An overly emotional generation

I love posting stuff on my digital spaces. Lots of it.  There is a steady amount of people following my Facebook page. These are random thoughts that may be related to work, spirituality, or relationship issues.

It’s amazing to see the profile of these young people following the posts. They are very young and...very emotional.

There was a time when I placed this thought and it elicited a lot of reactions, both positive and negative:

“Are you thinking of quitting your job because you do not like the way your boss treats you? Well...I think you need to rethink your decision. When decisions are made during the height of emotional moments (or at its lowest), it tends to be a wrong one. Let the emotions subside first and then use reason to figure things out. Getting into a relationship is the same thing. Do not let emotions rule. Get some serious thinking going.”

You should have seen the amount of comments and reactions I.

One who disagreed with me said, “It’s not applicable to all situations. What if your boss is a narcissistic pig who abuses you and exploits you? Are you going to develop this typical Filipino victim’s mentality and bear all the abuse? Quit!”

Another negative comment put a smile on my face and confirmed what speaker and author Tim Elmore said about the young generation today. Here is a paraphrased quote reflecting the negative emotions from a young Millennial: “What if your boss is the main cause of your lack of self-worth and self-esteem?”

Another one said, “Shouldn’t happiness be everybody’s goal in life?”

I can see all the angst and the high sparks of emotional outbursts which has been explained by the famous Tim Elmore in his book “The IY Generation says: “Sixty years ago, Dr. Benjamin Spock told parents to allow kids to express themselves and build a strong self-esteem. Today, we have taken this approach to an extreme—and it has worked. These kids most assuredly have developed a strong self-esteem. According to a nationwide high school survey, more than eight out of 10 believe they are very important people. They feel entitled to special treatment as they enter the adult world. They know they are in the spotlight and all eyes are on them.”

Tim Elmore continues: “Three of the song titles I heard were: “Because I’m Awesome!” “The World Should Revolve Around Me” and “Doncha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me?”  

In another part of his book he says: “The slogan back then was “I’m okay. You’re okay.” Today it’s: “You’re okay. I’m perfect.”

Children over the past years have been over-protected, yet under-prepared for the harsh realities of life. And they have bought the lie that the end goal of men is to be happy.

To be happy? I wonder what this means. I have met a lot of happy losers losing their jobs and destroying their personal relationships while they are happily experiencing the pains of life.

I know of a hard-working dishwasher who studied diligently took evening college classes, was promoted and became a waiter, continued to complete his Master’s degree studies, and no doubt experienced abuses from both insecure bosse and abusive customers, but is now truly happy having risen up to become the CEO of a very popular restaurant chain.

Many young people could not cope with the pressures and their emotional state drives them to make wrong decisions. This is a sad state because of two things:

1. In executive briefings, the truth is that they view potential “promotables” as people who possess leadership qualities who do not only have skills and competencies, but are also capable of handling their moods and emotions.

2. One of the rising “star qualities” of successful career-oriented people as well as entrepreneurs is “LQ.” This refers to “Likeability quotient.”

We’ve heard of IQ (Intelligence Quotient). We are quite familiar with EQ (Emotional Quotient). We have been introduced to AQ (Adversity Quotient). HBR (Harvard Business Review) at one time declared the success equation today also needs to cover high SQ (Spirituality Quotient). And now LQ (Like-ability Quotient) is a desired quality for people who can render top-notch performance and excellent customer service that will form the core of any business or profession’s competitive edge.

Millenials are extremely sharp and intelligent. But, they need to be trained in the area of handling their emotions correctly.

There will always be bosses who are rude, and jerks that drive good people away and will cost companies a fortune in the process, hence, they need to be trained in leadership skills. But the young people should be trained in handling their emotions intelligently as well. Their IQ might be high but they also need to educate their emotions.

The good news is that many companies are already doing this. They are providing soft skills training like managing money and intelligently handling their emotional state. I should know because there are more and more requirements for me to provide such trainings.

The question is: are parents doing this at home? And perhaps prepare a generation of young people who can think and act rationally and not base their lives on cheap clichés while they are become train wrecks?

Emotions will either serve or shame us, and learning how to control them will be to our advantage.

(Start the New Year right with Francis Kong. Sign up to update and upgrade your leadership and life skills with his highly acclaimed “Level Up Leadership” workshop seminar Janu. 13-14 at Makati Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries contact Inspire at 09158055910 or call 632-6310912 or 6310660 for details.)