Nursing leadership now spans 4 generations creating unprecedented workforce diversity amid persistent instability and evolving leadership expectations. Traditional authority-based leadership models prove insufficient for engaging multigenerational teams; instead, effectiveness depends on relational dynamics and intentional connection. This manuscript examines social capital as foundational to intergenerational nursing leadership. By reframing connection as strategic currency rather than soft skill, we present an evidence-informed framework for building and leveraging social capital across generations. Practical strategies include bidirectional mentorship, psychological safety cultivation, and differentiated communication approaches. When nurse leaders intentionally measure, build, and steward social capital, they transform generational diversity from liability to asset, strengthening engagement, retention, and care quality while ensuring leadership continuity across generations.
Doucette et al. (Sun,) studied this question.