What Young Healthcare Leaders Teach Every Industry About Purpose

Gen Z is entering the workforce with a clear sense of what it wants. In the National Society of High School Scholars' 2026 survey of more than 11,000 students, 84% said they believe they can make a difference in the world, and healthcare access ranked among the issues they care about most.

That desire to make a difference is drawing many young professionals toward healthcare, a field that is essential and purpose-driven at a time when other industries are reshaping roles around automation. It is a wake-up call for any organization struggling to attract and keep the next generation.

To understand this more deeply, I interviewed four future healthcare leaders who graduated from Cornell University's Sloan Program in Health Administration. Their insights offer lessons for every industry.

Redefining a Meaningful Career

Meaningful work was the common thread. For Keshaav Krishnaa Pothapur, who was beginning an administrative fellowship at Boston Medical Center when we spoke, "a meaningful career is at the intersection of empathy and impact." He started his career as a dentist and realized he wanted to influence systems and communities, not just individual patients. "There are more things to fix than people's teeth," he told me.

Lesly Leon, who was headed to an administrative fellowship at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, grew up in communities where accessing quality care was a struggle. "Healthcare allows me to give back to the communities that shaped me," she said.

Natalie Stopfer moved from behavioral health nursing to consulting at Chartis. "I always wanted to help people, even as a kid when I stocked my desk with band-aids to help classmates," she said with a laugh. For Natalie, meaningful work nourishes her own growth while improving patient care at scale.

Deevena Annavarjula, a manager of value-based care at Boston Medical Center, sees meaningful work as continuous evolution. "Our work life takes up so much of our time. It has to be something we get excited about." She is self-aware and willing to pivot whenever an environment stops aligning with her values. That confidence is typical of a generation that refuses to stay stuck.

Stability Means More Than Job Security

The traditional idea of stability, one job at one company for an entire career, no longer applies. Lesly noted that while healthcare offers stability through essential work, "there can often be a disconnect between expectation and reality," especially around the emotional toll of the job.

Deevena went further. For her, stability comes from adaptability. "It's not about staying in one job for 40 years anymore. What matters is knowing you can find your place at every phase of your career." Moving from insurance to hospitals and applying her skills in new ways keeps her engaged.

Keshaav tied adaptability to innovation. The pandemic pushed healthcare from a reactive system toward one that embraces new ideas, from predictive analytics to AI in care delivery. "Tech is powerful, but healthcare is essential," he said. For young professionals, stability includes the chance to help build what comes next.

Mentorship Now Runs Both Ways

One of the most striking insights was how this generation views mentorship. It is no longer a one-way transfer of wisdom. "Having a mentor is like having your own Google Translate for workplace jargon," Keshaav said. But mentors learn too. As Deevena put it, mentors show how challenges were handled in the past, while younger professionals bring fresh ideas for navigating today's transitions.

"Mentorship is a collaborative process," Lesly added. "Even when there's a gap between generations, there's always an opportunity to learn from one another." For Natalie, mentors helped her turn clinical nursing experience into strategic, system-level work. As I've written, the best mentors discover you. They don't clone themselves.

Five Lessons for Leaders Everywhere

1. Expect a generational demand for change. Young professionals want to modernize outdated practices and are impatient with mindsets that resist it.

2. Make careers meaningful. They prioritize work aligned with their values and environments flexible enough to let them contribute fully.

3. Build two-way mentorship. Create relationships where younger professionals give as much insight as they receive.

4. Treat purpose as non-negotiable. Financial stability matters, but meaningful impact can matter just as much, and it drives engagement and loyalty.

5. Show the path. Promises aren't enough. Young professionals need to see how their unique talents lead to real outcomes. Without visible evidence, skepticism grows.

A Future Built on Purpose

Every industry must ask hard questions. Are we creating environments where young professionals can challenge norms and grow? Are our values aligned with their aspirations? As I've explored in how the next generation wants to be led, purpose is not an option for them. It is the norm.

The organizations that win this generation will be the ones brave enough to prioritize innovation, purpose and community, and to let young professionals help shape the workplace they are joining.

Want to explore these ideas further? Learn more about my work on leadership, identity and conviction at www.theglennllopis.com.