Helicopter Parents Micromanage A New Generation

Helicopter Parents continue to micromanage their children while focusing on their own needs rather than the needs of their children. One parent moved into her daughter's dorm and slept there for four days until the room-mate kicked her out.  Check out the video below to see what I mean.

While this has been going on for many years, it appears to be getting out of hand.  The net result is a workforce unable to make decisions or problem solve.  




Yes, the new workforce is highly educated.  Many join the employment ranks with an MBA in hand but without the ability to make decisions or problem solve.

Very good reasons
I understand the pain of pushing your little bird out of the next and the psychological effects on you as a parent. I too had separation anxiety when my son Charles transitioned into adulthood.  An empty nest feels, well, empty.

It is a necessary component of parenthood though, because in order for your children to be successful in life, they must learn self-reliance.   Consider what would happen if something happened to you, how would they survive? 

 I've experienced it in my seminars
I've seen the results of micromanaged young adults in my seminars.  When presented with a case study to generate ideas and find business solutions the respond with a blank stare.  They really don't know where to start.  

Now, if they are presented with a group of ideas, they can take the ball and hit it out of the park.  Coming up with their own ideas is difficult and I blame it on their parents.

Here's why, when parents consistently make decisions for their adult children, these young adults miss the opportunity to learn self-reliance and problem solving skills.

My message to College Students
It's time for you to step up and take responsibility for your own actions.  That's why I am pleased to see you asking Mom and Dad to take a hike in the video.  I recommend you tell your parents:

"Drop me off at school and leave.  I'll be fine.  I'll learn how to take care of myself.  Then after graduation I will more prepared to go out into the world and make my own way.  I promise, I will make you proud of me."

It will be difficult for many of your parents to let go, as their intentions are good.  They want to take care of you.  But you need to take control of your own life now to ensure your future success. 

The reporter in the story shared a little video from his own son requesting "Mom, Dad, It's time to let go."  Good for you, that's the first step of growing up and taking responsibility for yourself. 

Your comments are welcome.  Please share your thoughts or experiences with this.  I'd love to hear from you. 

 

Beloit College Mindset List for 2014 Misses the Mark

Texting During Class

The Beloit mindset list for the class of 2014 was just released and it's pretty interesting.

Response to the Beloit Mindset List was immediate and mostly negative. There's a lot of push back on the items listed.

On NPR the response was instantaneous. The writer particularly takes exception to several items on the 75 item list especially #58, "Beethoven has always been a good name for a dog."

I'm with you Linda Holmes, especially regarding the opening section about Benny Hill.

I for one find item #73 "Silicone breast implants have always been regulated" especially of interest since they seem to be everywhere these days. To many college students, getting implants are equal to new shoes or a backpack for school.  It's nothing more than an accessory.

Some things missing from the list include more serious topics such as the aspirations for the class of 2014.

While previous generations aspired to being a doctor or the President of the United States, today's graduate dreams of being a celebrity.

Getting hired for a "Reality Show" is most highly favored.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the path to success in life for the Class of 2014  is more likely to be:

1. Get a sex tape
2. Get exposure
3. Get a reality show
4. Get famous

Just watch Baby Boomer Laurence Fishbourne squirm in recent news about his shameless daughter.

At Boston.com they selected their 10 favorite items on the Beloit College List  including the ever popular, "they don't need wristwatch and find email antiquated." Text them, or be ignored. It's your choice.

I'd rather text than talk

In a recent class I noticed a Gen Y student responding to a text using one hand and her thumb moved so fast it made me chuckle.

I think the writers of the Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014 made an incomplete list.   What do you think  of their list and what would you add to it?

Finding Work the Social Media Way - Use Creativity

Let's take a look at how it works



As the economy slowly picks up, job seekers are using more creative means of finding a new position. Thinking outside the box can put you in front of the right people, the ones who have the authority to bring you on board.

Traditional methods no longer work

One must design a specific plan of attack and work it like no other. In one of my previous blog posts, I shared the strategy of one job seeker who created a video demonstrating the company's product on himself.

In that same blog post, a Baby Boomer created a mock interview video including a unique means of presenting his resume to his potential employer.

Create your own fantastic opportunity

Finding a job in a tough economy requires standing your previous strategy on its head. Posting resumes no longer work, simply using sites like LinkedIn are single threaded means to get hired.

