confidence, purpose, and emotional intelligence — and how leaders of all ages can create healthier, more connected teams.

Key takeaways include:
- Why Gen Z is reshaping leadership culture — and how to respond well
- How to use curiosity and self-awareness as leadership superpowers
- The mindset shifts required for legacy leaders to mentor the next generation
- How to build emotional intelligence in a cross-generational workplace
- What purpose looks like in a career today — beyond titles and paychecks

If you're an aspiring leader, coach, or young professional navigating generational differences at work, this conversation will give you the tools and perspective to grow — with purpose.

Transcript

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The book was my view to get to understand Gen Z better and of course I wrote it out in 2022 I then launched the podcast just simply because I saw that there was a huge demand and there was a huge curiosity on Generation Z. And therefore every company today, it was grappling with something or the other with that generation. How do you bring them on? How do you hold them on? How do you motivate them? How do you? And so I think I in my podcast learned so many things about that generation. And I think from that was the extension to write more about multi-generation, because I think it wasn't just the Gen Z which were causing or becoming the focal point. It's the boss and their bosses. And how does that hold? You know, multi-gen ecosystem come into play. So that's what is my second book. Honestly, I only say this with lot of humility. I don't know if I'm an expert, but I think I've learned a lot about that generation from the book, from the podcast, and then doing a lot of and talks on the topic. Generation differences have always existed and over time they have always also worked out. Not that, you know, it just kind of goes two different ways. So lot of the parallels of what we see in our personal life also kind of happens in the work.

And I think there are two or three scenarios that are happening David: 1:16

number one You're seeing more generations at the workplace, right? So you're seeing a minimum of three possibly four generations right now. So you're seeing Gen Z's, you're seeing Millennials you're seeing Gen X, and you're seeing possibly Baby Boomers also and you're seeing them simply because boomers are working longer, X's have a 15 year runway at least ahead of them. And so the Millennials and the Gen Z's have at least 20 and then maybe 40 to 50 years respectively, right? So there's lots of sort of a mishmash coming together. And each generation has grown up and seen a different context, right? And I think that is fundamentally the root cause of... how we see things, right, so one generation looked at bosses in a different way, organizations in a different way so the value shaping in each generation have been very So lot of times we don't know what sort of our calling, right? We think that, I should be having a certain profession because it's going to give me more money, more prestige, and so on, right? And it's a process of self-discovery. And as I mentioned in my story, I was a fairly strong finance professional. I worked in Silicon Valley in the US and making good money. I probably would have made much more money on that track, but I think there is almost like for all of us who worked long. There's kind of an existential question that comes like probably for 30s or 40s or whenever they say that 'okay what what more do I do? I mean do I continue to do this will I continue to just you know get that next title that you know and some people are very driven by that and they're happy with it and quite frankly, when it did work in leadership, I wasn't doing it more to it wasn't kind of you know hitting me internally, but it did over a period of time. So when I saw more and more people getting changed in their careers, in their lives, I think there's a sense of satisfaction, there's a sense of joy, there's a sense of accomplishment. And I do believe that at some point in my career, don't know, maybe from now, I don't want to devote as much time as I can in the leadership space and maybe some in spirituality and not so much from a religious perspective, just from perspective to do good even more outside of the workplace, right? How do we help, you know, by doing volunteer work for NGOs and so on. And at the end of the day, it's not the size of the paycheck which always gives you happiness, right? It's the quality of the work.