The Millennial Career Dilemma Series – Article 20 By Shubika Bilkha

In a world driven by constant disruption, conflicting ideologies, an explosion of social media and an unprecedented level of change, I find increasingly that it is our values that seem to carry us through. Digging deep to identify what matters most to us at the core is now an important and almost unavoidable exercise.

Earlier this week the Nation was subject to some fairly misplaced values of two key cricket stars, emulated by the youth in our Country. As media TRPs soared on their account, there was a sense of concern on the longer term impact that it would have on the impressionable Gen Zs and millennials that make up the majority of our population. Unfortunately, this isn’t a standalone incident and increasingly a range of popular ‘role models’ continue to disappoint our youth.

At a recent panel that I attended over the weekend on ‘Populism and Tolerance’, a few key young politicians highlighted the importance of creating, maintaining and showcasing the right image as being the key ingredient to political success. Public perception matters most was the slogan I went away with and living and internalizing your story seemed to be the mantra that these young and dynamic leaders followed.

As I navigate the world of university graduates and new entrants into the corporate workplace to train them on key employability skills, I am often amazed by the conviction and clarity with which they formulate their opinions. In an age where our millennials are confronted by an unmanageable level of information driven by unaccounted for sources of media and influenced by both on ground celebrities and digital influencers, how do they find their core values to understand #WhatMattersMost?

In the midst of acing exams, finding employment, getting that promotion and just being a millennial, how can we motivate them to think about why values matter? And how do we formulate the larger point to it amidst a landscape where values and success don’t seem to need to coincide?

As I work with my millennial clients to address this dilemma, I ask them the very key question as I would like to ask both our ace cricket stars who went on a recent talk show:

“In the scorecard of life, what is it that you would truly want to be remembered for and how does what you do today impact that vision?”

This is the first post in the #WhatMattersMost series.

About the Author

Shubika Bilkha is currently the Founding Partner of Edpower-U. She is a dynamic entrepreneur, Trained Executive Coach, media spokesperson, author and corporate advisor with experience that spansthe financial, technology, ecommerce, education and real estate sectors in India and Internationally. As the managing Director of two early stage start-ups in technology and education, Shubika has hands on experience in all aspects of these businesses. She was recently the Managing Director of a leading vocational training institute in India and has worked with a number of leaders across industry, government and the educational ecosystem in India and the UK.

She is also a published author with her first book widely distributed.  Shubika is an alumna of Mount Holyoke College, USA and Columbia Business School, USA; an Associate Member of the Chartered Securities Institute (CSI) in the UK; and has completed the “Building Excellence in Higher Educational Institutions” at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. She is a trained Executive Coach with CTI, UK in line with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) ACC guidelines.