As this video shows, using Social Media strategically can get you an interview with the CEO. Done correctly, the turn around time for your "in person" interview could be just a few keystrokes away.

3 Keys To Facebook's Success - Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg share's his views on how to be successful.

Facebook is on the brink of 500 million users and people are signing up every day. This is one site where multi-generations at a global level connect and communicate on a daily basis. Cross-generational sharing and learning is seamless.

Millennials in the Workplace - Great Expectations

 "I love flashmobs or commercials that talk about concepts rather than products; both are a refreshing change to marketing and make me feel like I'm part of something by engaging me rather than inundating me." - Mia, age 24

They are not like previous generations.  The communicate differently and view work through their own unique lens.

They are the Millennials in your workplace.

They want shared responsibility & flattened leadership
Previous generations respected the corporate hierarchy and wouldn't dream of doing end runs around their personal manager.  Millennials think nothing of sending the CEO an email to share their ideas directly with the person in charge.  

They don't understand why this is an issue.  In fact, they will call senior staff by their first name on day one.  

"That's his name isn't it?"

Managing Millennials
The 7 minute video below shows Millennials in action at work.
 



Generation Save
According to the Chicago Tribune, in a recent survey by Microsoft Inc., titled "Millennials in Financial Services" conducted by KRC Research in Washington, DC,  

"Of the estimated 80 million Millennials in the workplace, only half report they are currently planning to invest in the stock market, savings accounts, or 401(k)s" because they have less trust in banking and investment firms since the bailouts of AIG, and global banks a year ago."

Millennials in the survey believe that the U.S. financial industry is out of touch with the way they would like to communicate with their financial institutions.

What is your company's approach?
As you can see from the video and the survey cited, Millennials in your workplace have great expectations of their corporations and their career.   They are glad to share it with you and are not averse to telling you exactly what their expectations are.  

What approach is your company taking to accommodate the Millennials?  Have you even considered this aspect in your recruitment techniques?  Your comments are welcome.   
 

Lessons Learned on Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice

  Celebrity Apprentice is finally over and we have a winner.  The Donald promises that the next Apprentice show will again feature regular people instead of celebrities.  I think that's a good thing.  Yes, I know it ended a week ago, but I wanted to let the idea for this post marinate before I wrote it.  I wanted to ensure I captured the communication styles.

One of the interesting things that caused me to watch the show this season is the mixed generation of the teams.   Unlike previous versions of the show, this season the communication demonstrated (for me) a vivid disconnect between the generations.

Here are a few of my observations:

4/18/10
I'm getting a kick out of the generational disconnect Cyndi Lauper and Maria Kanellis is having during their communication. "I watched you and I listened to you 'when I was growing up' and you hurt my feelings" Maria says. The interesting thing is they are talking AT each other and processing what each hears through their own generational filter. This is a difficult situation for both of them.

At one point during the project a young artist is made up for the photo shoot and  the makeup artist tells Lauper;  "I air brushed her"

Cyndi Lauper "YOU AIRBRUSHED HER?!"  You spray pained this kid?  She's 25, you don’t spray paint a kid.  You spray the old buzzards, not the kids."
 
Maria says "Cyndi thinks she's right and everybody else is stupid.

Sharon Osborne says "This is how Cyndi and I make our living.  This is what we do professionally and we've both done extremely well out of it.  So yes, she's going to ask me my opinion over all the girls.  It's just the way it is.  It's not about you, you, it's about the task."

Cyndi wants her to have a look like Bridgette Bardot.  More generational disconnect.  (As I observe I wonder if Maria even knows who Bridgette Bardot is).

They don't feel any respect from Cyndi.  They feel like she treats them like two turnips who just fell of the truck.  

Maria '"Think about what you can say" - for the media training portion of the challenge.

The guys are also having communication disconnects.  They find it incredulous that Rod Blagojevich can't even turn on the computer.  "this is a man who was Governor of the State of Illinois" one of them mutters.  Yes, some boomers who are not computer savvy but this is ridiculous!

Maria whines and pouts all through the photo shoot task about how she's been a model, etc. etc.  BUT this is a missed opportunity for her.  She could have used the time to learn from an experienced pro.  Thirty years of experience for crying out loud.  Instead she's jealous and whining.   She could have learned a lot from Cyndi.  Instead, she tunes Cyndi out.

