Just today, I read a guest post by another Gen Y I follow:  Scott Bradley.

Here is the post: Could Your Social Media Expert Be a Fake?

Very juicy indeed considering everyone and their brother now thinks they are a social media expert.  The part that I think Scott makes that is so important is this:  It’s one thing to have someone “set up” your social media accounts.  It’s another altogether to have someone who is really social media savvy and who can tell you/show you how to make money, expand your network or find top talent for your company using Twitter or Facebook.

This guest interview with Scott on Dan’s blog led me to another great post:  His Interview with David Meerman Scott About All Things Social Media. If you don’t know it, David has several great books AND he gives away a great deal of valuable information (free stuff!) on his site.   His free e-book download page is so worth a look.

My point to this post is that  so many Gen Ys always have so many great things to talk about…they keep me coming back again and again.  So, this is a great lesson to learn for all of us!

And…since I am a bit on the topic of “Social Media Experts”, I will leave you with a few things to consider before you invest your hard earned money in a so-called social media expert who is someone who just knows how to set up a Twitter account (I am NOT a social media expert and would never claim that, but I do work with companies who are asking this question.)  So, here’s a list of questions to ask during the interview.  If the candidate cannot give you great answers to these, then probably best to look elsewhere:

1) Give me 3 examples of how you have helped other companies increase their profits by using Twitter.

2) Please show me your own blog and how you use this to connect with other people AND make money.

3) What are the 3 biggest trends you have “heard” online in the past week, and how can our company tap into these conversations to expand our visibility.

4) How have you used consultative selling through your blog and Twitter to build your own network?

5) Give us 3 examples of how you have helped companies respond to negative PR about their companies on blogs, Twitter and Facebook

6) Describe in detail 3 examples of how you have effectively communicated with Fortune 500 C-Level executives online

Setting up Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In accounts are easy.  It’s the above that is more difficult, and you really need someone who has a strong business background, can easily connect to top decision makers (in both small business and large blue-chip companies) online AND who has a proven track record of actually helping a company become stronger and more profitable from helping that company navigate social networks.  AND…I do believe that this individual should have been actively using blogging and online networks for at least 5 years, preferably 10 years.  With this time, your social media expert should have been able to watch the ebb and flow of the process to know what’s coming next.

Arel has a great new book out today:  Your Starting Point for Student Success.  I read the book, and it is really great.  I highly recommend it for both young students AND for parents of students who want to know more about how to be successful in college (and high school for that matter).

Pick up a copy of the book today here.

Watch Arel here and learn a bit about the book.  His energy and presence are amazing!

Thanks Norma!

The article discusses how the downturn has changed the lives of Generation Y, and they are reordering their values as a result.

Michael Bradley, an adolescent psychologist in Philadelphia calls this “The end of the Disney World”.

The thing that I find interesting is that so much focus has been put on Generation Y and calling them Generation Debt, etc.  The fact is that Baby Boomers (and I am a Boomer) are honestly the ones responsible for our current situation.  Gen Ys have been coming into our workforce over the last five years, and of course they are experiencing a rude awakening.  Their Boomer parents handed them life on a silver platter and a few platinum visa cards along with it.

I do see Millennials changing.  They are downsizing, out beating the pavement looking for work, and they are finding creative ways to save $$$.  The people I don’t see changing are the Boomers.  Many are out of work, but just yesterday, I was in Best Buy, and I heard a Boomer tell an associate he was out of work, so he said “To hell with it…I’m going to buy a big ass HD television” and I sat and watched as his Master Card charged up over $2500 for a television.

I would love to hear from some Gen Ys on this article and how you are changing your priorities and lifestyle to address our current economy.  We can all learn from what you are doing!

Read the full article here.

It is just not working!  Kids are dropping out of high school right and left, many say they hate school and the big goal with college kids is to be able “to pass without attending class.”

What this tells me loudly and clearly is that our kids are bored in school and our education system is still operating out of the Industrial Revolution (you know…lecturing and writing on the chalkboard.)

I really believe that if our next generation of learners and leaders are going to be able to really thrive in the world, we must be willing to design our education system based on what our kids value.  Here are the 5 changes I believe we need to make.

