Reflections on the Challenges of Young Professionals

Two weeks ago I was invited by a former employer, a consulting engineering company, to speak to a group of their graduate engineers who are in their mentorship programme. These young people are undergoing the necessary training in order to register as professionals in their field. In a country where you hear of the dearth of engineering skills, it was clear to me that I was speaking to a group that should see itself as special. To my surprise, they saw themselves as very ordinary.

My short talk focused mainly on issues that I thought as professionals they need to think about.  I spoke about the meaning of the journey they were starting; the foundations they were laying for their professional development; how in the process they will start to express their character, which will make each one stand out; and that by the end of the journey, which is about five years after graduating, some will have to make other important career decisions, perhaps with even more significance than the decision they made on the field of study.

Our conversation also focused on what I saw as some of the defining characteristics they would have to hone:  professional independence;  integrity; a strong ethical foundation; putting their clients and society first;  resist all forms of corruption; commitment to their craft; hard and smart work; reliability; trustworthy; and work that is consistent from a quality point of view. We challenged each other on the meaning of money and material things, the need to ensure ongoing education, reading, creating networks.

What I found most interesting in the whole dialogue was their reaction to my point that it was critical that they also get time to know self. I indicated that in my own professional development, how much I wish that I had received such advice much earlier. I also realised that as we spoke about the different tools one could use to get feedback in order to know self, they could see how this was connected to how they would make decisions about their careers in future. Whilst some could envy those in non-technical jobs in business, I cautioned them on the risk of chasing something because it seemed lucrative but did not talk to one’s personality. 

In a world that is increasingly complex, with advanced information technology tools, and a very fast pace of development, the questions I dealt with made me appreciate even more the challenges that many young people entering the world of work face. I also realised even more the important role that the appropriate mentorship will continue to play as we see the baton of leadership being passed onto the next generation. After all, this group I was talking to included people who would be designing our future water systems; our road infrastructure; our rail networks; buildings that reflect a new way of life and work; and many other infrastructure assets that are so critical for a modern economy and a sustainable society.

I was happy to have played my little part in encouraging them to become what they want to be, and had feelings of gratitude with how their questions made me learn so much of the challenges that they are dealing with.

The challenges for young professionals are a great opportunity for learning and reflection.

The Uniqueness of Leadership

This 27 October 2012, South Africans remembered one of the greatest leaders this nation has produced, Oliver Reginald (OR) Tambo, on what would have been his 95^th birthday. This great person, who walked the long journey to freedom with his friend, comrade and partner in a law firm, Nelson Mandela, was celebrated for his sacrifice and leadership. I was fortunate to also witness one of the tributes our country gave to this great person, when our Deputy President officially declared his final resting place, and that of his wife Adelaide, a national monument. It was in this moving ceremony where I also got a moment to reflect on the meaning of OR Tambo’s leadership lessons.

There have been many things written about OR Tambo especially by those who knew him personally. I would not want to be like an expert on “OR”’s leadership characteristics. What struck me the most, however, was that no one has said that OR Tambo was like this or other person. “OR” acted out his leadership in the OR Tambo way. The second notable thing for me was that “OR” displayed his leadership character over a long period. He was tested at different moments and situations in the liberation struggle, in which there must have been moments of despair, as well as those of great excitement. Those who know him had the benefit of observing his character and leadership through these various moments. They noted the consistency he displayed over these varied moments and points in history, where he had a record of service to the struggle for liberation that exceeded fifty years.

Many of us aspire to for leadership in one way or the other, in the context of whatever our life situation is. I would argue strongly that one of the drawbacks is that we try to imitate someone else, whereas the leadership challenge requires of us to show who we are and what is unique about us. It is this uniqueness that differentiates a person. Otherwise what reason would others have to either choose a person as a leader or give them leadership responsibilities? In the case of “OR”, all he did was to show who he was and allowed others to experience it so that over time many would see the value he would add. Importantly, he never rushed to grab the limelight, but his unique being enabled others to see and appreciate him. And they found it easy to entrust him with the most serious responsibilities.

In seeking to reflect our uniqueness, we also need to appreciate that it has to show itself over many different situations. It cannot be a flash in the pan-type of experience, where a single moment can become a defining one for a person’s leadership character. Whilst there may be moments of great significance, it is clear that we should seek to apply our leadership traits over many different situations and times, for us to have a full appreciation of who we are and how uniquely we reflect this. Consistency of action in practicing our craft, regardless of the career path we have chosen, is a useful lesson of the OR Tambo experience for me.

The life that “OR” led makes this very complex exercise of reflecting the Uniqueness of Leadership look very simple. It provides very useful lessons from the life of a great person.

