I can’t possibly start an article about 4Roles4Goals without a comment on the start of the World Cup, indeed this morning as I sat at my desk I have been the subject of jokes because of pulling Argentina out of the hat in the sweepstake! Can you imagine how the Argentinian players felt? In contrast the elation of the Croatian Team? Seeing the shot of the crowd so devastated at the defeat of Argentina by Croatia was more than just a loss of a game to them, it was a reputational disaster.
This got me thinking. How many people out there have an expectation of an outcome thrust upon them by managers, parents, teachers, coaches or friends? At this time of year with exams, I can imagine in particular the pressure on young people – which typically also morphs into the dreaded careers conversations and again aspirations of others!
All I would like to do is make a plea – to everyone – Young People really don’t have to know what they want to do for a living, but they do need to know their particular interests and motivators.
Through my Business Mentoring or Career Days in Colleges and Academies in Kent, I have experienced the student who says they have been told that because they are good at maths, they need to go into accountancy. This then creates the following conversation pattern:
“What kind of accountancy?” I ask
“Erm…with maths” they say
“Yes, maths but what area and industry would you like to do accountancy – indeed do YOU want to go for a career in accountancy?”
“Yes, accountancy is good, but I don’t know what types there are”
So in just a few sentences, I get to understand lots about the Young Person and the way the future career has been suggested to them. Most have said that I am the first person to not talk about what career they want to do, but to understand what their interests and particular skills are and what they want from a future.
In other words, there is a career word e.g. Accountancy, but there is an industry requirement for the Young Person to consider to specific the type of accountant they want to be.
4Roles4Goals prides itself on focusing on the Young Person and their development of soft skills, providing them with real world interactive work experiences to show the wealth of careers available to them – and to remove the focus from the ‘traditional’ roles within particular sectors to the full range for consideration.
Our experiences have been able to show Young People that hospitality is more than just working in restaurants and bars, there are sporting arenas which require specialist hospitality – like our British Super Bikes (BSB) event and enabling the Young People to see the wealth of careers within one section of the TycoBMW BSB Team – the VIP hospitality complete with chef, translators, press, serving staff and evening entertainment.
We love empowering Young People and ‘educating them by stealth’, out of a school environment, but truly connecting with the community and careers out there! You want to see how nervous Business Owners or Community Leads get when they know they are going to be interviewed by Young People! By reversing the tables, all parties involved come out of comfort zones temporarily!
So back to the original lines and that disappointment felt by the Players and Supporters of Argentina – a world stage with no possibility of hiding reactions – and then the elation of Croatia. No doubt Argentina will come out on the pitch next week with a totally different attitude (if they came out expecting to win and not work hard then what a lesson they have learnt). But we don’t want this for our Young People.
We want them to always feel like the Croatian Team – doing their best, achieving and having the support and encouragement to break free from the expectation of an outcome thrust upon them by managers, parents, teachers, coaches or friends, and into a world of their own. They’ll win some, lose some but overall, they will be proud of their own paths.
About the author:
Nicola is one of the Co-Founders of 4Roles4Goals and owns a Project Management Consultancy, Diligence (PM) Services Ltd. Based in Kent, Nicola is the winner of the Kent Women in Business, Women in Construction Award and Chair of the Kent and Medway Construction Guild. Connecting with Nicola is easy – find her on LinkedIn /Twitter - @NicolaC_KMCG. 4Roles4Goals Ltd is a not for profit, careers and community focused business. Endorsed by Dartford FC where you can find out about us on the Community Tab.
For more information contact Nicola Coppen - 4roles4goals@gmail.com