1) Stop competing and start collaborating in the classroom.

Kids are so competitive right now.  Who can get into Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke, etc. is the big competitive factor.  I am not going online to pull up a bunch of research to make my point here, because I know that people learn much better and faster if they are collaborating with others.  When you are working in teams of 5-7 people, you learn new ideas, you get new resources and you aren’t constantly frustrated trying to find the answer when it’s already sitting inside another person’s brain or network.  I believe that “teaching/learning pods” are where we need to move and just get rid of these lecture halls filled with 200-300 kids who are sitting in the classroom with their laptops open on Twitter and Facebook or who are sitting in class texting, because the teacher is standing up in front of the class lecturing like Charlie  Brown’s teacher (womp, womp, womp…sounds a bit like this.)

2) Stop lecturing and start innovating.

I think I am harping a bit on the lecture mode of teaching, but it is ridiculous.  Kids are hearing about 20% of what the teacher says, but if you put kids in a true experiential process where they have to come up with their own answers by designing a new product, service or piece of technology, they will learn the skills they need to learn.  You can then go back and support the activity/innovation with a few notes and facts but only after the kids have been fully engaged in an activity that seals the learning.  Once they fall in love with the innovation, kids are usually eager to then know the facts of the process.  Get their attention first by throwing them into a learning activity that will get them engaged and excited about learning the “test material”.

3) Stop using textbooks and start using technology.

Kids are saying they spend $300-500 on textbooks they never open.  Then why are we continuing to use them?  Kids can now go online and gather their information.  So, if you have to use a textbook, then get it online and break it into bits and bites so that the information can be easily digested.  I keep hearing “Well…these kids need to sit down and learn to read a book”, but they AREN’T DOING IT!  Most Gen Ys are saying they go online to read and while they love going into bookstores, they get about 75% of their information from online libraries, articles passed around on Facebook and by text messaging.

4) Shift from quantity research to quality research.

I know that each project comes with a good amount of research that needs to be done.  But…to tell someone they “must have 10 credible sources to reference” just for the heck of it is just ridiculous.  I would much rather see kids find 2-3 very credible pieces of research to draw upon than having to choose another 7 that are either mediocre or simply repeating what the 2-3 credible pieces of research say.

5) Move from “doing things the long way” to finding more efficient/effective ways of completing projects.

This whole mentality of “kids need to learn how to do things the long/hard way” is one of the reasons we are in a mess right now.  Time is money, and we need to be teaching our kids how to find both efficient and high quality, effective ways of getting to a great finished project rather than “doing it the way we’ve always done it!”  Gen Ys are well known for finding shortcuts, and people argue that this is the “dumbing down” of our society.  That is nonsense.  If we can find quicker ways of completing a project and ending up with a better result, then why not teach this?   The reason is because Baby Boomers often think that the long, hard way teaches a strong work ethic, and I see a LOT of Baby Boomers who are overworked, living with heart disease, high blood pressure (much of which is coming from being overworked and overstressed)  and then that could get me into a rant on our healthcare system, which I won’t even get into today.

Okay…that’s it for my rant for today.

Here is the description:

‘This Case Foundation-sponsored discussion paper focuses on the rise of Millennials—a Net-native, globally oriented generation whose cause lifestyle is redefining how we view activism. The paper investigates the potential impact of this group on the civic landscape, and raises provocative questions about their role in affecting positive, lasting change.”

Get the full report here

Also, check out the Social Citizens Blog here.

One of the skills I bring to the coaching work I provide my clients is to be able to tap into “environments” in order to develop our leadership skills.  And…in this day and age, developing leadership skills will be critical to help you improve your career.

When I think of environments, I think of everything…from the books you read to the home/office you live in to the people you hang out with. Environments also include geographical locations, networks of people, technology and the list goes on.

I want to leave you today with 3 activities you can do, starting today, to change your environments,  improve both your leadership skills and in the long run…your career.

1) Upgrade your network to a level which challenges you to be better/stronger/greater.