The Fruits of a Long-Term but Flexible Approach

This week I felt inspired and could draw some career lessons from three media stories involving my former employer, the Coega Development Corporation (CDC). The CDC’s main responsibility is to develop the Coega Industrial Development Zone (CIDZ) in Port Elizabeth as an investment destination, and in the process help create employment through real economic development in one of the South Africa’s poorest provinces. The stories involved a tomato-farming project employing 200 people directly as a result of a tomato-paste manufacturing facility at the CIDZ commissioned in 2011, to which the farming project will supply tomatoes; an agreement by a Coega-based dairy, owned by local communities, employees and farmers’ co-operatives, which became operational in 2011, to set up a joint-venture with a leading food retail and services company to make cheese-products through a new manufacturing facility next to the dairy; and an incentive by the local municipality provided to a national heath and financial services group that has invested and created more than 330 jobs since 2011 in a business process outsourcing park that the CDC developed and commissioned in 2010.

A development such as the CIDZ requires careful planning, project management and a development approach that should take account of a range of possible events and changes in the global economy over many years. Conceived in the late 1990’s, I have the benefit of knowing that in the beginning of the project, investments in the sectors of the economy mentioned above (agro-processing and business services) were not the main focus. Rather, the emphasis then was on using the country’s strength in minerals and metals as a springboard for large industrial investments. Fortunately, the planning for the CIDZ had the flexibility to adapt to changes in the economy as well as the nature of demand for its location services. It also required that the initial planners and drivers have the necessary patience for the results that would only accrue in the long-term, notwithstanding many prophets of doom in the beginning. I doubt if the CDC would have been prepared for the many challenges it has faced over the years without a staff with the requisite skill and knowledge, as well as an active support network. I also doubt if the CDC could have made such progress without taking risks and venturing into the unknown. And as these initiatives come to fruition, it is very easy for us to underestimate the meaning of their foundation.  

More importantly for me, what lessons does this mean for career and personal development? It is clear that one has to always develop the necessary skills and capabilities that are adaptable, especially in a fast-changing technology-driven world. I can also surmise that the ability to think in a long-term way makes one make the kind of personal investment decisions, such as in education and training, as well as career choices that prepare one for opportunities that may arise. In the same way that the CDC remained resolute in its goal to ensure economic development, an individual has to have the courage not to be discouraged by all the negative voices around them in their quest to achieve success. Without taking risks, the rewards are likely to be mediocre at best and nil at worst. Lastly, when opportunities arise, even if they were not in one’s initial thought, an individual has to be able to grab these, having armed themselves with the necessary skills, knowledge and networks that create the foundation for a successful outcome. Some call this luck, and the wise say it happens when opportunity meets preparation.

Career dilemmas from individual expression and belonging

A friend two weeks ago had to make an important decision. He has worked and made a good career to be a senior manager in his company, which he joined eight years ago. He was now feeling as if he no longer belongs to this company, but at same time was not sure if he really wanted to go, given the potential for growth. In our discussion, it became clear to me that the biggest issues he was dealing with had to do with new norms that seem to have formed with a change of senior leadership in this company and also his own growth and development. He was feeling that he is not able to “express” himself as much as he would want to, and do things in the way that he wanted noting how much he had grown. My conclusion in our discussion was that he was not necessarily ready to leave but was dealing with something that in one of my favourite books is referred to as the paradox of identity (Paradoxes of Group  Life: Understanding Conflict, Paralysis, and Movement in Group Dynamics, by Kenwyn K. Smith and David N. Berg).

Today I will quote some of what Smith and Berg say, as a lot of what they write about affects many of us who work in companies but always feel some internal conflict between “conforming” and “being self”. For Smith and Berg, the paradox of identity “is expressed by the struggle of individuals and the group to establish a unique and meaningful identity where each is an integral part of the other”.

Expanding further on this concept, they write as follows: “When individuals approach a group, they invariably struggle with what they are going to have to give up in order to belong. Likewise, a group as a whole often expresses concern over whether its stipulated purposes can be achieved given the individuals of which it is constituted. These twin dilemmas can lead members to look around for ‘good’ groups, by which they mean that individuality will be minimally compromised, and groups to look around for ‘good’ members – that is, people willing to put the group ahead of themselves”. It is amazing how much conflict occurs both within companies and in society because of our inability to manage this seeming contradiction, where a group may want the individual to behave according to particular “norms”, and the individual wanting to change the group into something that he or she would wish to be a part of.

Smith and Berg offer a paradoxical approach that they say “conceptualizes the processes through which both the individual and group identity are formed as being one and the same. In this frame, individuals are seen as both creating and being created by the groups to which they belong… The struggle so often observed between the individual and the group is predominantly a struggle occurring simultaneously within the individual and within the group over how to live with the tension created by the mutual processes of adjustment of the individuals to the group and the group to its individual members”.

