'Working Smart: Essential Skills for the Job Market- An Address to the Loyola University School of Business

Today I want to have a discussion with you:

·       What is the state of the world in which you will be entering the job market?

·       And a little of what I have learnt in my career so far

The job market that all of you will be entering when you leave school is so dramatically different than the one that I had, or that your parents did. We had to go through our schooling within the internet, sharing that one massive computer in the library, standing in line for the pay phone, and buying music on tapes and vinyl. It was a different world then.

Today you are truly in the middle of a series of revolutions. There are the geo-political revolutions that you are seeing all around you- from Brexit, to trade wars, from North Korea and Iran, to Syria and impeachment. The likelihood is that these will only get more complex in the future as the balance of power between and amongst countries continues to shift.

There is the climate change and ecological revolution. And even if you don’t believe in climate change- you have to admit something is happening. This is changing the way we produce, trade and consume. It is killing biodiversity, transforming industries and both creating and destroying jobs. In fact if things continue as they are today, climate change may very well wipe certain countries off of the map. Today the world is facing an ever increasing number of climate related ‘refugees’ or migrants.

There is a digital and technological revolution. Never have things been more accessible to us. The only time when it has ever been more advanced is 'tomorrow'. This is also creating and destroying jobs. Just look at the recent figures. E-commerce’s share of retail sales nearly doubled in the last 5 years from 6% to 11% while over 6000 brick and mortar stores in the US, which employ hundreds of thousands of workers, were closed in 2018. Despite a general increase in jobs in the US since 2015, retail sales jobs decreased by over 100K. This will be a trend that we will see all over the world. But this digital revolution has also created or increased certain jobs although many remain quite insecure. So for example, with amazon- you don’t need stores but you need trucks and drivers to do the 'last mile'- delivering the goods. That is until drones take over or until 3D printing really becomes transformative. The 100K loss in retail jobs has been balanced by a gain of 118K in delivery service driver jobs. But the demographic is different. Can you really see your local supermarket cashier driving an 18 wheeler? So the shift in jobs likely affects certain age groups, genders and ethnicities differently.

So what does someone like you entering a world full of geo-political, Technological and ecological revolutions do? What does working in the gig economy mean for you? Well you work smart.

 We have all heard that significant portion of today’s students will take jobs that don’t exist yet and that in 2030, 85% of jobs taken by today’s learners will be new. That means that in 10 years more than ? of the jobs in the market will be those that we have not even imagined. I don’t believe that.

Yes there will be new jobs created out of necessity- who is going to get rid of all of the new kinds of waste we are creating- and those created because of new innovations. And there may be some jobs that could completely disappear in some countries: bank tellers, cashiers, bus drivers, actors, musicians that don’t tour …maybe even teachers. But there will be jobs created to build the robots, programme the robots, create the content, manage the databases, etc. Who really knows.

 How many of you would like a job in an organisation, in a company, in an international agency?

Now how many of you would like to be entrepreneurs- work for yourself, or have your own business with friends and family?

 Do you think you can do both? Work without a structure but also be entrepreneurial? Of course you can- it is what I call working smart.

Outside of governments the largest sources of employment around the globe are from micro, small and medium sized enterprises. Over 95% of all businesses can be considered SMEs and over 65% of all global jobs are from SMEs. But of course a small business in the US could be considered a multinational in Samoa, or Liberia or St.Vincent and the Grenadines. A small farm in the mid west would probably be a multi million dollar super structure in El Salvador or Bolivia. Perspective matters.

 But what these enterprises have in common is entrepreneurship. What are the common characteristics of an entrepreneur? Risk taker, innovator, willing to lose, a can-do attitude? Sometimes being an entrepreneur is out of necessity rather than passion.

 And entrepreneurs are not born despite what you may have heard. They are made- yes some people are more predisposed to risk taking, and others are more comfortable putting themselves out there- but being an entrepreneur is a skill. And skills can be learned and excelled at.

 And an important component of this skill set is ‘working smart’. It is about building what some people mistakenly call ‘soft skills’ but which I prefer to see as ‘essential skills’. And what do I think these skills are?

 Â·       Curiosity- lifelong learning and continuing to upgrade your skill set is something we should always do. Think of yourselves as an iphone that every couple of months needs an upgrade to perform and function better and to be able to do something even more spectacular. From a course in photography and joining a book club, to learning a new sport or doing a free online course- you gain skills from doing anything which is new.

