I was sitting down the other day and contemplating my own work, school and life experiences in relation to my younger siblings who were born in the close of the millennium and what great differences exist! This younger, vibrant, tech savvy and creative pack want success now even at any cost. It would be hard to catch them working in a company for more than 5-10 years, seeking an internship without pay as opposed to finding work that pays and being patient with difficulties until it works out.
This group can be forgetful of assignments or commitments that they had promised to execute, prefer holding a conversation online via WhatsApp, Facebook or Twitter while you are right in front of them than the old traditional way of sitting, listening and having eye contact. To them, life is easy and everything is possible- have fun and enjoy life as it comes and stop getting too serious with relationships, work or at times school if its not adding value to your life.
In order to understand and communicate with this ‘creative’ bunch, a brother, sister, parent, teacher and employer must seek to strike a relationship of trust and respect. They have great potential and only need a push in the right direction before they can take-off and fly. Please, learn to listen and to provide constructive improvement points. Share your life experiences, be real, open up and they will respond in the same way. Don’t judge, try to see things from their perspective, encourage, motivate and inspire them to achieve their goals. The success of the world economy will depend on harnessing the potential of this generation for good- otherwise we will be finding them being used in drug cartels, cyber space crimes and on the payroll of terrorists groups.
