Following what was written in my last blog, you would think millennials are poised and ready to make a difference. We have the drive, energy and ambition to take us to the top of any industry. We can handle whatever situation we find ourselves in.
Yeah right…
A couple of days ago I sat down with a man who I consider as one of the pioneering members of commercial aviation in Malta. We agreed to meet at a pretty chique restaurant at 7 pm. I was seated by 6:55 pm. At exactly 7 pm, Sam casually walked in. 62 years old, 5 foot 8 and not a hair out of place.
I started off the dinner feeling fairly confident in myself. I left the restaurant a whole new person.
One thing you need to know about me is that sometimes, I tend to make decisions based on emotion rather than reason. It is an aspect of my character that I am conscious about and that am working on controlling. Now, when I get worked up and decide to send a heated email, I write it and sit on it for a day or two. I guess it’s a start..
I reached out to Sam because I genuinely needed help. I needed to speak to someone who could push emotions aside, who could analyze a situation and could objectively (and honestly) give me feedback or advice. After several minutes of me rambling on about my conundrum, Sam uttered the following words:
‘Life is not black nor is it white.’
Naively, I always thought of life being black AND white, good AND bad. As soon as Sam said those words, I knew I had to rethink everything. There was no clear answer to the situation I was in.
Sam continued to preach that life, like our careers, is a series of ups and downs. We cannot always expect to be faced with positive situations. We are allowed to be unhappy and anxious about certain situations, after-all, we are not robots.
The trick is how one negotiates their life and career between those ups and downs – the blacks, the whites and everything in between.
Sam’s priority is his family, after that, his career. To ensure his family has everything they need, he has to protect his job. He explained that sometimes you need to adjust your natural, and possibly the correct, reaction to certain issues in order to ensure your overall situation remains under control.
‘We may not always be sure as to what is good and what is bad but we are always sure what is right and wrong.’
He made it very clear, aviation is about safety and economic viability – one cannot survive without the other. Sam fully understands what job responsibilities are. He knows how to use verbal and non-verbal language to aid his situation. He understands that the regulations were written by humans.
After an hour, Sam addressed my conundrum. I have known Sam for many years and this is the first time I heard him curse (TWICE!):
‘You do not know how to play the fucking game! Learn to play the fucking game!’
That is why we need the older generations, they know how to play the game. Most people nowadays have no idea what their game is.
It is time I understood my game.