Welch's research shows only 7% of people can accurately name their values
Suzy Welch · How to create a ‘transcendent’ career (with author Suzy Welch) | Masters of Scale · Jul 24, 2025 · at 6:06
Author and NYU Stern professor Suzy Welch discusses her research on career alignment and personal values with host Jeff Berman.
0:00 / 0:14exact quote · 14.3s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“So I did some research that proved that you are absolutely in the majority, and that only 17% of people could even begin to define values, and I was giving them very wide berth in this research, and only seven percent could actually name their values and exclude virtues in the whole thing.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Suzy Welch
Welch argues employees generally must work in the office for promotions
“Yes, I think so. I mean, I see it all the time. I think in general, you're, you've got to be in the office if you want to be promoted.”
Welch's survey finds only 2% of Gen Z hold employer-desired values
“I did a survey of 1500 hiring managers, and I asked, what values do you wanna, what values do you hire for among Gen Z? And I'm gonna tell you, only two percent had the values they wanted.”
Welch: 65% of Gen Z value self-care versus 0% of hiring managers
“Eudaimonia is the number one value for 65% of Gen Z, and in 1500 hiring managers over the age of 40 in corporate positions, exactly zero percent said they wanted eudaimonia as a top value.”
Welch notes financial affluence and self-care inherently conflict as career values
“Why do affluence and eudaimonia have to be in conflict? I would say, I don't know. Ask God. You know, I don't know. Like, ask the universe. I am not here to solve this problem. I'm just here to report the facts that those two things are in conflict.”
Companies will aggressively recruit the 2% of work-centric Gen Z, predicts Welch
“So I think what's actually gonna happen in corporate America largely is it's gonna be kind of a cage match for those two percent. They're gonna come find them younger and younger, like Stern, there are some Stern undergraduates who start getting offers in thei…”
Welch mandates five days in-office and weekend communication for her startup
“I believe that great things happen with people together in a room, and I run a company myself, it's only 10 people, but we're, I, when we are interviewing, and we're growing right now, we say, this is a five days a week in the office, we're all together, and I…”