Lets Talk

I decided to postpone the scheduled article to share my recent experience of visiting a local school. An old friend invited me to talk to some of their teenagers, mainly to help them see the connection between the world of school and the wider world of work. This message can often be unclear for children. I remember from my teenage years that I didn’t have much of an idea about what was coming or what the realities were. A striking question I got proved that.

“Sir, what age did you plan to retire?”

As a teenager, I dreamed of being hugely successful, “better than Branson” or something like that, without working too hard; I wanted to be a Snowboard Instructor because that was cool and attracted the girls (I was a teenage boy, let me have my fantasies). I thought I would retire by age 35 when I could relax in ski resorts and look cool. But 35 passed, and I didn’t retire yet, even 40 passed, and retirement still didn’t happen.

I also recalled what made things different for me; two moments stood out as moments of significant change for me. The first happened when I was 16, and my Form Teacher – perhaps more out of exasperation than anything else – said that “I should remember that people help me because they care about me and not because they are obliged to; they will get paid regardless of how I perform on my exams.” For some reason, that struck me where the numerous “Come on, Ross, you need to revise!” warnings had not, and I started to study in time to get my GCSEs and then take on my A-levels.

Sharing my school experiences with teens facing challenges in today’s society was immensely rewarding. While it may not seem financially prudent to divert time from paying clients to assist children who are often overlooked, the long-term business perspective suggests otherwise. A thriving North East economy can only be a benefit. That economy is built on individuals who are employed and keen to contribute, or, in more contentious terms, “constructive members of society.” The failure to educate our youth carries significant costs. For instance, according to the Ministry of Justice for 2022-2023, incarcerating an individual in the UK costs £51,000 annually. Moreover, benefits amounted to £231.4 billion during that period. Assisting these young people may not eradicate such expenditures, nor should it aim to, but as the adage frequently cited in boardrooms goes, “How do you eat an Elephant?”

The staff at Excelsior Academy is committed to providing education for all children. They embody the school values by discovering, enhancing, and cultivating the students’ talents. It is an honour and a privilege to have the trust and opportunity to speak to their students.

Geordie Consulting will keep supporting the staff and their students so that we can offer roles in our small company. I would challenge other business leaders not only in the area but anywhere to take time to appreciate how your organisation will benefit from more engaged, educated, and motivated school leavers. We will keep working with Excelsior and any other school in the area to support their pupils because a future where we do nothing is a future I don’t want to see.

The second event was in June 2016, when I participated in my first Ultra Marathon… that is a tale for another day.

Geordie Consulting is a boutique Power Platform Consultancy based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.  We support our global clients to harness the full power of their data through semantic modelling, reporting, process mining, apps and automation. We offer comprehensive training to empower your teams to confidently use, maintain, and develop your organisation’s data capabilities.