KEVIN MAYALL
Capturing the GenNext dividend Role models can lift up our children
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very human being is born with their own unique talent, a talent that can be used to positively contribute to the world. It is my belief that we as a society need to find a way to capture and enhance those talents. Our planet’s economic and social well-being depends on it. Currently we do this by an education system designed and delivered to pass on knowledge. Get good grades so you can get a good job.
Teachers Matter
But is just teaching our kids academic qualifications enough anymore? Our economy needs educated, motivated young adults entering the work force. Yet youth unemployment remains a problem along with a myriad of related issues. There is also the widening gap between opportunities for lower-decile children to succeed compared to kids from more privileged backgrounds. Teachers do a fabulous job passing on the knowledge to gain qualifications, but who is passing on the life skills needed? There is a significant gap in the curriculum in this area.
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Answer this question: Why do most people live within 50 kilometres of where they were born? The answer is that we are socially imprinted to accept and surround ourselves with what we consider “normal.” It makes sense to our brain to surround ourselves with what we consider normal because it’s all we know. Here in lies the crux of the problem. Some kids (the “haves”) receive positive resourceful imprinting whilst others (“have nots”) miss out. This is a critical area that needs addressing in our education curriculum.
Here are two key areas that need to be added to our children’s education: Mindset: A study of people who lead resourceful, purposeful and happy lives shows us that they have inherited social conditioning that says it’s normal to make positive choices and have daily habits that support success. But what if you haven’t had this social conditioning? If no one gives you the tools, in this case mindset, then how will you ever achieve? The children of people like Sir Peter Leach (The Mad Butcher) have had a prosperity mindset instilled in them from day one. It is this mindset that creates the tools, thoughts and beliefs and habits to create economic opportunity. If kids don’t have access to this mindset, then how will they ever know how to achieve, or for that matter, what achieving even looks like? You only know what you know until someone teaches you otherwise. Networks: The “Haves” have networks where they conduct their business. It is these networks that give them the opportunity to express their qualifications and personal attributes. The network provides economic prosperity for the students who have access to it. We often hear the term “old boys’ network”. So how do kids in a lower socioeconomic group get into these networks? How will they ever get that same opportunity? The answer: Everyone knows “what goes around comes round” or “Give and you shall receive.” It’s the concept of karma. I advocate our prosperous sections of society
spend time in our less prosperous areas and simply spread the word. We do this by getting our kids alongside positive people who show them how they have achieved and pass on all of their knowledge, contacts, thoughts and beliefs and habits. Most people who are wealthy haven’t had it all handed it to them. Most have battled and scraped their way over coming many obstacles. Pass on this information. Pass on your networks. Pass on the entrepreneurship and life skills. Teach our children innovation and learn how to create money. Students of entrepreneurship would learn management, finance, sales, marketing, negotiating, statistics and even design. And not just the business side of things; they’d learn about lifestyle choices, personal habits, family and giving back. Teach our children how to be good social citizens. The education our kids receive would be infinitely different if students were surrounded by successful business people, caring community workers, high-performing athletes and successful recording artists. Our kids would be learning positive thought beliefs and habits that would help them make good lifestyle choices and encourage and empower them to be all that they can be. GenNext are an amazing generation, and every day I work with them they never cease to amaze me. They see the world in a completely different way to other generations. Other generations have been programmed to climb the ladder, waiting for their success later on in life. Not GenNext. They want it now, and they want to use their success, gifts and talents for good social causes. They want the world to be a better place. We can do this by giving them an education system that supports their vision of the world so we can capture the GenNext dividend.
