The Australian life style has never been more sought after. But it concerns me how our generation continues to take this for granted. Whether you are in the playground talking to parents, or in a meeting room with your team, it amazes me how so many of us continue to under estimate the impact of globalisation.
Students are no longer only competing against other graduates from within their class and parents cannot be complacent about education. We are competing against a world full of highly educated capable individuals searching for the lifestyle and opportunities that we were born into. Unfortunately, many Australians are now growing up having this entitlement attitude ingrained within their behaviours.
As a parent we need to take responsibility to prepare our children with the right skills and mindset for them to succeed. We need to teach resilience and perseverance, create boundaries, provide guidance, set expectations and promote good habits and focus. Help them find their way and their passion.
As an employer, we continue to look at ways to gain efficiencies and decrease costs. For most consulting/professional service firms their largest expense by far is your employees. Only now thanks to technology we are able to employ people with similar skill sets to provide these services at around one tenth of the cost of someone locally.
As harsh as it is, this is the reality most businesses are facing. So as an employee you need to look at how you can demonstrate the passion, commitment, hunger and perseverance that makes you stand out from the crowd. You also need to be flexible to adapt to constant change and be committed to improving and developing yourself.
If we continue to take what we have for granted and live on cruise mode, where it is acceptable for our children not to excel at school, and as adults to be an average employee who lacks the motivation and drive to stand out; then you will be left behind.
We live in a country where there has never been more opportunity, we need to embrace it, adapt to it and be the best we can be. Globalisation is rapidly changing how we do business and if we continue with our ‘cruise mode’ attitude and behaviours in 15 years’ time we will look back and wonder, how did we not see this?
