The ‘Trophy Kids’ Go To Work

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First off, go and read this article: The ‘Trophy Kids’ Go to Work on the WSJ website. Then once completed, come back to this post. This post is my reflections on it. Thanks to @MonFineis for sharing it.

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(Warning: this is going to be a rant, so it may get long, but I hope you will read it all and comment!)

My first off response is that they are truly hating on any recent college graduates trying to find a job and start their careers. There are some points within the article that I agree with and then there are some that are just way out there and you can tell the comments come from someone who is A) old enough to be my parents, B) had their job for a while, and C) is set in the mindset of never changing.

If there is one overriding perception of the millennial generation, it’s that these young people have great — and sometimes outlandish — expectations. Employers realize the millennials are their future work force, but they are concerned about this generation’s desire to shape their jobs to fit their lives rather than adapt their lives to the workplace.

Can we say work/life balance?? I mean come on. The days of young professionals going to work for a company and planning on staying there for the rest of their lives is over. The average person now probably changes jobs every 5 years, just like buying a new car. Young professionals do not want to work 60-80 work weeks constantly and have nothing to show for it. Working my ass off to make money for someone else and only getting my normal salary is not going to cut it. If you want me to work hard for you, you have to work hard for me - provide excellent benefits, incentives to work hard/meet deadlines, offer flexible working hours, compensate for overtime, offer competitive vacation time, have a relaxed workplace - the list could go on and on and on!

More than 85% of hiring managers and human-resource executives said they feel that millennials have a stronger sense of entitlement than older workers, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.com.

I don’t think it is neccessarily that millennials feel entitled to everything and anything, but it is that they know what they want, have goals, and want to achieve them. That’s part of the American Dream isn’t it? If you as an employeer are not going to support that, then why should a millennial want to work for you?

The generation’s greatest expectations: higher pay (74% of respondents); flexible work schedules (61%); a promotion within a year (56%); and more vacation or personal time (50%).

I agree with these stats except for I find it hard to believe that 56% of the survey population expected a promotion within a year. Millennials know that hard work is involved with getting ahead. I would hope that the majority of us know that this just isn’t going to happen overnight. Let’s be real though - the cost of living is skyrocketing in all the major cities where the majority of jobs are. In order for us to live and be able to afford A) a vehicle, B) food, and C) housing (renting or buying) then the pay needs to reflect that and be competitive with other companies. In my local area in Maryland, there is no way that a fresh college graduate is going to purchase a house right away, it just isn’t going to happen. The average single family home price is probably at least $400K with more and more $800K plus “estates” being built day after day. Developers are struggling to sell these houses but still keep building them instead of building condos, townhouses, apartment complexes, and smaller more affordable houses. The average townhouse in my area is probably $350k (a little more reasonable but still not great). If the costs of living continue to rise, salaries need to keep rising too.

The article says that you should be blaming parents, teachers, and coaches for millennial’s wanting to be able to be casual at work, enjoy their time in the office, and have a flexible work schedule. What a crock of shit. It says that we are the pride and joy of our parents and this is a problem…so you mean to tell me you wouldn’t want the best for your children and for them to be successful in whatever they did? School? Sports? Music? Plays? Competitions? Work?

Now I don’t think you can take ALL the blame off of someones parents because they do play a part in the mindset, but not 100% as the article suggests. In reference to teachers not usinig red ink on grading papers, the ink color doesnt matter - red, blue, purple, black - a failing grade is a failing grade no matter what color ink it is in. But back to parents, with my generation, they have been giving too much to their kids. The perfect example of this is when a teenager turns 16 and can drive. Parents are giving their kids a BMW, a Lexus, a Hummer, etc rather than a Honda or Toyota. How can a kid expect anything less than the best when the parents push the best onto them in the form of gifts, this leads to that expectation later in life. This is one part of the article that I agree with. Some of the problems stem from the parents not teaching their children what it means to work hard, be motivated, have respect, and work for what you get.

Millennials also expect a flexible work routine that allows them time for their family and personal interests. “For this generation, work is not a place you go; work is a thing you do,” says Kaye Foster-Cheek, vice president for human resources at Johnson & Johnson.

