Paolo, you often say your role is to coach Gen Y to mentor Gen Z. Why do you reverse the traditional idea of Gen X mentoring Gen Y to guide Gen Z?

Ah, here’s where it gets interesting—and a little counterintuitive, but that’s the point. Everyone assumes it’s Gen X’s job to mentor Millennials, and then Millennials pass the wisdom down to Gen Z, like some kind of generational relay race. But that’s playing by the old rules. We’re not in a time where linear hierarchies make sense anymore. The world is moving too fast for that, and if we’re really going to make progress, we have to flip the script.

Here’s why I say Gen Y needs to be the mentor to Gen Z, with Gen X coaching Millennials to play that role.

First off, Millennials are the bridge generation. They’ve lived through the birth of the digital age, but they still remember what life was like before everything went online. That gives them a unique perspective—one foot in the old world, one in the new. Gen Z, on the other hand, has grown up fully immersed in the digital realm. They’ve never known life without social media, instant access to information, or a constant barrage of noise. They’re fast, they’re fearless, but they’re also navigating a world that’s incredibly complex and full of contradictions.

Now, if Gen X just steps in and mentors Gen Z directly, there’s a gap in communication. Sure, we’ve got the experience, we’ve seen the ups and downs, but the way we process the world is still rooted in a time that feels distant to Gen Z. We didn’t grow up with phones in our pockets. We didn’t have the internet as a default. And that’s a huge cultural divide. What makes sense to us doesn’t always resonate with them.

That’s where Millennials come in. They speak both languages—they understand the analog past that Gen X represents, and they’re fluent in the digital present that defines Gen Z. They’ve lived through the transitions and disruptions, so they’re in the perfect position to guide Gen Z, to help them navigate the complexities of this fast-paced world, but with the grounding perspective that only comes from having experienced life before the digital explosion.

So my job as a Gen Xer? It’s to coach the Millennials, to give them the broader perspective they need to be effective mentors. I help them see the long game, to recognize the patterns that repeat across time, and to apply that wisdom in a way that makes sense for the younger generation. Millennials have the direct connection with Gen Z, but sometimes they need a push to realize how much power and responsibility they actually have in shaping the future.

By inverting this traditional mentorship hierarchy, we’re acknowledging the fluid nature of knowledge and influence in today’s world. It’s no longer about the older generation passing down wisdom from the top down. It’s about empowering the generation in the middle to act as the translators, the bridge builders, between past and future. Gen X provides the map, but Millennials are the ones who lead Gen Z across the terrain.

So yeah, it’s supposed to be the other way around, but the world doesn’t need more "supposed to be." It needs what works. And what works is a new kind of mentorship—one that’s dynamic, fluid, and centered on collaboration between generations, not just the handing down of wisdom from old to young.