Work, Life, Growth

During a meeting with my mentee, she said something that was frustrating to me and it is time that we as professionals address this issue. She was excited about taking a continuing education course and working towards a certification within her field only to have her supervisor tell her that she needed to wait because her supervisor did not have the same opportunity until almost a decade into her career. If an individual is qualified, motivated, and excited to pursue an opportunity, why do we as professionals try to limit them because they are still “young” and need to “pay their dues”? Why don’t we jump up to help them and assist? The simple answer is because we’ve fallen prey to the professional generational curse.

Just because the opportunities may have been limited at a particular time in our career, does not mean we should hold back others from achieving these opportunities sooner in their career path. I honestly see it as a sign of achievement for the leading generation when we can pave the way and help guide those to come so that they can accomplish goals more efficiently. We are the ones who have the chance to set change into motion and to increase exposure so that future generations can benefit and we must stop blocking their progress once the next generation arrives to take the wheel.  We expect for them to be able to drive this vehicle into the future, but then siphon the gas that they need for the journey.

Even though some professional goals may not require as much time to accomplish as they previously did, I am not suggesting that we lessen the standard to make them achievable or that we put less focus on the benefits of having experience. No, I’m suggesting that we mentor, coach, and empower so that those next in line realize they can accomplish the tasks at hand and that we fully support them.

Okay, so hear me out. It traditionally takes 4 years after high school to complete a bachelor’s degree, and now you have many high schoolers coming out of school with an associate’s because they were able to manage the course work necessary for their high school diploma and programs such as dual enrollment. Some of these same high schoolers are going on to college to earn both their bachelor’s and higher degrees in a combined 4-5 years. Should we limit this opportunity to them because we may not have had the same opportunity? No, absolutely not! If they are mature and motivated to achieve this goal, they should be able to do so without the professional generational curse telling them that they are attaining certain objectives too quickly.

So, why do we limit and manipulate situations to avoid others from progressing? Maybe, it is the misguided concept that we struggled or had a lengthy journey so now we must uphold a “paradigm” to make sure the next generation has the same experience. (I would like to point out the word choice to use standard was intentional as paradigms can shift over time.) Could it be something imprudent like jealousy and our desire to limit others because they’ve had experiences that we once craved? Or, perhaps it is the need to control and assert command to keep those following in our foot-steps a step behind.

Regardless of the reason, we must stop this nonsense. (I really wanted to use the word gobbledygook to assert myself but I kept it bland and decided upon nonsense.) Yes, I’ve had some situations that I’ve had to struggle through while others were able to achieve the same in half the time in which it took me. Still, this does not make them any less deserving. I’ve also been jealous of opportunities that others have received and wondered why I wasn’t afforded the same.  And, I have also found myself in situations where I could directly influence someone’s career path. Nonetheless, it has been and remains my responsibility to uphold what is respectable and grant these opportunities to those who are qualified despite their length of time served to a profession.

I write all this to say, that you should stop ignoring or discouraging the person who is one to two years out of school simply because they are new to the field. If they want to be in leadership, train them and teach them how to be a compassionate leader ready to guide the future. Help mold them into the leader that you wished you had, and more importantly the one that you needed. If they want to continue to learn more, encourage them to find the resources that they need and to seek out courses and independent study that will help them progress. Encourage and empower them to do the things that you yourself either took longer to complete or even failed. If you don’t, they’ll find their own way and the risk of this terrible trend of limiting someone’s potential will continue for yet another generation.

Needless to say, I told my mentee to sign up for the courses and study to prepare for this coursework as she pursues this certification.

-Dionne