KIDS ARE OUR FUTURE

Found this interesting article about the comparison between my generation and the previous.
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> KIDS ARE OUR FUTURE

I've lost count of the adults I've seen who have thrown their arms up in the air, in despair over this new generation of kids and said, "Ah! Kids today! They're worse than ever!"

While this statement may be coming from an adult who's simply speaking from their personal experience, statistics are clear that this statement is wrong on the whole. If you examine what's going on nationwide, you'll see that this new generation of young adults are, indeed, different. But in a good way. Their grades, their behavior and their passion to change the world has gone up. Teen pregnancy, drug use and alcohol abuse has gone down. These kids may prove to be much more valuable to society than either of the last two generations. They may be the best educated, most informed generation in history. In fact, for the first time, this generation doesn't need leaders to get information. Thanks to the internet, an audience of kids can know more about a subject than the speaker does. What they need is leaders who can help them interpret the information they receive. In other words, they don't need leaders to access data. They need leaders to process data. That's where mentors come in. We hold the key. If we're going to focus on this next generation, the Millennials, we need to know who they are, how they think and what they need. Let's take a look at how their brains work and how we can connect with them.

A Comparison and Contrast of Two Generations
Millennials (or Generation Y) represent a shift from the mindset of the previous generation, the Baby Busters (or Generation X). While some characteristics remain the same, I believe major changes have taken place as the Busters have given way to the Millennials. Let me compare and contrast the two generations below.

Comparison Between Generation X and Generation Y
- Both love community
- Both appreciate authenticity
- Both recognize the world is messed up
- Both hunger for better, more healthy families
- Both are at home in the world of digital technology
- Both learn best through images, relationships and experiences

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Contrast Between Generation X and Millennials
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Generation X (1965-1983)
1. Anti-establishment
2. Angered by their broken world
3. Cynical and jaded
4. Struggles with authority
5. Wants to escape their problems
6. Movie: Reality Bites
7. Ignores leadership and authority
8. My job is an irritant
9. Who cares about transcript/resume?
10. I'm not interested in leadership

Generation Y (1984-2002)
1. Work within establishment
2. Challenged by their broken world
3. Optimistic
4. Struggles with reality
5. Wants to fix their problems
6. Movie: Pay It Forward
7. Chooses leadership and authority
8. My career is a place to serve
9. Load up the transcript and resume
10. I plan to change my world

The Good News
The good news is adults do not have to share identical experiences with students in order to help them. In other words, it is not required that mentors possess expertise and experience in the areas they are coaching their mentee. It helps, but it is not necessary. They simply must be able to see what the mentee cannot see, provide some clarification, support them and hold them accountable until they make progress. My friend Andy Stanley told me recently that he's coached a number of mentees in areas he is not an expert. That may shock you, but here is what he told me. He was simply able to see something they were not, and understood the steps they could take to get them to their goal. Let me summarize:

Notify
Mentors must see what the mentee cannot and share it with him or her.

Clarify
Mentors must provide some clarification on the focus for the mentee.

Demystify
Mentors must offer coaching and direction to the mentee to take some steps.

Fortify
Mentors must support and encourage the mentee to take those steps.

Intensify
Mentors must hold the mentee accountable until progress is made.

Someone Out There Needs You!
It sounds cliché, but kids are our future. They're the wisest investment you can make with your life. I believe there is a potential "giant" somewhere out there who needs you to become their mentor. Despite your feelings of inadequacy, you need to take a step and go after them. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Sure, you will run into conflict and hardship; you may likely find a young "protégé" who says he or she wants to be challenged--then promptly runs from you! Go after them. Whether they know it or not, they need you.

Let me close with this analogy. Driving along a freeway one night, a woman noticed the headlights of a huge semi-truck tailgating her much too closely. She sped up, but so did the truck. She became afraid and drove even faster. Finally she exited the freeway and raced toward a nearby gas station. The truck followed her in. She leaped from her car and ran into the garage as onlookers stood by. The truck driver then climbed down from his cab, walked to her car and pulled a would-be rapist from her back seat! The trucker had spotted the man from his higher vantage point and had determined to save the woman from harm. The woman, in essence, was running from the wrong man.

In a similar way, a student may run from or resist the help of a mentor because of different vantage points and a misunderstanding of motives. And too often we give up our attempts to mentor because helping them is just too much of a hassle.

Trust me--there is a hassle to the business of mentoring this next generation. There are risks as well. That's why so few do it. But remember: to get to the fruit, you've got to go out on a limb.

(This article is an excerpt from Tim Elmore's new book: Life-Giving Mentors. It is available now at our website: www.GrowingLeaders.com/store).
-Tim Elmore, mailto:insight@growingleaders.com