I remember different experiences of dung beetles rolling excreta which they made into balls and ran with them as they tumbled through rocks, valleys, across paths, crevices and other pathways until they arrive their destination with the poop.
Now, the impression occurs to me that these beetles smell just like the excreta they’re rolling. Another thought I got: these beetles could bring themselves to the point of hobnobbing with dung of another animal for the purpose and sake of survival and adding value to itself. The bigger picture the beetles may not know is that they are just a part of the ecosystem.
And then this thought flashed through my mind: "If you roll with some, who are not of your age bracket, be ready to have much temperance in place."
As I shared the above perspective, two reactions I got from two friends are: "This applies to the case where you condescend to a somewhat lower group." And I replied: "If you say so, but if you have to probably mentor people or lead others of a lower cadre to you, you must accept whatever may come to you."
Another response was: "But sir, age is more of a number. Human mind is not directly proportional to age; my opinion." To this, I replied: "Yes, sir. There are always different perceptions and two sides to a coin.”
When you get into the nitty-gritty of mentorship and you engage with millennials and Gen Zeds, you are exposed to another side. That is a path of discovery that holds much intrigues.
There is the reality of experience. Because of expectations, upbringing and paradigms, you would experience dispositions that should cause a shift to your perceptions.
These things are critical. We get better informed when we get our hands dirty in the value chain. It exposes us to practices beyond words and sayings like "age is just a number," which are really the perceptions and experiences of others."
As we work with people, we experience things that throw up a lot of new findings, which may cause a shift to the earlier beliefs we had. The earlier beliefs are products of mere acceptances. They probably had nothing to do with activities we engaged in.
We held those beliefs because they were handed down to us by the different adults in our lives and we have not once tested their validity through work and practical engagement with reality. They are just thoughts we live with, in our heads. How pathetic!
However, if we pass such beliefs through the channel of activities that we get involved with, we have a shave with different persons with different mindsets and experiences who seek to influence us either directly or indirectly with their own thinking. These happen unconsciously sometimes.
Working with millennials and Gen Zeds over a period of more than a decade or two has exposed me to a lot. These young persons have a mind of their own. They have intellectual energy, not wisdom. They have physical energy and speed, so they are often in a hurry.
Hurrying imparts them negatively. Those who choose to stay under guidance for a period to get mentored are often the better for it. Those who don't, and these are in the majority, have a lot of negative experiences which throw them into a lot of quagmire.
Some learn from this and become the better for it, but what about those who do not? Returning from that negative stream is often a battle of life. Again, only a few pay this price because it means starting over.
Who you roll with is asking who you open your doors to. Yes, doors because you do have more than one door within your one access door. The level of trust, love, faith and belief in another determines which doors you grant them access to.
The door to your finances, the door to your network that you have built over a period based on the values of integrity, positive passion and much sacrifice, the door of relationships and more. Each door is a level of security, for which certain clearance is required.
Who you open each door to is determined by who you roll with and at what level. You do have your unwritten measurements and evaluations that you operate by, and this is known only to you most times.
Again, it depends on how much you have developed your thinking.
This is not limited to millennials and Gen Zeds. Other generations have their own issues too. Some members of the older generations play funny due to their too many insecurities. They exhibit much that leaves much less to be desired about them. Everyone has their flaws, so we must be specific on what we seek exactly and know how to latch on it once we spot it as a strength in the other person.
Continuous engagement and earning desired outcomes keep us interdependent and flowing. If we spot other virtues like reliability, loyalty, and self-discipline, we want to build on these by opening more doors; and so, keep rolling with specific set or group of persons.
Who you roll with could be the result of who you are too, because birds of a feather flock together. This is a hard place to be if the nature is more retrogressive than progressive or less goal based than otherwise.
Unless you are able to clearly identify the values and principles that other people operate by in their daily offerings and deliveries, it may not be advised to roll with them. We want to know our own values and see how they align with others. If we do not ensure this and connect at such deeper levels, alliances and synergies for the value of collaboration stand at a precarious edge. It can be preposterous.
