Be Somebody

Be Somebody I was driving into work yesterday and the DJs were talking about Participation Trophys. You know about these if you have kids.Kids are being giving trophies for participating on a team.It isnt just the MVPs or Unsung Hero awards that are being passed out. Some parent decided that all the kids, especially theirs, needed recognition. What kind of precedent does that set? No wonder we hear about Gen Y being characterized as entitled. Thats how they were trained. I know, I know, this isnt true for all of Gen Y. Butwhat have we done? Life isnt fair. We all know that. It is a tough lesson to learn and one that should probably be taught earlier. Our world is so competitive. Isnt a good idea to teach kids how to compete and lose and keep trying? Mediocrity no longer is tolerated by employers. They are in business to make money and in order to do that, they need to hire star players not bench warmers. They cant afford to. They are operating lean and mean, especially right now after the layoffs many have done. Instead of being a generalistyou need to have a specialty as well. Perhaps being a jack of all trades and a master of ONE is your new message. What will your ONE specialty be? (Most everyone has one, yet we take it for granted.) Think about the good things your past colleagues have said about you. Review past performance appraisals. Read through customer letters of thanks. The answer lies in them. What I am talking about is leveraging your innate talents by creating a greater awareness (perception) of them. Who needs to know about this talent? Who needs to be reminded of this talent? What company is in dire need of this talent? If we teach this valuable lesson to our children today, they will be better able to thrive in the new world we live in. Can we teach them to continue to develop themselves, set goals, learn how to selland to be good people? Can we? We need to develop a team of hungry players- people who will do anything (ethical) to makethis world a better place.