Career Guidance in the VUCA* world: Succession or Start-up? Is the opening talk show for a series of education seminars held by The Olympia schools, focusing on the future nature of work, career aspirations, and the kind of relationship that parents should foster to help teenagers in their exploring years.
VUCA, short for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity
This opening talk aims at answering pressing questions parents have to face when their kids get to the threshold of their teenage years: Should parents be involved in the career picking process, or should these youngsters be left to their own devices? If parents were to be involved, what would be the ideal degree of autonomy teens should have? Should kids inherit and continue their family's successful trajectory, or should they carve their path?
Inheritance: Beyond the coins
“Before answering those questions, I want to re-define the term inheritance, as it should be understood as things that one receives from their family,” Madam Ha Thu Thanh, Deloitte Vietnam Chairwoman, shared “It goes beyond monetary inheritance. It is about children upheld their family and business values and extends it intergenerational, be it through the family business or their newly-formed ventures.
Regardless of their preferences, the young must have a strong belief in the road they take, especially in this VUCA new world. Instead of trying to shift your kids’ plan towards your ideas of what works best, parents should try to see if their inputs are in alignment with what children want and the needs of this modern world.”
It is about children upheld their family and business values and extends it intergenerational, be it through the family business or their newly-formed ventures.
TalentPool CEO, Madam Do Thuy Duong, emphasized the vitality of letting kids decide on the version of the future they want. However, in the decision-making process, parents could play a part in helping them weigh the pros and cons of each option. This collaborative act helps parents understand their kids better and provide better advice, while still letting kids have their own voices. “Not every parent could leave their kid's property inheritance, but everyone can leave behind something that their kids can learn from,” she adds.
A Diverging Path
“In my 15 years working with students, I saw roughly 50% of them moving out of their parents’ suggested paths, both in high school and university. Some even changed their majors or got into something totally different after graduation,” Dr. Nguyen Chi Hieu recounted his experience, “There are two pivotal aspects to successful career guiding. One is to expand kids’ horizons, letting them expose to people and environments from different fronts. Second is to cultivate the core capacities and values that can help them be versatile with ever-changing future demands of work.”
On the same note, Madam Ha Thu Thanh agrees that these types of guiding should start early, as the collective effort of both their family and school. The key thing is for kids to explore and choose the kind of success they see fit, not the job or the business that they must stick to.
There are two pivotal aspects to successful career guiding. One is to expand kids’ horizons, letting them expose to people and environments from different fronts. Second is to cultivate the core capacities and values that can help them be versatile with ever-changing future demands of work.
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