IN THE BOARDROOM

Maria: " The vision of my childhood idol is being ruined"

Cyndi: "I'll send you a picture and you can throw darts at it."

Maria:  "Cyndi treated me like a child.  So I got defensive.  She's gone from Girls Just Want To Have Fun to girls just want to be mean."
 
Donald:  "Do you think she was mean?"

Maria:  "She was mean."

In the end the Women won.  So Cyndi must have done something right!  Vindication!  Yes!

May 2nd show

Cyndi Lauper is still caught in the generational communication disconnect with two of her female teammates.  The project manager ­Summer talks down to her and Lauper walks out muttering "I'm not in high school anymore."

Then while she is working on her task the project manager comes in and crosses out what she wrote and her tone is not a friendly one.

Later on as I watch them "working" in a room to create their 30 second jingle, I notice that Cyndi Lauper has shut down.  She is following instructions and being quiet.  The unfortunate result is that only two of the four team members are working on the task.  This is due to the fact that they have also alienated the male member of the team.  He too has shut down.

Soon Cyndi remarks "I'm on the girls don’t have any fun" team.

Truth is Cyndi is creative and they are more corporate.  This is another communication style disconnect as part of the team is very serious while the other wants to have fun with the creative process.

Watching the team dynamics of both Tenacity and Rock Solid is truly a lesson in the creative process, communication styles and generational differences.

After Maria grabs a piece of Curtis' pizza for Bret Michaels, Curtis is angry and pouting. This sparks a remark from Sharon Osborne "A 33 year old young guy thinks he's so HOT!  That's a put off for me and it's like "God bless you kid, but I've got nothing to say to you."  Later she tells Trump he's too smug for her and she doesn't like him.

In the van on the way to the presentation Holly Robinson Peete had the nerve to tell CYNDI LAUPER "it's all about live performing" - she didn't want Cyndi to sing the jingle.

Cyndi's response "You know, I can do live performances because I do it for a living."

These young people are amazingly disrespectful to Cyndi Lauper.  It's truly appalling the way they speak down to her. I realize this is the Celebrity Apprentice and Trump encourages them to do awful things in order to win, but people's personalities revel themselves in times of stress.

They asked Cyndi NOT to sing live because she might miss her cue.

Team member, Curtis, couldn't believe it and said "You've got to use a Cyndi Lauper voice it's unique." He thinks it's a mistake not to use her.

In the end, the executives favorite part of the commercial is Cyndi singing.

Bottom line, the team lost so the project manager was fired.  I wonder if the result would have been different had the project manager communicated better with Cyndi and Curtis (who are both still there).  She essentially shut down the creativity of two of her people and ultimately paid the price.

Communication skills are key if one is to succeed both personally and professionally.

The Winner

Ultimately, the Celebrity Apprentice winner, was Brett Michaels.  This was a surprise as his communication style was out there.  First of all he is a Gen X, second of all, his creative style is closer to Cyndi Lauper's which is talkative and fun, third he thinks outside of the box.    Both are nonconformists with a non-corporate style of communicating.  Turn them loose and ask them to be creative and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Lesson Learned 

When emotional outbursts and communication disconnects happen with your team, don't assume it's any one thing.  It could be a combination of personalities, generations, management styles, listening styles, or communication styles.

This season of Celebrity Apprentice had an interesting mix of generations, communication styles, management styles (creative vs. corporate) and reactions to stress.

Donald Trump was the puppet master whose leadership style leaves a lot to be desired.  He seems to revel in the stress he places on the actors, but I wonder how he would behave if that level of stress were placed on him.  I have a feeling, it wouldn't be pretty.

Using Twitter to Find Your Next Job - Learn how to find the Decision Makers Quickly

This video demonstrates how easy it is to find a job using Twitter.

I recently attended a face to face networking event with a group from LinkedIn in Chicago and was surprised when some attendees told me they were "old school" and weren't interested in sites like Twitter.

They had joined LinkedIn because it is known as a professional social network but viewed Facebook and Twitter as time wasters.  Many of them are job seekers and I hope they see this post as it will help them to realize the power of Twitter as well.

In this video one person shares how he was able to connect with decision makers and get hired not once but twice using Twitter.

I encourage you to watch this video and learn another way to use Social Media to make powerful connections.  In today's world knowledge is power only if you use it.

I would love to hear your comments on this.