I don’t think it is so much a flexible work routine that millennials are looking for but more the ability to be flexible if needed. Giving someone full freedom to come and go as works best for them and giving someone the chance to coming early so they can leave early or take an hour off here or there are different things. Doesn’t everyone want to be able to spend time with their family and on their own interests? To you Ms. Foster-Cheek, I can imagine you like spending time with your family just as much as I do and take advantage of every chance you get, so do not try to say that it is just something the younger generation does while people your age work away in the office late into the night.

These outspoken young people tend to be highly opinionated and fearlessly challenge recruiters and bosses. Status and hierarchy don’t impress them much. They want to be treated like colleagues rather than subordinates

Is there all of the sudden an issue with speaking your mind, sharing your concerns, and trying to help advance the business? If we just sit by and ignore anything that is wrong or could be done better, then failure for the department, business segment, or company can not be far away. baby boomers sure are not going to ‘go up against the man’ because they are ready to retire and can not take that risk. But if a millennial speaks up and happens to save your business thousands, hundreds of thousands, or millions of dollars, I am sure you will appreciate the hell out of them for doing so!

One of the final lines that I like the best out of this article is:

In the final analysis, the generational tension is a bit ironic. After all, the grumbling baby-boomer managers are the same indulgent parents who produced the millennial generation.

If you don’t like what you are seeing within your company, then take a look at your home life and parenting. You are probably doing the exact same thing in your personal life that you hate at your work life.

What do you guys think? Am I way off base here? I’d love to see some comments on the topic and get some great discussion going!

I’m also interesting in reading any other articles similar to this on or on this topic, so if you have seen anything, leave a link to it!

Leadership: Who wouldn’t like to conquer it?

Leadership is the one area that every person wants to excel at and use to make a difference. When you are an entrepreneur, running a small business, or leading a group of employees in another company, you need to be on top of your leadership game. Without having leadership abilities and skills, then you will not be able to effectively lead your team, your business, your family, or whatever else it may be.

There are a lot of different ways to grow your leadership abilities. You can start by practicing being a leader - volunteer for higher positions within an organization or lead an effort for a cause that you care about. Being a volunteer leader gives you the chance to practice and develop yourself. Then as you get more confident within a charity or organization, look for ways to become a project leader at work or other in other areas in your life. With every leadership role that you take, you will learn more, use more, and expand more. Another way to pick up some leadership characteristics or study more leaders is through books and publications on leadership. There are so many good books out there on leadership, that I wanted to touch on a some of them that I have read and think will help you to develop into the type of leader that you want to be.

One of the those great books is The Emerging Leader: Eight Lessons for Life in Leadership by David Lewis. David Lewis is a human resources and career development expert who has helped more than 10,000 people find a new job. He’s only 27 years old and has been on many TV networks including Fox, ABC, CBS and others.

If you are looking for a great book for future business leaders that is short (104 pages), quick to read, and high impact, then you need to check out The Emerging Leader!

Focus on What You Want and Not What You Don’t Want - The Secret

I don’t know about you guys, but I never really followed all of the hype for the movie “The Secret” when it came out in 2006. But now that I use Netflix, I decided to add the movie to my list and got it over the weekend to watch.

IMDB gives the following synopsis for the movie:

The Secret is a feature length movie presentation which reveals The Great Secret of the universe. It has been passed throughout the ages, traveling through centuries… This is The Secret to everything - the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love, youth: everything you have ever wanted. All the resources you will ever need to understand and live The Secret. The world’s leading scientists, authors, and philosophers will reveal The Secret that utterly transformed the lives of every person who ever knew it… Plato, Newton, Carnegie, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Einstein.

I think that is a pretty accurate description. What is “The Secret” then you are wondering? The Secret is taking advantage of the Law of Attraction and learning how to harness the power of it for your betterment. The Law of Attraction is the secret to the world and everything that you could want, which is what this movie tries to convey to you. Although not every detail and aspect of how to use the Law of Attraction to your benefit is unveiled in this movie, it is a great starting point to learn about it and see how you can benefit from it.

