BUILD Home Page

Each Generation has the Resposibility of Passing on it's Knowledge

Throughout history, each generation has the responsibility of passing on its knowledge, skills, and wisdom to the next. How well an individual learns and uses this knowledge largely determines their success in life as this knowledge is not merely the academic skills learned in school but includes the knowledge and tools needed to make their way in society. A gifted engineer with excellent academic credentials may not achieve much success in life if they have not learned basic employment skills such as showing up to work on time or treating others with courtesy and respect. As our society grows more complex and as more jobs require education based skills and social interaction this transfer of knowledge and wisdom becomes more critical with each passing day.

Members of Generation X (those born between 1961 and 1981) will soon find themselves in leadership positions as the members of the baby boom generation retire. As leadership development expert Deborah Gilburg notes those baby boomers “have the industry connections, networks, and inside scoop to get things done. They’ve experienced successes and learned from their failures. They are community BUILDers and can galvanize a force of their own at the drop of a hat. And they have vision. Those are the characteristics that Gen-Xers need to learn in order to assume the leadership mantle in the future.” In other words, today’s young professionals may have excellent technical skills, but they often lack wisdom. They must acquire a wide range of managerial, networking and social skills in order to inspire confidence in their subordinates and lead their organizations into uncharted territory.

But obtaining those skills has become increasingly difficult. In the past young men and women entering the work force could expect to remain with the same employer their entire career. Large and small businesses could easily identify talented youngsters and groom them for more responsibility over decades using a combination of formal training and effective personnel management policy. Today a college graduate can expect to change his or her entire career several times before they retire. Employers hire employees with the expectation that they will remain less than five years. While this flexibility has opened a wide range of opportunities for every employee, it has effectively destroyed the old means of identifying and developing future leaders. The traditional methods of passing on the collective wisdom needed to become effective leaders, managers and entrepreneurs have almost disappeared.

Mentoring can bridge the knowledge gap and BUILD can help! BUILD has recruited leaders from every sector of the local economy and is pairing them with young professionals who want or need to acquire those critical skills needed to advance in their profession or to become tomorrow’s leaders.

BUILD is stepping in to recreate the mentor/mentee relationships that emerged in an era of lifetime employment while adapting that relationship to today’s economy. BUILD understands that industry specific leadership skills are becoming obsolete and that tomorrow’s leaders must be equipped to operate in a wide range of environment. BUILD recruits the best Mentors in the local community knowing that if they develop good leaders for the community then those future leaders will secure their place in the community.

BUILD Home Page

Each Generation has the Resposibility of Passing on it's Knowledge

BUILD Council Pages