This writing was originally published as part of the Career EdVenture newsletter on LinkedIn.

In conversations with educators, employers, and workforce leaders, I often hear the same concern that many entry-level employees seem more anxious, hesitant, and risk-averse than previous generations. They care deeply, but they struggle with uncertainty, feedback, and failure.

I recently read The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt, initially through the lens of a parent and educator. What I didn’t expect was how clearly it would illuminate what many leaders and trainers are now seeing in the workplace. This is not just a parenting or education book. It’s a surprisingly practical framework for rethinking leadership, training, and workforce development.

Haidt presents compelling data showing how Gen Z experienced a fundamental shift in childhood. Compared to previous generations, they had far fewer play-based, independent experiences and far more phone-based, digitally mediated ones. Many were physically overprotected while being under-protected online. The result was fewer chances to build resilience, judgment, social confidence, and emotional regulation through real-world exploration.

These early patterns don’t disappear at graduation. They shape how young adults arrive in college, training programs, and eventually the workplace. Many enter professional environments operating primarily in what the book describes as defend mode rather than discover mode.

Defend Mode vs. Discover Mode

Defend mode and discover mode describe two psychological states that strongly influence how people think, feel, and perform.

Defend mode is activated when a person perceives threat, high stakes, or uncertainty. In this state, the brain prioritizes safety and risk avoidance. Behavior becomes cautious. Thinking narrows. Fear of mistakes increases. Creativity, curiosity, and learning slow down. This is the familiar fight or flight response to a perceived threat.

Discover mode is activated when people feel psychologically safe. In this state, individuals are more open, curious, flexible, and willing to experiment. They ask better questions, take healthy risks, recover more quickly from setbacks, and build stronger relationships. This is the mental state where learning, growth, and professional development thrive.

Many young adults today simply haven’t had enough low-stakes, real-world opportunities to practice operating in discover mode. As a result, they arrive at work primed for self-protection rather than exploration. This has profound implications for how we onboard, train, and lead.

Rethinking Onboarding, Training, and Leadership

For leaders and training professionals, the goal is not to eliminate defend mode. Some level of caution is healthy. But the challenge is to intentionally design environments that allow new employees to spend most of their time in discover mode.

This starts with psychological safety. When onboarding and training environments emphasize constant evaluation, rigid expectations, and fear of mistakes, they unintentionally reinforce anxiety and risk avoidance. When they emphasize trust, clarity, coaching, and support, they accelerate learning and confidence.

Practical shifts can be simple but powerful:

• Normalizing mistakes as part of learning
• Offering clear expectations and structure
• Providing timely, supportive feedback
• Encouraging questions and experimentation
• Pairing new employees with mentors and coaches

When early workplace experiences are designed for growth rather than survival, new hires adapt faster, build competence more quickly, and develop stronger long-term engagement. Organizations benefit from improved performance, retention, and culture and more importantly, people benefit from feeling capable, supported, and valued.

A Reflection for Leaders

If this generation is entering the workforce more anxious than prepared, the answer isn’t to toughen them up or lower expectations. It’s to redesign the environments we place them in, to build systems that restore what was missing including safe exploration, guided autonomy, and meaningful experience.

For organizations, that might start with:

• Conducting a book study with leaders to reflect on onboarding and training practices
• Developing structured mentoring programs for entry-level employees
• Rethinking early career development as a learning journey, not a performance test

For this anxious generation, our leadership may determine whether work becomes another source of fear or a place where confidence and curiosity finally have room to develop.