Would I, on the basis of what is said above, be advising my friend that he must not leave his company?  The answer is a definite no. However, I would be saying he must think carefully of making an abrupt decision when his active involvement as an individual may influence an environment to be one that he considers more palatable. It also requires of him to not only invest his energy on a past that he likes, but in defining a future that may be. And he cannot do that without an active process of communication within his company. And my advice to him was that he should explore, find someone to communicate with in the company, and see how he can make the current process work better for him. I also advised him that if he finds that the differences are so fundamental, he still can exercise the choice of leaving the company. My only contribution was to get him to review the lens through which he views all that is happening around him, and the processes he uses to engage in order to come to a final decision.

Each one of us has to make these difficult decisions at some point in our careers. Let us explore them through different frames.

The Benefits of “Encountering Other”

Early this week I received a call from an ex-colleague, seeking my assistance. She had been having a discussion with a young professional in her company whom she thought could benefit from some kind of a mentoring relationship with me. I gladly agreed.  And the young professional has since contacted me, based on my ex-colleague’s recommendation. And she has come to me with the confidence that our conversations and dialogue will help guide her towards realising her dreams. And what inspiring dreams she does have.

This has got me thinking about the meaning of ‘encountering other’ in the context of the journey that I must travel with this young professional. In specific terms, what does this mean for me, in terms of the responsibility that has been entrusted to me, and also for her, in terms of the faith she has placed in my ex-colleague’s recommendation. And also what is required of each one of us in the process to ensure that the objectives she has of this exercise will be a success.

It is easy to see the process of encountering other as simply being about meeting another person. But then if we reflect on the relational issues, we must ask as to how much does this require of us to know ourselves? In the specific context of this encounter, does this not require of me to know how I would add value to another person’s life, what specific abilities did my ex-colleague think would impact positively on this young professional, and how do I project these in a way that will benefit her? How do I read whether I am starting to make the positive impact that this young professional is expecting?

In order to answer these questions, it requires of me to know myself better than I think I do. Otherwise, I will have a very limited ability to know how I could make the right impact, and ensure that the hopes that are placed by this young professional on my guidance are realised. And the better I know who I am, the more I am able to project and reflect this to many that I will encounter. In simple terms, I have better grasp of my personality and value.

So, although I was called for the purpose of assisting another person, the process by its nature benefits me in ways that I could not have predicted.

This to me confirms my view that the benefits of encountering and mentoring far exceed the costs in terms of time that one must invest. Not just for those being mentored or assisted, but also for those who may be seen to be doing the mentoring and assistance.

Encounter other.

Our power to inspire

I regard inspiration as a very important but intangible asset in one’s life. Its potential to help one see possibilities, seek to achieve their dreams and do the things that have meanings for them, is often understated.

This week I received personal notes from two young people who read my recently published book (A Rural Boy’s Tale of Progress: Life Lessons from my Parents). One of them, reflecting on a chapter in the book entitled Failure is not Permanent, was moved enough to write and thank me for including that chapter in the book.  And because of the inspiration he got from what it says, he was moved enough to finish a project important in his life that he had ignored.

The other one said that after reading my book, she was totally moved to write hers.  She felt that the personal way I wrote my book, and what it reflects on, had opened a new window for her.  And then she told me the most important thing: that I must be happy that it has at least impacted one person.

This confirms to me that each one of us have the power to touch and inspire someone. I have used the book as a tool to do that, but there are many ways we can do this. Previously (see previous blog  entitled Creating breeds new energy), I wrote about the importance of creating. Inspiration has a direct relationship to it.

The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary describes inspiration as “the process that takes place when somebody sees or hears something that causes them to have exciting new ideas or makes them want to create something…”. 

In order to create, we must be inspired. This may happen on its own, but more importantly, note that you have the power and ability and power to inspire other. Use it to trigger this important process.

Inspire other.  Change a life.  Be inspired.

Khwezi

Creating breeds new energy

Interactions I have had these past few weeks, ever since my book was published, have made me reflect on the value of creating things and how that can transform one's life experience.

Writing the book, on something that I have a passion for, made me realise that I had not paid enough attention to the value of creating things outside the work environment.  I may have done positive things with many people around the world, but writing the book is one of the major things I have personally created. The experience has transformed me completely.

Most importantly, I have learnt how important it is to harness the power of one's knowledge, experience and emotions.  These can enable us to do things that we ordinarily thought we could not do, find resources we did not know we had, use skills we never knew we possessed and discover networks we did not know we had.  All because we have done or are doing something that is not usual for us.  It may not be unique on its own, but unique when looked at from the perspective of the one creating it.

Creating things, I have found, breeds new energy, impacts on having a positive outlook, and challenges one to think of how to make it succeed. It also helps one get ideas from feedback that comes from those who observe, interact or use what you have created.

Wherever you are, can you sit back and think what will you create that will impact humanity positively, and also enrich your own experience.

Creating breeds new energy and revitalises the existing one.

A Rural Boy's Tale of Progress

Publishing my first book, a Rural Boy's Tale of Progress, has been the most exciting thing to happen to me this year. It has been the defining moment about my being, and I think there will be lots to share in future.

Find out about it here:
https://www.createspace.com/3870653