Bridging generations – at 21, facing the decision-makers

As a Management Associate at a large insurer, I work in teams where most others are over 50. I present to the executive board and to decision-makers who have carried responsibility for decades. I'm not there to watch: I launch initiatives and approach projects with the thinking and expectations of my generation. That is the position I speak from about what makes collaboration across generations work. What does experience make possible? What do new expectations set in motion? And which attitude in leaders decides whether young ideas reach the project or stay in the meeting room?

I don't speak for a whole generation, I speak from my own experience: what happens when young expectations meet established structures? No buzzwords about work-life balance or smartphones, but situations from projects and mixed-age teams. The keynote 'The youngest in the room' has three steps: a presentation to the executive board; then both sides, meaning what experience and curiosity give each other and where they get in each other's way; and finally questions for your team. Leaders can ask these questions in their very next meeting. That turns generations from a pigeonhole into a conversation.

I don't only take on responsibility at work. On the board of the Central Swiss athletics federation I'm responsible for communications, sponsorship and projects, and I sit on the organising committee of Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern. In the army I'm in charge of personnel as S1. In August 2026 I took part in the European Athletics Future Leaders Forum in Birmingham, with more than 65 young leaders from 44 federations, opened by Sebastian Coe and Dobromir Karamarinov. For HR, that means hearing from someone who shows what young people deliver when they're given real responsibility early.

The topic works from two sides. For senior managers and HR, it's about how leadership attracts, develops and keeps young talent. For apprentices, trainees and young employees, 'Taking responsibility early' is about growing into a role that seems too big at first. If you want to bring both sides together, choose a panel or a moderated interview, for example alongside an experienced leader from your organisation. That way the generations share the stage too.