Forget Fulfillment Young People Want Financial Stability

After the Great Recession, most 18 to 24 year olds say security beats passion.

Erik Sherman

If experience is a great teacher, then the Great Recession must be up for an educator of the year award. After living through a global financial crisis and the lingering aftermath, current or recent college students would rather opt for a regular paycheck than following their occupational dream, according to a recent survey from workforce recruitment firm Adecco Staffing.

The survey of 1,001 Millennial and Gen-Z (born after 1995) students and recent graduates found that the ability to find a job was the single biggest concern for 32 percent of all respondents, even though 79 percent thought that they would have a job within five months of graduation. Forty-two percent thought that they'd have a job in less than three months.

The top aspiration for students was, at 31 percent, to become financially stable in the next ten years. Financial stability was a top-three pick for 69 percent of the respondents. Following that was the desire to land a dream job, which was the top interest for 28 percent of respondents overall, with 32 percent of Gen-Z'ers and 24 percent of Millennials expressing that interest.

In getting a first job, 36 percent put career growth as their top priority, compared to fulfilling work and stability, at 19 percent each. Only 6 percent though getting the highest salary was most important, even though 73 percent expected to make up to $55,000 a year on a first job.

"A trend we're seeing emerge is that students --particularly the older ones-- who felt or witnessed the impact of the recession are more likely to prioritize career growth and stability in their job search," said Joyce Russell, president, Adecco Staffing, USA, in a press release.

Getting those jobs may be tough, however, as 42 percent will spend 5 hours or more on social media during spring break and 64 percent expect to spend the same amount of time streaming video. Only 16 percent plan to put 5 hours or more into a job search during that time. Thirty-one percent rely on online job boards while 29 percent depend on the school's career center.

The Millennial and Gen-Z respondents differed when it came to the cost of school. Twenty-one percent of Gen-Z students ranked the cost of college as their greatest worry. Only 13 percent of Millennials felt the same.

There were some interesting differences between the genders. Women, at 38 percent, had travel as a top-three aspiration, compared to 26 percent of men. And 28 percent of men said that starting a family was a top priority, while only 20 percent of women said the same. However, 36 percent of all respondents had getting married as a top-three aspiration.      

7 'Empire' Lessons on Family Business Succession

When handing over the keys, father Lucious Lyon doesn't know best

Next Avenue

By Andrea King Collier

If you caught the first season of Fox's hit drama, Empire, you know that passing the torch of a family business can be messy business.

In the show, after music mogul Lucious Lyon was diagnosed with ALS, he suddenly had to create a succession plan for his multimillion dollar company. In typical nighttime soap fashion, Lyon set about deciding which of his three sons would rule Empire Entertainment by pitting them against each other.

While the Lyon saga was over-the-top, it wasn't entirely off. Says Alfred Edmond, Jr., Senior Vice President and Editor in Chief of Black Enterprise: "Companies get caught up in tradition -boys over girls, oldest versus youngest. Often the traditional and artificial supersede who would be best at running the company."

If you own a family business, it could be wise to put a strategic succession plan in place before you need one. Don't follow Lucious Lyon's example. Instead, follow these experts' seven tips.

No. 1: Be Clear on What You Want

"One of the big questions an entreprenur has to ask is what is the goal of this company," Edmond says. "Is it designed to pass on to multiple generations or is it designed to create wealth for the family." Maybe your family members are not best suited to become the heads of the company, but would be better served as stakeholders.

No. 2: Don't Decide Alone

When determining who'll run the company after you, have some candid conversations with your company's lawyer and accountant as well as your family members. "When the head of the family makes the decision alone, it could destroy the person and the family," says Edmond.

In Empire, Lucious Lyon's solo strategy spun out into a competition triggering murder and mayhem, secrets from the past, mental illness and the scorn of his ex-wife, Cookie, who'd been bilked out of her share of millions.

No. 3: Understand the Realities of Succession

In a recent report from the Family Business Institute, 88 percent of family business owners said they believed their family would control their business in five years. Yet, according to the report only about 30 percent of family-owned businesses survive into the second generation.

One reason: like Lucious Lyon, they don't have a solid business succession plan in place. According to the 2014-2015 Family Business Survey from PWC, a global business consultancy, nearly two thirds of family-owned businesses have some kind of succession plan, but only 20 percent of them actually have a documented plan.

No. 4: Teach Them the Ropes

A key to a successful succession plan is making it gradual and organic, not sudden and haphazard. "When it comes to family members, give them a chance to work in the business, but don't let them start at the top," Edmond says. "Let them work as summer interns or work their way up."

That will help you see which ones, if any, have the potential to take over when you step down.

"I tell entrepreneurs not to hire a family member that they aren't prepared to fire and I tell family members: don't take a job in the family business that you are not prepared to quit," Edmond says.

No. 5: Train Your Successor to Lead

In Empire, the patriarch spends so much time fueling family dysfunction, he leaves no time for training a successor to run the business. This SCORE report on succession planning recommends developing a specific training program for your future successor.

It's important to train this person in the depth and breadth of all aspects of the business, even if he or she has worked in the company.