 Â·       Respect for diversity and equality of all kinds- There is no place for bigotry in a civilised world. There is beauty in diversity and the United Nations has shown that. So if you stand up for equality- spread it and help others to see it. I don’t believe in silent advocacy.

 Â·       Innovation- innovation doesn’t just mean knowing how to use the latest gadget or the newest piece of tech- although that certainly helps. It is about critical thinking and problem solving- looking for new and novel ways to get to solutions.

 Â·       Conversational skills and negotiation- not everyone is a people person. But being able to engage and put your opinions forward is a necessary skill. By being heard and seen we can have outcomes that meet our expectations. Communication skills are critical. Practice, join a toastmasters or a debating society, amongst yourselves throw a contentious topic out there once every two weeks and debate it passionately. Find a voice.

 Â·       Management skills: people and processes- the older I get the more I realise that management is an art and a skill. As I said, entrepreneurs are made not born, and I feel the same about managers- all of us have the capacity to take on roles and responsibilities that are a little beyond what we think we can do. Yes it takes belief and confidence and being in the right place at the right time but it also takes skills. Take a short and focused management course, build your self awareness and discipline. And a large part of this is about Judgment and decision making. I always tell my team- I can deal with it if you make a mistake- but I cannot deal with it if you take no decision at all. A leader and a manager takes decisions, stands behind them, and takes the responsibility even if they are not always the best ones in the end.

  Â·       And for me, the most important one but the most difficult to define: Integrity. In my previous line of work as a negotiator and a diplomat, building trust, being authentic and having integrity were the most important traits I looked for in others and tried to cultivate in myself. People can tell when you are inauthentic. They can smell it! Nothing gives you a better sleep at night than knowing you operated with integrity.

 So - my career. And here I would prefer to engage you more in some Q&A.

 I was born in Barbados and never envisaged one day I would be representing my country at a global stage, working for the World Trade Organisation or working for the United Nations. I never thought I would see the places I have seen, met the people I have met, done the things I have done.

 It has been a mix of working hard, having wonderful mentors and being in the right place at the right time. I am not the smartest, I am not the slickest, I am not the ‘most anything’ but I have tried instead to make the most of what I have.

 Although I have said that the 10 or so skills above are what you will need for the world of work in the next two decades they have also served me extremely well in my over 20 years of professional life.

 Others included:

 Â·       Having a clear sense of my motivation: I wanted to work for the UN. I like what is stands for, I like its purpose and it’s potential. But you don’t have to work at the UN to have that purpose. You can find it anywhere- just identify what it is that makes you get up and go- find that one thing that you know you are contributing to

·       Face to face communication: I am still learning this. I love nothing better than an email. But I also know that I often hide behind them, can send them when I am angry, or have my intentions misinterpreted. There is really nothing that cuts through the manure better than a face to face meeting

·       Social media- whether it is facebook, or twitter, or the ‘gram, or tik tok and snapchat- potential employers will be checking ….and like it or not…they will be judging. I’m not saying not to enjoy life and share that joy- I’m just saying that privacy settings and counting to 10 before you hit ‘send’ or ‘post’ are your friends

·       Networking- what is networking? Everyone has their own assessment- but I can tell you what I don’t like: people who are too pushy when selling themselves; people who are talking to you but looking behind you to see if someone more influential is coming in; someone who all they want to do is to have photos taken with 'influential' people for their social media; and people who don’t respect process. Instead, be clear on what you want to say and how you want to present yourself. Ask as many questions as you give responses. Understand the value in knowing people even if you don’t believe they will be able to help you at that point of time. Respect peoples time and personal space; and recognise that even when you don’t think people are watching you- they are- and they are noticing when you do things that mean something and they are noticing when you act with integrity.

·       Find your lane: Have you ever heard about the ‘red sneakers’ effect? It is a Harvard study that said that intentionally wearing something that causes you to stand out from the crowd around the office, like red sneakers for example, could send a positive message to others — one that communicates confidence, power, and status. So have integrity but find that thing that makes you memorable, makes you stand out. Sometimes it is as simple as being the one who smiles- just find what it is that makes you ‘you’ and shine a light on it.

 But here I want to stop and turn the floor over to you......