The movie breaks down into the following sections:

1. The Secret Revealed
2. The Secret Made Simple
3. How To Use The Secret
4. Powerful Processes
5. The Secret To Money
6. The Secret To Relationships
7. The Secret To Health
8. The Secret To The World
9. The Secret To You
10. The Secret To Life

From watching the movie, you can pick up many different ideas about how to use the Law of Attraction and what kind of changes you can make in your daily life to make your relationships, wealth, health, and yourself better. However, one of the main takeaways from the movie is to focus on what you want and not what you don’t want. This is illustrated many times throughout the movie with different examples such as someone who puts all their energy in focusing about how they do not want to be poor instead of focusing on how they are going to be rich and how they are going to get there. By focusing on not being poor, you are still focusing on the concept of being poor. This in turn does not help you become rich or wealthy because you are not focusing on that. Another example from the movie is to not be anti-war but to be pro-peace. Don’t focus on the war, focus on creating peace.

The best part of utilizing The Secret the experts say is that not matter what people focus on and no matter how much people get (either in their relationships, their health, or their wealth), there is always enough to go around. The worry of some people is that everyone used the Law of Attraction to their benefit than there eventually would not be anymore to go around, but that’s not true at all - there is more than enough to go around for everyone.

So, as you go into your business and your lives, be sure to focus on what you WANT and not what you don’t want. Focus on getting that next client, making your next $10,000 or $1,000,000. Focus on being healthy, seeing yourself as an active person and it will happen.

I know it has been a while since the movie came out, but has anyone else seen it? And what did you think of it?

Integrity - Leadership Qualities Series

The most important quality of leadership is integrity, understood as honesty, strength of character, and courage.

Without integrity there is no trust, the number one element in the leader-follower equation. Integrity leads to trust, and trust leads to respect, loyalty, and ultimately, action. It is trust coming from integrity that is needed for leading people form the boardroom, to the shop floor, to the battlefield. A model of integrity was George Washington, about whom it was written:

Endowed by nature with a sound judgment, and an accurate discriminating mind, he was guided by an unvarying sense of moral right, which would tolerate the employment only of those means that would bear the most rigid examination, by a fairness of intention which is neither sought nor required disguise, and by a purity of virtue which was not only untainted but unsuspected.

As a leader, ask, Do my people trust me? Do they know that I seek the truth and that I am true to my word? Do they see that I possess strength of character and courage of my convictions?

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“Integrity” concludes this series on leadership qualities. If you missed any of the previous posts, check out the introductory post for the series and you can find links to all the different posts! I hope you were all able to pull something from this series and think about the different qualities that leaders should strive to have and how you can try to reach them all yourselves!

Charisma - Leadership Qualities Series

Charisma is a special personal quality that generates others’ interest and causes them to follow.

Napoleon makes the point that great leaders are optimists and merchants of hope. Optimism, a sense of adventure, and commitment to a cause are traits found in charismatic leaders. These are qualities that unleash the potential of others and bring forth their energies. Charisma is difficult to define, but the result is admiration, enthusiasm, and the loyalty of followers. Charismatic leaders in history include Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, and Elizabeth I.

As a leader, ask yourself, Do I possess a positive outlook and commitment in my demeanor that transforms followers to new levels or performance as well as personal loyalty to me?

If you are just tuning into the Leadership Qualities Series, head over to the introductory post so you can catch up on the previous posts!

Vitality - Leadership Qualities Series

Even if the spirit is willing, strength and stamina are needed to fulfill the tasks of leadership.

Effective leaders are typically described as electric, vigorous, active, and full of life, no matter how old they are or if they are physically disabled. Consider Franklin Roosevelt, who had polio, and Helen Keller, who was blind. It is interesting to note that at one point in recent history, the American president Ronald Reagan, the Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II, and the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran were all over 70 years of age - and more vital than many people half their age. At all ages, leaders require tremendous energy and stamina to achieve success. The caring leader must have health and vigor to pursue his or her goals. Physical checkups and physical fitness are common-sense acts.

