Gen X is taking over parliament, boardrooms and our biggest arts institutions

There have been moments in Angela Green’s career when she’s seen older generations finally give up leadership positions they’ve held for decades and wondered, “Did I miss out?”

“I see young people being promoted into leadership positions — which is great — but I feel like it’s a little bit beyond my generation.”

As Generation X tailgaters, “we longed (to be in control) but never thought it would happen,” Green said.

“In a way, we feel like we’re kind of stuck between the baby boomers and the millennials.”

Green, who is currently executive director of Tāwhiri, the arts organisation responsible for events such as the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival, is one of many Gen Xers who are finally taking the reins.

While baby boomers and millennials bicker over who has had the worst experience in life, Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) has been quietly aging and taking power.

The result of this bloodless coup is that they now make up the majority of our MPs, the CEOs of our largest companies and the leaders of our arts and media.

Christopher Luxon (1970) wasn’t even New Zealand’s first Generation X Prime Minister, he was the third.

Jacinda Ardern, born in 1980, narrowly won first place, while Chris Hipkins, born in 1978, came in second.

Hipkins said he didn’t want to dwell on the question.

“Politics is generational. The Lang government was hailed as the baby boomers coming to power, while the last Labor government under Jacinda was going to be the next big generational wave.”

He didn’t see much evidence that the change in political parties had also changed their values ​​or policies, but “the tone did change.”

“I do think that in some parliamentary debates there is more focus on substance and less on trivia, but equally I think parliamentary debates are not as important as they once were.”

He also noticed subtle differences that were quietly emerging in the business world, although these differences were more in style than substance.

“Ties are no longer the norm – I think there’s a generational shift going on here, but overall the tone of engagement is much the same as it has been.”

His colleague, former prime minister Jacinda Ardern, described herself as “close to young people” when she took over as Labour leader in 2017 at the age of 37.

Te Papa chief executive Courtney Johnston, who was born a year before Ardern, believes it is now “kaumatua-adjacent”.

“When I was appointed CEO of Te Papa, that was the first thing people wanted to talk to me about, like ‘Oh! You’re so young, aren’t you?’ For two or three years, no one looked at me and said, ‘Oh my god, you look so young.’

“As a member of Generation X, unfortunately, my youth has left me behind.”

Johnston sees Generation X as the “cutting edge” of a series of changes in leadership and business—young enough to adapt to the digital age, yet old enough to witness large-scale social revolutions.

“I firmly believe that we stand on the shoulders of previous generations.”

The rise of women in leadership is one of the most notable of these changes, she said.

“When I was at university, Helen Clark was prime minister and Theresa Garten was head of telecoms. So by the time I realised that, the perception of female leaders had changed quite a bit.”

She believes there has been a significant and palpable shift in the way leaders present themselves and relate to their employees, especially among the younger Generation X generation.

“Leadership may still reward those who are fortunate enough to invest their time and resources into it…but the image of the invincible, invulnerable, isolated captain at the helm, I think, is no longer appropriate.”

Angela Green has noticed a similar change.

“People value vulnerability now, and as a young person I never experienced that.”

She still wears what she calls the “mantle of leadership,” but it’s no longer as indestructible.

“My generation of people in leadership positions are just trying to find the answers, and maybe we’re a little more honest about the fact that we don’t know the answers, and we don’t pretend to know the answers.”

She also considers the growth of women in leadership roles to be a defining change in her career.

“Again we’re seeing another shift, a rebalancing of power, with Māori and non-Pakeha people coming into power.”

Green said she grew up in a generation where people told her they could do anything, “but the second part of that was, you had to work hard.”

In mid-career, she had to readjust to Generation X self-reliance and individualism.

“We also suffer from the side effects of overwork and burnout, and we actually make the choice, no, actually, I need to maintain balance.”

Her younger colleagues already know this well.

“Now, as a manager and boss, I have to examine my own ideas about what work should look like based on what my younger employees tell me about work.”

She believes her own adaptation as a leader is far from over – and that in-between, Gen X-ish feeling is still hard to shake.

“I still feel like I’m in the middle, or still emerging in a way.”

Generation X: 50 pieces of art from the Chartwell Collection, The exhibition opens at Te Papa on Saturday 27 July and runs until 20 October.