No. 6: Set a Timeline

Put a timeline on the decisions of succession and on turning over the leadership of your company, says Edmond. Otherwise, you could find yourself in a pickle.

Mitchell Kaneff, author of Taking Over: Insider Tips from a Third-Generation CEO, says that after he and his father (founder of Arkay Packaging) ran into business-transition problems in 1997 - especially around the timing of turning over the leadership - he ended up "firing" his dad, who'd stayed on longer than their agreement.

The father and son discussions about how to run the company had turned into shouting matches, Kaneff recalls. "It was a hard thing, but we worked through it and our relationship is stronger than ever," he says.

According to PWC's report on family businesses, 40 percent of business owners find it difficult to relinquish the decisionmaking and leadership, even after the handoff choice has been made. PWC experts call this the "Sticky Baton Syndrome."

No. 7: Always Have a Plan B

Even the best-laid succession plans can change quickly, says Edmond, so it's wise to have a backup scenario.

He sites the case of Universal Life Insurance's A. Maceo Walker who had been grooming his daughter, Patricia, to be his successor when he retired in 1983. But "when she died in 1985, Walker had no backup plan," says Edmond. At age 75, Walker came out of retirement. Ultimately, the company - without a Walker at the helm - merged with another insurer in 2000.

So how did Lucious Lyon's handoff work out? Will son Jamal inherit the crown? You'll have to tune into Season 2 later this year to find out.      

13 Ways Successful People Think Differently

Master the art of "productive thinking"

Business Insider

By Jenna Goudreau

The world's most successful people have one thing in common: They think differently from everyone else.

In his best-selling book, "How Successful People Think," leadership expert John C. Maxwell explains how to master the art of "productive thinking."

"If you can develop the discipline of good thinking and turn it into a lifetime habit," Maxwell writes, "then you will be successful and productive all of your life."

Here are some of the ways he says successful people think differently.

They understand that thinking is a discipline.
If you want to be better at it, you've got to work at it, says Maxwell. Consider scheduling time to think. For example, LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner schedules 30- to 90-minute blocks of "nothing" into his calendar for personal time, coaching, and reflection, and Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich sits down at the end of every year to reflect on past progress and write down initiatives for the future.

They figure out where to focus their energy.
Maxwell recommends using the 80/20 rule. Devote 80% of your energy to the most important 20% of your activities. Remember that you can't be everywhere, know everyone, and do everything. And avoid multitasking, which can cost you 40% efficiency.

They expose themselves to different ideas and types of people.
They're also selective about spending most of their time with people who challenge them, he writes.

They don't just have an idea; they follow through with it.
"Ideas have a short shelf life," says Maxwell. "You must act on them before the expiration date."

They understand that thoughts need time to develop.
Remember the last time you had a brilliant idea at 2 a.m., but it sounded sort of ridiculous when you woke up the next morning?

Thoughts need to be "shaped until they have substance" and need to stand the test of "clarity and questioning," he says. Don't just settle on the first thing that comes to mind.

They collaborate with other smart people.
Thinking with others yields higher returns, Maxwell writes. It's like giving yourself a shortcut. That's why brainstorming sessions can be so effective.

They reject popular thinking (which often means not thinking at all).
Too many people act, hoping that others have thought things through first, he says.

To reject popular thinking you must be OK with feeling uncomfortable. As Malcolm Gladwell has argued, some of the most successful entrepreneurs, including IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, have disagreeable personalities, meaning they aren't concerned whether other people think they're nuts.

They plan ahead, while leaving room for spontaneity.
When you're strategic, you reduce your margin of error. Simply having vague ideas of where you are and what you want to accomplish will get you nowhere.

Maxwell's keys to being strategic:

1. Break the issue down.
2. Ask why the problem needs to be solved.
3. Identify the key issues.
4. Review your resources.
5. Put the right people in place.

Henry Ford once said, "Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into smaller parts."

They don't just think differently; they do different things.
Try new routes to work. Meet new people. Read books you might even consider boring. The key is exposure to new ideas and ways of life, he says.

They value other people's ideas as much as their own.
You can't think you're always right. Successful people know to give other concepts a chance. Apple founder Steve Jobs, for instance, started his career with a stubborn insistence that his way was best, write Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli in "Becoming Steve Jobs." In later years, Jobs became "confident enough to listen to his team as well as his own thoughts and to acknowledge the nature of the world around him."

They have an agenda.
For example, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg brings a notebook to every meeting and crosses agenda items off one by one, ripping pages out as they are addressed.

Further, Maxwell notes that smart thinkers plan out more than just their days; they take time to plan out their weeks, months, and long-term goals - and then they follow through.

They don't just react; they reflect.
Reflective thinking gives you perspective and confidence in your decision-making skills.

If you're not reflecting, it's holding you back more than you think. As Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living."

They don't indulge in negative self-talk.
Successful people don't see limitations; they see possibilities. They think in terms of "I will" and "I can."

Former baseball star Sam Ewing once said that "nothing is so embarrassing as watching someone do something that you said could not be done."

This is an update of an article originally written by Aimee Groth.