Rethink ‘People’: May 2026
Why “no loyalty” and “no ambition” are usually the wrong diagnosis
When a leader says an employee has “no loyalty” or a family successor has “no ambition,” the label feels like an explanation. It isn’t. It’s a verdict reached by skipping a step. The behaviour is real — the disengaged employee, the uninterested heir, the customer who won’t buy the way they used to. But between what we see and the judgement we reachsits a cause we rarely stop to examine. Read the cause correctly, and most “generational” problems turn out to have nothing to do with generation at all.
This was the core of a recent Live Perspectives session, Rethink ‘People’, led by business strategy advisor Ameen Ahsan. The argument is simple and uncomfortable: the same mistake quietly costs leaders in three different rooms — with their employees, their family successors, and their customers.
The mistake: behaviour, skipped cause, verdict
Most frustration follows a predictable shortcut. We observe a behaviour, skip straight past why it’s happening, and land on a judgement about the person’s character. “He sleeps all day” becomes “he has no ambition.” “She’s already looking elsewhere” becomes “no one is loyal anymore.”
The behaviour deserves attention. The verdict rarely does — because it tells you more about your own expectations than about the person in front of you.
The four things that actually shape a person
Ameen Ahsan offers a more useful lens. Four forces shape how any person shows up at work, and only one of them has anything to do with the year they were born.
Life stage is their reality right now: dependents, debt, whether they rent or own, how much energy they have to give. A leader who assumes there’s one “young employee” — and one offer that motivates them all — is managing a category, not a person. Better question: What does a good year look like for you right now?
Career stage is where they sit on the arc of entering, proving, building, peaking, or passing on. Leaders often misread this — hearing ambition as impatience, or steadiness as coasting. Better question: What do you want to be true for you three years from now?
Formative era is the economy, technology, and sense of security someone came of age inside. This is the one most often mistaken for a values defect. What looks like “no loyalty” may simply be someone shaped by a world where job security was never on offer. Better question: What would make this worth staying and building for?
The individual is the actual human — temperament, values, ambition. This is the factor you cannot infer from a profile or a birth year. You can only learn it by asking: What matters to you that I might be getting wrong?
Three of these four have nothing to do with age. The fourth, you can only discover by asking — not assuming.
The same mistake, in three rooms
With employees, the complaint is “no loyalty, no discipline, nothing motivates them.” But loyalty didn’t disappear — the deal changed. Presence at a desk isn’t proof of commitment, and a reward designed around what you valued may simply not land for someone whose life stage and formative era are different from yours.
With the family successor, the complaint is “no ambition, no interest, wants to do his own thing.” In practice, “no ambition” is almost always “no ownership.” When there’s no defined role, no real authority, and no clear stake in the outcome, a capable person invests their energy where ownership is clear — often outside the family business. The ambition is intact. It’s just pointed elsewhere.
With customers, the complaint is “the real buyer is the senior man, and spending on experiences is a waste.” But who decides has shifted — women and children now shape most household purchases, and they increasingly buy experiences rather than assets. A leader who can’t see this isn’t protecting the business; they’re leaving the door open for a younger competitor who already does.
Three rooms, one root cause: we measure people against a single reference point — ourselves.
The way forward: stop assuming, start asking
It was never three separate problems. It was one habit, showing up three ways. Here’s how to break it.
- Catch the verdict. Words like “no loyalty” or “no ambition” are a signal that you’ve skipped the cause. Treat them as a prompt to look closer, not a conclusion.
- Ask one question first. Before reaching for an incentive, a rule, or a promotion, ask the person what they actually want.
- Check who you’re really talking to. Respond to the person in front of you — not the version of them stored in your memory.
- Name your own default. Write down three things you believe about work or money. Then ask honestly: is that the truth, or just the era I came up in?
Same people. New thinking. The frustration you feel with employees, successors, and customers isn’t proof that people have changed for the worse. More often, it’s a signal that your reference point needs updating.
Frequently asked questions
Is the “younger generation” really less loyal or hardworking? Usually not. What reads as disloyalty is often a response to changed conditions — less job security, different rewards, a different life stage. The behaviour is real, but “their generation” is rarely the actual cause.
Why does my family successor seem to have no ambition? “No ambition” is frequently “no ownership.” Without a defined role, genuine authority, and a real stake in the outcome, a capable successor will channel their drive toward something where their ownership is clear — which often means outside the family business.
What’s the single most useful thing a leader can change? Replace the verdict with a question. Instead of deciding what someone lacks, ask what they actually want and what matters to them. Most misreads dissolve the moment you stop assuming and start asking.
Adapted from the Live Perspectives session “Rethink ‘People'” by Ameen Ahsan, Business Strategy Advisor & Author — Rethink by Capella Strategy.
