What is the best way to introduce youth to work? I wonder …

This weekly wonder question may seem quite simple. And in many ways it is simple. But I am opening my curiosity around this topic after a client meeting today. Our client, let me call him Sam, shared a delightful and provocative story about his two teenage children. His 16 year old daughter started working for a local hardware store to earn spending money and to exercise the “work” muscle. (The work muscle is the place in our body-mind system that gets exercised when we are gainfully employed.) When Sam’s daughter received her first paycheck, she had a hissy fit. First she thought that the hardware company made a big mistake; then she noticed the deductions for federal taxes, state taxes, social security and Medicare. “Dad! What are all of these taxes? What the heck is Medicare???” A week later her 14 year old brother asked for a $20.00 loan. To which she replied, “Do you have any idea how many hours I have to work in order to earn $20.00? Four! I work four hours to earn $20.” Welcome to the world of workers.

Sam smirked as he told this story. He was also very proud of his daughter, who was learning skillfully, through direct experience, about work and all that working entails: earning money, saving money, choosing where to spend money, valuing time, valuing talent, sensing the benefit of doing work that you really like and more.

I appreciate this story and continue to wonder about the pathways to teach youth about work, particularly work done well. There is no one answer. What was your pathway to work? Would you recommend that path to youth today?