January 2026 | Helle Bundgaard | Relevance Beyond
The Generation Gap...
I was recently inspired by an article in thr Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende, where SAP executive Helle Dochedahl reflects on younger generations’ relationship with work, ambition, and security. She describes working life as a zero-sum game with three levers: work, family, and “me-time” (including friends). Her point is straightforward: if you turn one lever up, another must be turned down.
I think this is an observation many leaders will recognize. At the same time, it raises a question that I find worth pausing over:
Is this mainly about a reluctance to make trade-offs — or does it point to something more fundamental about how relevance is experienced across generations?
When I read the article through the lens of the Wheel of Relevance (WoR), the difference seems less about diligence or ambition, and more about where relevance is anchored.
Doing and Being: Two Ways Relevance Is Experienced
The research-based Wheel of Relevance (WoR) highlights two complementary dimensions through which relevance tends to be experienced:
- Doing (what I do) — through action, responsibility, performance, and contribution
- Being (who I am) — through inner coherence, relationships, energy, and identity
These dimensions are reflected across four areas:
- Personal Readiness and Meaningful Relationships (Being)
- Professional Reinvention and Supporting Others (Doing)
Seen this way, generational differences begin to look less ideological and more developmental.
Leaders Beyond 50: Relevance Through Doing
For many leaders in the later stages of their careers, relevance has largely been built through Doing. Taking responsibility, mastering complexity, building deep expertise, and delivering over time. Family and friendships have mattered — but have often been organized around work rather than held on equal footing with it.
For this group, purpose is often embodied in contribution. It is felt through usefulness, impact, and being relied upon. Over decades, identity and relevance have been reinforced through action. Being has not been absent — but it has often remained implicit or deferred.
Younger Generations: Relevance Through Being
Younger professionals do not necessarily see ambition differently. But they tend to anchor relevance more strongly in Being: in relationships, quality of life, energy, and a felt sense of coherence between work and life.
When younger employees seek space for career development, family, friendships, and themselves at the same time, this does not necessarily reflect unrealistic expectations. It often points to a need for relevance to be felt now, rather than postponed until later stages of life.
Where older generations have often accepted a delayed-balance logic — prioritizing work, responsibility, and contribution first, with personal balance expected to come later — younger generations may experience relevance as fragile if Being is set aside for too long
Where Friction Arises
This is often where tension begins to surface. Not because one group lacks ambition or responsibility, but because Doing and Being are weighted differently, often without a shared language to explore the difference.
This may also help explain the younger generations focus on quick wins described in the article. If relevance is experienced primarily in the present, longer arcs of development and mastery can feel abstract or risky. The question then becomes:
Where in my life do I experience that I matter most — through what I do, how I relate, and who I am becoming?
A Developmental, Not Moral, Difference
Seen through the Wheel of Relevance, the generational gap appears less moral and more developmental. Earlier in life and career, relevance is often grounded in identity, belonging, and inner alignment. Later, it is more often expressed through contribution, responsibility, and legacy.
Neither orientation is superior. Difficulties tend to arise when one is consistently valued over the other.
Bridging the Gap
Bridging generations does not require younger employees to “toughen up,” nor senior leaders to “soften.” It invites a shared language of relevance — one that makes room for both Being and Doing.
When the question shifts from who has purpose to where purpose is experienced, conversations often change. From judgment to curiosity. From frustration to translation. From conflict to complementarity.
Relevance is not static. It evolves as life, roles, and priorities change. Perhaps one of today’s quieter leadership challenges is learning to stay curious about where relevance is lived — right now.
A focus on Being can sometimes be read as a lack of drive. A focus on Doing can be experienced as pressure or emotional distance.
If you’d like to be among the first to know more about our upcoming program “Staying Relevant,” or share your thoughts about this subject please send me an email hb@motivationfactor.com.