Back to November of 2016 and after 350 hours of working with 6 teens of age 15-18 I must say that I had a double accomplishment for myself.
First, a world champion’s victory in F1 in schools 2016 competition – first time for a Greek team- and second all this experience they gave to me during our cooperation.
The most astonishing insight I got from this experience was the way that those teens operated without any knowledge of the basic principles of management.
To be a coach for business people it’s a matter of experience, use of proper tools, and according to characters different mutual understanding.
To work with young kids trying to apply the same theories it’s a very difficult approach. But at the same time I discovered so many similarities good or bad like working with an experienced team of adults.
This generation has become famous for being “screenagers,” not just teenagers. And this is true. During our meetings there were part with me and part with the screens of their mobiles….
They didn’t want to listen, so active listening as a lesson was a priority (at the same time only 65% of the participants are listening in any business meeting ).
Nevertheless, I was amazed from their way and eagerness to absorb any new information, to do a brainstorming (even they didn’t know the tool) every time they tried to solve a problem and make a decision and face the risks of the project with alternative solutions (not very easy to see such a performance in small family business management).
I noticed 5 different characters with a variety of skills; they had the chemistry of working together, cultivate and sustain relationships and their commitment to their long-term goal was apparent in all discussions. The common vision for this goal was very well understood and every member of the team was on the same page.
The time management problem was resolved by preparation of a Gantt diagram and a weekly follow up.
My attempt was to own their successes as well as their failures. That leads to humility. That was quite easy; it’s not what you asked from these teens but how you do it.
All the times I found their thinking very optimistic. They view things as a glass half full. It’s normal for this age, but very nice to see it these days in which I guess they are facing more pessimistic views in their environment.
One of the best times we had was the SWOT analysis of their selves. Since great teams know how to build on each other’s strengths and makeup for their weaknesses it was one of the best sessions we had.
Every member understood the ability of their skills, qualifications, strengths and weaknesses and has the awareness of strengths and weaknesses’
Our discussions were more than usual lively. Managers may wish that their team would agree completely with every word they say at meetings, but this approach certainly isn’t healthy. This does not happen with a young team. They have so lively discussions that you don’t have to encourage them to speak up if they disagree.
Sometimes it was a real fighting between them using “their language” which is not particularly polite….
We all work in different ways – but some people may appear problematic in certain situations. When a person is not placed in the right job or team, they may become toxic and bring the team down. In their case, an unwritten law applied: “No toxic people between us”.
This experience was the opportunity for me to start thinking to create Eudaimonia a course for the youths. This intervention has the mission to create opportunities for young people to develop lifelong skills, habits and confidence to thrive.
Back to November of 2016 and after 350 hours of working with 6 teens of age 15-18 I must say that I had a double accomplishment for myself.
First, a world champion’s victory in F1 in schools 2016 competition – first time for a Greek team- and second all this experience they gave to me during our cooperation.
The most astonishing insight I got from this experience was the way that those teens operated without any knowledge of the basic principles of management.
To be a coach for business people it’s a matter of experience, use of proper tools, and according to characters different mutual understanding.
To work with young kids trying to apply the same theories it’s a very difficult approach. But at the same time I discovered so many similarities good or bad like working with an experienced team of adults.
This generation has become famous for being “screenagers,” not just teenagers. And this is true. During our meetings there were part with me and part with the screens of their mobiles….
They didn’t want to listen, so active listening as a lesson was a priority (at the same time only 65% of the participants are listening in any business meeting ).
Nevertheless, I was amazed from their way and eagerness to absorb any new information, to do a brainstorming (even they didn’t know the tool) every time they tried to solve a problem and make a decision and face the risks of the project with alternative solutions (not very easy to see such a performance in small family business management).
I noticed 5 different characters with a variety of skills; they had the chemistry of working together, cultivate and sustain relationships and their commitment to their long-term goal was apparent in all discussions. The common vision for this goal was very well understood and every member of the team was on the same page.
