Inspiring Young People - The Power of Seeing Success

Young people are our future and yet for many young people leaving education and looking to enter careers, it can’t be very inspiring at the moment.  Personally I am an optimist, however when you switch on the news there is the constant talk of youth unemployment, as well as the umbrella of social issues which have been linked to young people.

I believe young people have so much potential – they just need nurturing. Yes, young people aren’t perfect but who is?  I very much agree it is important young people take ownership for their future, however I also believe that they need inspiring and that is the job of the people who will need them in the future e.g. employers.   If we want them to be motivated, then first they need to know what ‘success’ looks like in the world of work not just reality TV actors and pop stars.   If we can inspire young people, then there is a much higher chance of them having aspirations. Have a look at Aspiration on Wikipedia – it relates to Hope and Ambition.

I was lucky enough to be part of a 5 day trip out to California to visit 12 amazing organisations including LinkedIn, Google and Salesforce. We even got to go to Stanford and Berkeley Universities which was truly inspiring. The lecturers were like Brian Cox on steroids (and I actually think Brian Cox is brilliant).   So how does this relate to young people in the UK? Well, before I went out to the US, I always wanted to do well, however there was a missing ingredient which was seeing it in real life. I’d read lots about successful businesses and watched hours of Steve Job videos posted on U Tube but had never actually been in a world class environment. It’s true that we do have work experience in this country but if I was honest for the vast majority it isn't high end - the type that is inspiring and ignites a spark to achieve success.  I also know the type of work experience which adds value is time intensive for employers. It got me thinking, what about taking the concept of my trip to the US – I only spent 2 hours with each company but it was enough just to see it in real life.  Going to the US might be a stretch (for the moment!!) however there are some truly brilliant places in Manchester ranging from highly innovative SME’s, to world class Blue Chips, through to UK leading public sector organisations and charities. There is so much talent out there to inspire these young people.

It is so important that each young person gets to see the real world of work – if they do, then maybe they might have that extra motivation to work hard at school and do well in their GCSEs.  The thing is, for business to succeed it needs fresh talent and these young people are our future, not just a problem for the government or someone else. If you are interested in being part of inspiring a generation, please contact Jim Clarke, MD at the Apprentice Academy.  This project is part of a social enterprise we have set up called One Mile Project which is about linking young people with the businesses that are within walking distance from where they live.

The Power of Role Models and a Little Self Belief

Hi, I'm Jim Clarke, MD of the Apprentice Academy. I'm a big believer in young people and the power of learning from role models.

Until I was in my mid 30's I didn't believe in myself. In school I did OK but was never the best and in my career I wasn't really management material or at least that was what I believed.  I think it stemmed from lack of confidence from not being academic. Subsequently I didn't go to Uni and went off to input cheque's at a bank (we all start somewhere which is life lesson number 1).

When I think back my school was brilliant as it didn't identify success as just academic ability, it was based on other things like sports however it still chipped away at my confidence that my friends seemed to breeze through exams.  So if I didn't go to Uni what I am doing here running a growing business leading a team of 35 people. I must admit I still have my moments however something has changed.

In the last 5 years I started to learn about successful people. It has had a massive effect on me - firstly I learnt how they grew a business and secondly I realised that a lot of these successful people didn't go to Uni.  What I also learnt is that success isn't an overnight thing; it is built on things like having goals, high work ethic and resilience to keep going when things get tough. I recently heard Kevin Spacey talking on a BBC documentary about Andy Murray – he said 'defeat, failure & falling on your ass are the only things that teach you how to win'.  Regarding these successful people, what was crucial was they had role models to inspire them. Steve Jobs for example (who dropped out of college by the way) studied about Henry Ford and Kodak founder George Eastman.

It started me on a mission to interview successful people in Manchester. The crazy thing is the first four (and I didn't hand pick them) didn't go to Uni - Scott Fletcher, CEO of ANS started on £40 a week YTS, Phil Jones MD of Brother UK who worked in a pub and then got into sales, Caroline Shaw CEO of The Christie who started as trainee nurse and Mark Sims who was a regional MD of Kellogg’s started life as an apprentice.

For the record, I am not here to bash Uni  as I still think it is an important part of the overall education system however there is a real danger that young people think they need to go to Uni to achieve success and if they don't they are doomed to a life of 'Averageness'.  I believe it is so important that young people hear these stories.

The thing which excites me the most is the amount of talent in our country which is waiting to be unlocked. Imagine the impact on the economy even if a 10^th of the 1m young people unemployed started to believe that they can achieve success.