Issue #50

In this issue:

Word to the Whys

"Success comes before work only in the dictionary"
Vince Lombardi

"It's important to know that words don't move mountains. Work, exacting work moves mountains."
Danilo Dolci

"Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made by singing: — 'Oh, how beautiful!' and sitting in the shade."
Rudyard Kipling

"Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
Thomas Alva Edison

"I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but should get you pretty near."
Margaret Thatcher

"Don't tell me about the pain, just show me the baby!"
Bill Parcells—Head Coach, Dallas Cowboys

"This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."
Elmer Davis—legendary broadcaster

"Pride is a better motivator than fear."
John Wooden

"One thing vampire children need to be taught early-on is don't run with a wooden stake."
Jack Handey—Author of Deep Thoughts

See Eric in Action! Click for a video preview of Eric's
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Links of Note...

The answers are just a few clicks away...

Getting Them to Give a Damn: How to Get Your Front Line to Care About Your Bottom Line
the new book by Eric Chester reveals the management techniques that leading-edge employers are using to get these quirky, book-smart, and streetwise employees—Eric calls them 'kidployees'—to contribute in innovative and entrepreneurial ways.

Available now. Order your copy today! -more-

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Doing the Trick is the Treat

On a recent trip with my wife to a neighborhood big box retailer we were approached by a group of energetic 13-year-old girls soliciting donations for their cause. They weren't collecting for victims of earthquakes or hurricanes, Muscular Dystrophy, March of Dimes, or any other notable charity. These girls desired new cheerleading uniforms and had obviously come to the conclusion that the easiest and quickest way to raise cash was to simply panhandle the weekend shoppers in their community. Granted, they did this in a fun and innocent way so as to make it look like it was something other than what it was: organized begging. (Gen Whys are highly altruistic and are quick to volunteer when others are in need, but that is not the focus of this article.)

As a former teacher and school activity sponsor, I had to practice extreme self-restraint, because I really wanted to let these girls have it. I felt this overwhelming urge to jump on my soapbox and tell them that while there is nothing wrong with wanting new uniforms, there is something gravely wrong with asking others to pay for them without providing anything in return. I wanted to suggest that they organize a bake sale or a raffle, sell candy bars or decorative candles, or provide some kind of meaningful service that would enable them to earn their uniforms and keep themselves and their school looking like a contributor to the community instead of a charity case. But their buckets were overflowing with cash donations and I realized that my lecture would fall on deaf ears. Their something-for-nothing fundraiser was working like a charm, and the adults who were chipping in were under the mistaken impression that they were helping these kids.

Never before has a generation been so spoiled, and yet so deprived. From cell phones to iPods to hundred-dollar sneakers, they've been showered with the latest in fashion, toys, and gadgetry from well-meaning—and, perhaps, guilt-ridden absentee parents. In the process, they've been deprived of the core values of hard work, goal setting, patience, and self-sacrifice that it took to bring those things into their lives. To them, trick-or-treating isn't a once a year event, but one that never ends. In America, you can always hold up a sign and/or say the right words, and someone will toss a goody in your bag.

If our ancestors would have shared these same values, you wouldn't be reading this article on a high tech computer in a temperature-controlled environment while sipping on a piping hot latté. The rich standard of living we often take for granted was paid for with a great deal of hard work, goal setting, patience, and self-sacrifice. To earlier generations, work was seen as a good and virtuous thing, not something to avoid.

Make no mistake about it, Gen Whys are smart, sophisticated, and have it all over us when it comes to technology. They have the skills and the talent to do great things for themselves, and for society, but their skills and talent will sit comfortably on the sidelines as long as their needs are met with little or no effort. It is high time for the adult leaders in their life to stop pandering to their whims and allow them to mature into responsible adults by allowing them to see for themselves that they cannot separate effort from reward.

This Friday, October 21, ABC News 20/20 will report on helicopter parents, a story for which I was interviewed. "Helicopter" is the adjective now being attached to overindulgent parents of grown children who 'hover' over them, refusing to let go and allow them to suffer the consequences of their own actions. By giving them everything their hearts desire and always coming to their rescue, it is my opinion that helicopter parents have stunted their maturity and growth of these coming-of-age young adults. Employers continually tell me that they are now taking on bright, talented college graduates who aren't emotionally prepared for realities and disappointments of the real world, and who may actually work very hard to avoid having to work hard.

The Take Away?—Consider the long-term implications of heaping unmerited favor on a young person, especially those you may be related to. You don't need to lecture them, and you certainly shouldn't protect them. Instead, bite your lip and have the courage to allow natural consequences to teach them that effort and reward go hand-in-hand. Help them to discover that life's greatest treats are reserved for those who perform the greatest tricks.

FEEDBACK—I have published this article in my blog, Generation Why at Work, specifically to invite your feedback. Please tell me what you think...

Whys Cracks

IF THE SHOE FITS… "I've got my foot back," says Ezekiel Rubottom, 21, of Lawrence, Kansas. "That's all I wanted." After it was amputated due to a bone infection, Rubottom kept his left foot in a bucket of formaldehyde on his front porch, but police confiscated it because, "We had to make sure that no crime had been committed," a police spokesman said. But they returned it after "verifying" it was his by looking at his medical records, which noted his recent amputation. (Lawrence Journal-World) ...
"Perhaps they could have saved time in their investigation by looking at the kid's stump.

CHEATERS DELIGHT! - Cathy Gallagher of Bethesda, MD thinks greeting card publishers are missing out on a huge market: married people having affairs. She has thus introduced the "Secret Lover Collection" for philanderers. (Sample holiday card: "As we each celebrate with our families, I will be thinking of you.") "People who are involved in affairs are not bad people," she says, defending her business model, since "a lot of people meet the right person at the wrong time." Gallagher, who is married and writes the cards herself, says she has never had an affair. "You don't have to be a murderer to write a murder mystery," she says. (Gaithersburg Gazette)
Any wonder why young people seem skeptical of long term commitments?

Did You Know?

More than half of Eric's speaking engagements are for repeat clients:

Here are a few recent bookings, followed by the number of times Eric has presented for each:

• Harley-Davidson (2)
• Wells Fargo (4)
• Hy-Vee Supermarkets (5)
• Figaro's Pizza (2)
• Michigan Association of School Boards (2)
• CITGO (2)
• Society for Human Resource Management (6)

Inquire here to find out how to bring Eric to your event!