The time management problem was resolved by preparation of a Gantt diagram and a weekly follow up.
My attempt was to own their successes as well as their failures. That leads to humility. That was quite easy; it’s not what you asked from these teens but how you do it.
All the times I found their thinking very optimistic. They view things as a glass half full. It’s normal for this age, but very nice to see it these days in which I guess they are facing more pessimistic views in their environment.
One of the best times we had was the SWOT analysis of their selves. Since great teams know how to build on each other’s strengths and makeup for their weaknesses it was one of the best sessions we had.
Every member understood the ability of their skills, qualifications, strengths and weaknesses and has the awareness of strengths and weaknesses’
Our discussions were more than usual lively. Managers may wish that their team would agree completely with every word they say at meetings, but this approach certainly isn’t healthy. This does not happen with a young team. They have so lively discussions that you don’t have to encourage them to speak up if they disagree.
Sometimes it was a real fighting between them using “their language” which is not particularly polite….
We all work in different ways – but some people may appear problematic in certain situations. When a person is not placed in the right job or team, they may become toxic and bring the team down. In their case, an unwritten law applied: “No toxic people between us”.
This experience was the opportunity for me to start thinking to create Eudaimonia a course for the youths. This intervention has the mission to create opportunities for young people to develop lifelong skills, habits and confidence to thrive.
Back to November of 2016 and after 350 hours of working with 6 teens of age 15-18 I must say that I had a double accomplishment for myself.
First, a world champion’s victory in F1 in schools 2016 competition – first time for a Greek team- and second all this experience they gave to me during our cooperation.
The most astonishing insight I got from this experience was the way that those teens operated without any knowledge of the basic principles of management.
To be a coach for business people it’s a matter of experience, use of proper tools, and according to characters different mutual understanding.
To work with young kids trying to apply the same theories it’s a very difficult approach. But at the same time I discovered so many similarities good or bad like working with an experienced team of adults.
This generation has become famous for being “screenagers,” not just teenagers. And this is true. During our meetings there were part with me and part with the screens of their mobiles….
They didn’t want to listen, so active listening as a lesson was a priority (at the same time only 65% of the participants are listening in any business meeting ).
Nevertheless, I was amazed from their way and eagerness to absorb any new information, to do a brainstorming (even they didn’t know the tool) every time they tried to solve a problem and make a decision and face the risks of the project with alternative solutions (not very easy to see such a performance in small family business management).
I noticed 5 different characters with a variety of skills; they had the chemistry of working together, cultivate and sustain relationships and their commitment to their long-term goal was apparent in all discussions. The common vision for this goal was very well understood and every member of the team was on the same page.
The time management problem was resolved by preparation of a Gantt diagram and a weekly follow up.
My attempt was to own their successes as well as their failures. That leads to humility. That was quite easy; it’s not what you asked from these teens but how you do it.
All the times I found their thinking very optimistic. They view things as a glass half full. It’s normal for this age, but very nice to see it these days in which I guess they are facing more pessimistic views in their environment.
One of the best times we had was the SWOT analysis of their selves. Since great teams know how to build on each other’s strengths and makeup for their weaknesses it was one of the best sessions we had.
Every member understood the ability of their skills, qualifications, strengths and weaknesses and has the awareness of strengths and weaknesses’
Our discussions were more than usual lively. Managers may wish that their team would agree completely with every word they say at meetings, but this approach certainly isn’t healthy. This does not happen with a young team. They have so lively discussions that you don’t have to encourage them to speak up if they disagree.
Sometimes it was a real fighting between them using “their language” which is not particularly polite….
We all work in different ways – but some people may appear problematic in certain situations. When a person is not placed in the right job or team, they may become toxic and bring the team down. In their case, an unwritten law applied: “No toxic people between us”.
This experience was the opportunity for me to start thinking to create Eudaimonia a course for the youths. This intervention has the mission to create opportunities for young people to develop lifelong skills, habits and confidence to thrive.
