Hustle Culture is Back and 9.9.6. is the New - Flawed - Model

I remember the moment when I said, “Enough is enough!” I was a vice president at one of the biggest advertising agencies in the country. I had a fast growing roster of clients - all of whom I had brought into the agency. I had a team of doers who delivered big again and again. I was hustling! And yet, I quit.

I didn’t lack ambition. I didn’t lack vision. I didn’t lack skills. I lacked a senior executive team who trusted me to deliver big while on a schedule that worked for me, my family, my team, AND my clients. I had two young children under the age of 3. The hard truth was that although I needed my leadershiops support for only a short period of time, a year, maybe two, they wouldn’t do it. I was told I would set a precedent and they didn’t want others to demand similar “exceptions to the rule”.

So I left and launched my own business. Within six months I was making more money, working fewer hours, and spending more quality time with my family. Those clients I had brought in to the agency? They left. The employees who worked for me? Many of them left as well. All that revenue and talent down the drain. Smart move agency - not!

That was over thirty years ago AND YET HERE WE ARE AGAIN…

The explosion of AI is fueling a return to Hustle Culture, a mainstay of American capitalism since the mid-1980s when Gordon Gekko declared…

Even if you aren’t in the midst of it (yet), you certainly can’t have missed the headlines:

“So Long 9-to-5; Hello, 996“
“Overwork is so Back!” 
“Would You Work ‘996’?”

996, which stands for working from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, six days a week, was popularized in China and is now spreading like California wildfire across Silicon Valley and, I predict, soon into a company near you. Make no mistake, this is a crisis.

We are already seeing a massive brain drain of women from the workforce. Since January 2025, we have seen women with young children leave the labor force in droves. Meanwhile, data has shown in just five years we will face a major labor shortage due to the imbalance between outgoing Boomers and incoming Gen Z and Alphas. Even if we are seeing massive layoffs today, our economy needs talent to thrive, losing high performers because we refuse to alter how we manage our human capital is a failure of leadership. Full stop.

By now you’d think savvy, modern leaders would understand that the Hustle Culture approach to business - and productivity - is not sustainable. It’s built on fear, pits employees against each other by convincing them scarcity is their reality, and is a key reason why we have a burn-out crisis in this country.  Hustle Culture puts power in the hands of the boss and treats employees as widgets who are imminently replaceable. It’s built on a “power over” leadership mindset that I wrote about in my best-selling book, Intentional Power. It is waaaay past its prime.

Just ask Gen Z.  

Or rather, ask the leaders who are trying to manage them. These new entrants into the workforce aren’t buying into the 996, always-on, work-at-all cost approach to success. Despite the threat of layoffs, the lure of fast money, and the billionaire bosses who argue that working nonstop is key to success, the majority of Gen Z continue to put life ahead of work.

Why? It’s not that they aren’t ambitious and won’t work hard (think of all of those side hustles they’ve got going!). The truth is Gen Z has a different definition of success. They value their time, their talent, their well-being, and their relationships as much as their paychecks and titles. What a concept!

I assure you, this isn’t new. When I was interviewing hundreds and surveying thousands of women for my first book, Work Pause Thrive, I learned ambitious women like me - ambitious women who also have loved ones they are caring for - are ambitious for far more than just climbing the corporate ladder. They are ambitious for a life of purpose and meaning - having a great career is a key part of that, but not the only thing that matters to them. Like Gen Z, these women strive for a life well lived. And like me, when these women hit the wall they choose a different, non-linear path. I predict, Gen Z will too.

What I needed then, what Gen Z is demanding now - in fact, what all employees need - is time mastery.

Time mastery is the ability to work hard in a way and on a schedule that works for you, your colleagues, AND your company. It is the built on four key elements:

1. Leaders who trust employees to deliver on the business goals 

2. Bosses who are skilled and trained to manage employees to be accountable 

3. Companies who partner with employees to determine where, when, and how work gets done

And, lastly…

4. Employees who own what they are responsible for 

It’s that last part which so many bosses struggle to believe. Far too many leaders assume employees lack ambition and urgency because their employees think and behave differently than their bosses did when they were young. These leaders have an underlying - often unconscious - belief that employees can’t be trusted, aren’t willing to work hard to deliver, and, so, must be controlled.

996 is just another version of control much like the “return to office” mandates that so many companies keep trying to impose. It’s a recipe for failure for the employees, and for the companies. If not today, then in the not too distant future.

Cali Yost, Founder and CEO of Flex+Strategy Group says, “It’s not about grinding your employees, it’s about collaborating with them to co-design a strategic framework for where, when, and how work gets done.” Yost believes when it comes to long-term, sustainable productivity, “employee-centric companies are going to be the winners.”

She isn’t arguing - nor am I - that 996 doesn’t have a place. There have been many times in the course of my career when I worked a 996 schedule, but I was happiest and most engaged, when I, in collaboration with my team and/or employer, co-defined the structure of where, when, and how we worked together.

Leaders need a new model to ensure they can attract and retain high performers so together companies can win. So what is the new recipe for productivity? According to Cali Yost, it’s: 

Talent + Flexibility + AI = Modern Productivity

Savvy, modern leaders that empower their teams (talent) to deliver in a mutually agreed upon work structure (high-performance flexibility) while supporting them with tools (AI) that enable increased efficiency and effectiveness are going to see better business results. Best of all, the employees who work for them are going to be that much closer to a life well-lived. It’s a win-win for all.

I’ll close with these words from Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, who had this to say about leadership and AI:

Be wise and don’t fall prey to Hustle Culture.

Lead On!

Lisen

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