@Dear Gen Z and Millennials
The organization you choose to start with and gain early experience from, deserves a close look and deserves a high premium for you to soar high in the future…
The following news items would have captured the attention of many executives, and so was mine.
…The CEO of Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE), Herbert Diess, told a German newspaper the arrest of Audi head Rupert Stadler was a shock and hard to comprehend…
At times like this when massive disruptions and a VUCA world is the new normal, organizational longevity getting shorter and unpredictable, the quarter to quarter pressure to look good in front of your investors, underemployment and unemployment set to increase and workforces trying to reskill and retune; greed, short termism and judgement errors by just a handful humans can lead to grave and fatal turning points for companies.
Of course upbringing and education are the basic building blocks of human beings, there is then EQ(which can be learnt) and of course the “company” one has kept or been schooled in during your formative years. When I look at my working life and the two organizations where I have spent more than 80% of my career, I fondly recollect imprint left on me by the Blue Box Values, imbibed during my foundation years with this iconic company founded in 1850, and for the past fifteen years with another brand which prides itself on the Core Values and our Leadership DNA.
Let us take a look at 2 more stories..
…“While we have never believed there is a PFC-related health problem, this settlement allows us to move past the litigation,” John Banovetz, a 3M representative, said in the courtroom in Minneapolis after the agreement was announced…”
… “The Theranos story is an important lesson for Silicon Valley,” said Jina Choi, director of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. “Innovators who seek to revolutionise and disrupt an industry must tell investors the truth about what their technology can do today, not just what they hope it might do someday.”
I think the point is made. So in closing my advise to youngsters starting their careers is to carefully choose the “company” (read organization) one gets to start with or be part of in the initial years and by no means underestimate the strength, resilience and fortitude it will build in you. We are in the post VUCA, post Digital world, you will need much more of the goodness thus transfused in your careers, than what we had when we started decades ago.