In my industry, I hear a great number of coaches using the phrase “getting to the next level”.  I always want to know what the heck that means.  So, to put it in simple terms “getting to the next level” is being able to take on a tougher/bigger task OR network of people and being able to not only succeed but thrive in that environment.

My son Jack is a young (age 19) amateur golfer.  He plays for the University of North Carolina, and 2 weeks ago, he made it through the first qualifying round for the US Open.  This was “the next level” for my son.  Yesterday, he went to the sectional qualifier and guess who he was paired with?  Matt Kucher, who just finished 5th behind Tiger Woods in the Memorial Tournament this past week-end. Jack missed the cut, but he did place 13th in the sectional.  He played two rounds back to back, and both rounds were under par.  I believe 95% of his results came about, because he was playing with a top PGA tour player.  Was he nervous?  You bet he was, but he got in there and used this as an opportunity to play better golf and to learn a few things.

Challenge: Today, I challenge you to look at the people you are hanging out with.  Are they setting the bar higher for you, and are they playing a bigger game and being in demand for you to play bigger/better?

2) Learn a new trade.

Bob Lee Swagger has a great column:  Men, Work and Ward Cleaver, and a portion of the column was contributed by Matthew B. Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work.  The column points out that learning a new trade requires a great deal of ingenuity and hard work (dirty jobs!)

My daughter, Katie, is working on a home renovation project for her summer job.  Each morning, she goes to the job site and works on everything from stripping wall paper to sanding walls and floors and several other odd jobs.  I went to the job site last week to watch her strip wallpaper and tried it myself…my gosh…how hard!  But, she finally figured out a method to get the wall paper off in big sheets rather than picking and pulling bits and bites.  It took a few days (she had very little instruction…just told what tools she needed), and she had to get it figured out.  She is learning the art and science of trial and error and will end up with a new skill under her belt.  And, she is learning that “stick to it” attitude which is missing from many people’s lives.

Challenge:  Today, choose a trade you would like to learn.  This can be anything from stripping wallpaper to changing the oil in your car to replacing a sink faucet.  Just do it, and get it figured out along the way!

3) Spend at least one week in a city you have never visited.

Learning to navigate a new city is a great way to develop out strategic agility.  I know…I was just with my daughter, Ann, for 3 days in Washington, D.C., as we tried to find her new housing for the summer (Catholic University) and how to find the quickest subway route from Catholic to the FCC, where she is interning for the summer.  I learned more in 3 days than I had in over two months, simply from trying to navigate a new location, so I can only imagine what Ann is learning (I also have to add in that she is going out to the public and making cold calls to people regarding the switch over to digital this Friday…not only using English but Spanish…a learning curve in and of itself).  Ann also did the same “city navigation” strategy last summer when she worked in Costa Rica and lived with a host family.  Not only did she have to navigate a new country, she had to speak Spanish the entire time she was there.  The learning she gained from these times are already starting to pay off as she considers her next steps after she graduates in May 2010 from Duke.

Challenge: Choose a city you have never visited in the past, and plan a trip for one week, simply for the sake of learning how to navigate the city.  Blog about your trip every day and look at not only the fun you are having (which you will) but the skills you are learning.

In my travels and discussions, I am finding that the majority of Gen Ys are finding creative ways to find work, find room and board and to make it through these times. They seem quite optimistic about the future, and their creativity and collaborative efforts are helping them navigate tough times. Examples include:

1. Completing 30-50 job interviews. The Gen Ys I am talking to are not quitting until they find work

2. Selling artwork, used books, clothing and furniture online (e-Bay, etc)

3. Finding grants and scholarships for a masters program or internship

4. Working on farms locally and overseas

5. Construction work and renovation work (my daughter is working on a home renovation project for the summer)

6. Working for Teach for America or the Peace Corps

7. Seeking angel investors for small start-ups

8. Working for the government and local non-profits

9. Sharing living expenses with friends

10. Working 2-3 part time jobs and/or temp jobs

This graphic below is from the Pew Research report.

Look at these stats:

Here are a few articles on the subject that I think are worth a read:

Generation Y: Powerhouse of the Global Economy

Generation Y is About to Take Its First Test

Generation Y Cuts Spending on Luxuries