Gen Z Managers and Joan of Arc

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal says that Gen Z managers are more focused than previous generations on employee mental health. It’s a good thing and probably long overdue. Stress in the American public, not just in Gen Z, has reached new highs. There are many sources of stress but one that may be overlooked was brought to our attention 125 years ago by Mark Twain—manipulators.

In 1896 Twain published what he felt was his best book, not about Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer, but about the great French Saint, Joan of Arc—Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte. The book tells the story of her triumphant and tragic life from her childhood, leading the French Army to victory over the English in the Hundred Years War to her imprisonment, torture, trial, and finally being burned at the stake. 

Read the full piece on my Substack here.