Leaders must ask, Am I fit for the tasks of leadership? Do I have sufficient energy? AM I doing everything I can to keep physically strong?

If you are just starting to read the Leadership Qualities Series, check out the first post about it and then read the other entries in the series.

Persistence - Leadership Qualities Series

The leader must have drive and determination to stick with difficult tasks until they are completed.

According to Niccolo Machiavelli, “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain as to success, than to take the leader in the introduction of a new order of things.” Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir referred to the quality of persistence when she advised that things do not just occur in one’s life. She encouraged people to believe, be persistent, and struggle to overcome life’s obstacles. Leaders from Walt Disney to Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, have shown the importance of persistence for business success, and military leaders from Ulysses Grant to George Patton have proved its importance on the battlefield. However, no better example exists to show the importance of fierce resolve as a leadership quality than that of Winston Churchill. Historians agree that his leader, with his bulldog will, was a determining element in the success of the Allied nations in defeating the Axis powers in World War II. In the face of impossible odds and seemingly certain defeat, Churchill rallied his people. Simply, he would not give in: he would not give up.

If you are the leader, ask, Do I have self-drive and unflagging persistence to overcome adversity even when others lose their strength and their will?

If you are just starting to read the Leadership Qualities Series, check out the first post about it and then read the other entries in the series.

Self Confidence - Leadership Qualities Series

OK I got a little behind in this one. Sorry!

Confidence in one’s ability gives the leader inner strength to overcome difficult tasks.

If leaders lack self-confidence, people may question their authority and may even disobey orders. Researchers at the Center for Creative Leadership have found that successful leaders remain calm and confident even during intense situations. By demonstrating grace under pressure, they inspire those around them to stay calm and act intelligently. According to football quarterback Roger Staubach, the key to self-confidence is how hard the leader works: “Confidence comes from hours, days, weeks, and years or preparation and dedication. When I’m in the last two minutes of a December playoff game, I’m drawing confidence from windsprints I did the previous month. It’s just a circle: work and confidence.”

A leader must ask, What is my self-confidence level? Do I show confidence in my actions? Have I done the homework and preparation needed to build self-confidence?

If you are just starting to read the Leadership Qualities Series, check out the first post about it and then read the other entries in the series.

Concern for others - Leadership Qualities Series

At the heart of caring leadership is concern for others.

The leader must not look down on others or treat them as machines - replaceable and interchangeable. The leader must be sincerely and deeply concerned about the welfare of people. The character of caring stands in clear contrast to the character of bullying. The caring leader never tears down, belittles, or diminishes people. The leader must also possess humility and selflessness to the estent that, whenever possible, others’ interest are considered first. Concern for others requires patience and listening, and the result is trust, the bedrock of loyalty. Loyalty to followers generates loyalty to the leader; and when tasks become truly difficult, loyalty carries the day.

Leaders must question, Do I truly care about my employees as people, or do I view them more as tools to meet my goals? DO I ever demean people, or do I always lift them up? If I value my employees, do they know it?

Following concern for others, comes having self confidence as a leader, tomorrows entry will be on just that!

If you are just starting to read the Leadership Qualities Series, check out the first post about it and then read the other entries in the series.

Stability - Leadership Qualities Series

The leader must understand her or his own world and how it relates to the world of others.

One cannot solve the equation of others when preoccupied with the equation of self. Empathy for employees cannot be developed if the leader is emotionally involved with personal problems. Problems with alcohol, problems with money, and problems with relationshiops are fertile fields for emotional instability. A display of emotional instability places the leader in a precarious position with regard to employees, because they will question the leader’s objectivity and judgement. Leadving personal problems at home allows the leader to think more clearly and to perform more effectively on the job. One can see the consequences of loss of stability with examples raning from the fall of Alexander the Great to the fall of Captain Queeg in The Cain Mutiny.

The leader must ask, Do I possess objectivity? Do I convey stability to my employees? Do they trust that personal problems will not interfere with my judgment?

If you are just starting to read the Leadership Qualities Series, check out the first post about it and then read the other entries in the series.

Tomorrow’s entry will be on ‘Concern for others‘.