The Olympic Spirit February 9, 2010
Posted by Blake Sunshine in Just for fun, millennials at work, sports.Tags: apolo ohno, millennials at work, olympics, speed skating, sports, vancouver 2010
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Ever since my parents took me to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, I’ve been obsessed with everything Olympic. I especially love everything that the Olympic movement stands for, things like:
- Education and development through sport
- Respect and friendship among athletes
- Peace between nations
And I really, really, really love Apolo Ohno too…
I love his amazing story of Olympic spirit. All day every day I hear stories of people who became gurus over night, without putting in any work, but according to the Seattle Times, “Ohno’s march to Olympics No. 3 has been a carefully orchestrated, borderline-obsessive regimen — a six-month, five-stage, complete lifestyle overhaul, overseen by his personal trainer.”
I love Ohno’s attitude toward discipline and hard work, and I truly believe that he is one of the best in the world for a reason. And unlike other people, who rush to get ahead without working hard, Ohno says that he won’t even remember winning the medals. ”When I’m done skating, I guarantee you that I will not look back and remember standing on the podium,” said Ohno. “I’m going to remember these days — being with the team. Training alone, in my basement. Training when everybody else is sleeping. Doing things that nobody else is doing. Digging down. Seeing what kind of character I truly have.”
Even if he doesn’t remember the podium, I will.
USA! USA!
Millennials want to start families February 3, 2010
Posted by Blake Sunshine in millennials, millennials at work.Tags: gen y marriage, gen-y, millennial, millennial marriage, millennials
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The USA Today says that Millennials are more cautious about getting married and starting families than previous generations.
According to the USA Today, “The average age of first marriage is now almost 26 for women and 28 for men. And a growing percentage of Americans aren’t marrying at all: Provisional federal statistics released Tuesday report 7.1 marriages per 1,000 people in 2008, down from 10 per 1,000 in 1986.”
But caution doesn’t mean that Millennials don’t want to start families. In fact, two of my favorite Millennials are starting families as we speak.
The first is my brother.
(That’s him in the picture above. That’s Maya, his fiancé, next to him. I’ve always wanted a sister, and I’m pretty much obsessed with her being mine.)
The second is Morgan.
(That’s her with baby Shilah, the most beautiful baby I have ever seen, and to be honest the first baby I’ve ever liked.)
And even though Millennials may be cautious about starting a family, they are still confident that they can make it work.
In fact, 82 percent of Millennials think they will be married for life, which is you look at today’s divorce rate is clearly idealistic. But Millennials always have been idealistic, and for Millennials caution in starting a family does not equal disinterest. Millennials definitely want to start families, just on their own time.
Everything is negotiable! February 1, 2010
Posted by Blake Sunshine in corporate, millennials, millennials at work.Tags: haggling, millennials, millennials at work, negotiating
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I am beyond fascinated by an article I just read in the Washington Post called, “In tough economic times, shoppers take haggling to new heights.” Michael Rosenwald, a Washington Post writer, decided for a week that he would try to haggle down the price of everything he bought.
In one week he saved $730! He haggled at Macy’s and Best Buy, and even hired a professional to help him haggle down the price of his Verizon bill.
This article proves what I’ve always known to be true that everything is negotiable. And I don’t just mean money-wise. For Millennials at work and in life everything is negotiable too.
Allan Stark, the professional Rosenwald hired, gave some awesome tips for haggling that I believe apply well to life too:
1. Know your negotiating partner. Be technical if she is knowledgeable. Be a good ‘ol boy if he is the same.
2. Know the product or service you’re trying to buy. Negotiating skills are worthless if you don’t fully understand what you are negotiating.
3. Know the value of humor. The future of humankind is probably not at stake.
4. Know the value of being nice and empathetic. It will come back to you many times over.
5. Know when to stop. Enough is enough. Sometimes more gets you less.
What do you think? Is everything negotiable?
What are you willing to bargain for?
“Why is more important than what or how” January 28, 2010
Posted by Blake Sunshine in millennials, millennials at work.Tags: gen-y, millennial, millennials, millennials at work, nick sarillo, nicks pizza and pub
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Every month Morgan walks over to my desk and drops off a copy of Inc. Magazine. She started doing this initially because it had “young people” on the cover (even though Morgan is really only a few years older than me), but now I find myself reading it every month.
This past month there was a great article called “Lessons from a blue-collar millionaire,” about Nick Sarillo the owner of Nick’s Pizza and Pub. I started reading the article because I love pizza, but I kept reading the article because Sarillo manages a ton of Millennials in his restaurants! Almost all of his employees are high-school students, with a few college students thrown in. While most managers complain about managing Millennials, Sarillo has tapped into how Millennials work and he has made their style work for him.
Image from Inc. Magazine
Instead of ordering around his high-school workers, Sarillo has designed a system that gives them more ownership and responsibility at work. “Today’s teens are as strong and as good as any previous generation of workers, but you need to share the ‘why’ with them,” said Sarillo. “The days of ‘do what I tell you’ are gone. You simply won’t be successful.”
“Sarillo has built his company’s culture by using a form of management best characterized as ‘trust and track.’ It involves educating employees about what it takes for the company to be successful, then trusting them to act accordingly.”
Sarillo calls what he is doing at Nicks Pizza and Pub “creating a culture,” but I really think it all has to do with him adjusting his management skills to make his employees feel like they have a stake in the success of his business. Millennials have to feel like they can make their own success and be valuable to a business. The “why is more important than what or how” at Nicks Pizza and Pub, which is what makes it a great place for Millennials to work.
