Let Our Children Go (So They Can Return)
by Andy Birol, President, Birol Growth Consulting
from Cool Cleveland columnist Andy Birol http://www.AndyBirol.com
From the file of “Periods in history that should never be repeated”:
In 1212, after three failed crusades had decimated the adult populations of France and Germany, more than 30,000 children were sent out to “free” the Promised Land. Parents volunteered their kids; aunts, uncles, grandparents and neighbors cheered the exodus of these tiny soldiers, few of whom ever returned to their homelands. Many perished. Those who lived were captured by pirates and sold into slavery.
Few of us can imagine air-dropping our eight-year olds into Fallujah, but every time I hear about Northeast Ohio’s “brain drain” I get visions of a modern-day Children’s Crusade, albeit in reverse. Rather than sending our youth off to war, promoters of the Cleveland-first movement want to incarcerate them in order to save our economically embattled region. The message to our best and brightest young people? Stick around, shut up, and do our jobs for us.
How in good conscience can any Clevelander ask recent graduates to put our region’s interests ahead of their own development, future earning power, and opportunity to learn, grow, and see the world? Maybe it’s too many Whitney Houston albums. Spend ten minutes with any college senior and you’ll start believing the children are our future, too, for three reasons:
• They have abundant energy, hope, and optimism.
• They have more to prove and learn.
• They have their future and fortune to make.
The enthusiasm of youth is not only infectious and inspiring, it exists organically. Its survival isn’t (yet) dependent on mega-vitamins or Zoloft. Trouble is, such energy can’t remain contained. Following the “use it or lose it” example of physical fitness, if we guilt our best young minds into curtailing their own dreams in favor of our plans for them, we will create a generation of mental couch potatoes. We’ll end up with a lot of middle-aged lunks unable to think and/or muscle their way out of a slump.
The same passion and curiosity that drove you to carve out your own unique claim on life is firing young people today. Letting them go is not only beneficial to them as individuals, it is a better long-term strategy for our region. Why? Because by leaving, they can nurture their passion and get better at what they do … and many of them will come back.
When young grads leave Cleveland, they are apt to learn new ideas, work for more progressive employers, and make their youthful mistakes on someone else’s nickel. Upon their return, their breadth of experience, range of creativity, and depth of loyalty for our region will become vital weapons in the reclamation of our prosperity.
But Andy, you may say, how do you know they will come back? Well, why wouldn’t they? We’ll lose some of them to the coasts but that’s true of every part of the country (particularly those who are weather-challenged). What too many native Clevelanders miss is the fact that many people choose to live here, and for good reasons. Here are four quality-of-life examples:
• While this is not a great place to be single, it is a great place to be married. (I encourage you to talk to single people about their choices here versus a city like Chicago, San Francisco, or Boston.) What defines your life at 24 probably won’t be a factor at 34 or 40. Having sown your oats, you can appreciate the beauty of Ohio cornfields.
• Family ties are strong in this region. Kids who’ve grown up here will have kids of their own, and eager grandparents, aunts, and uncles can be powerful motivators.
• Housing prices are, in a word, incredible. Forced to choose between a Manhattan studio with cockroach issues and a 5-bedroom center-hall Colonial on an acre and a half, a lot of young marrieds won’t just come home for Christmas...they’ll stay.
• To echo Frank and his silver pipes, once these kids have made it “there” they can make it anywhere. Having proven their merit in competitive cities such as New York or L.A., they will enjoy being big fish in a smaller pond.
So, once we let our children go, with blessings and a belief in their return, what do we do in the meantime? If we can’t rely on our kids’ brains, energy, and passion, there’s just one thing to do—Get our own:
• If you are thinking of starting a business — start it!
• If you work in a large corporation, take a chance. Speak up for what is right.
• If you own a small business, don’t settle for just surviving.
• If you run an association or charity, ask whether you can merge or wind it up.
Then go out and start a business.
In short, we must find the confidence and conviction to rescue ourselves. If you talk about being an entrepreneur, muster the courage to strike out on your own. If you are a team player, become a team leader. If you run a business, focus on growth and measure it by results.
As a transplant who has lived, learned, and survived in New York, Chicago, Boston, Nairobi and Istanbul, I am so glad to be here in Cleveland. While we are all proud, defensive, and occasionally embarrassed by our region, we are also blessed. We possess more than enough brain-power—and plain old Midwestern cussedness—to turn this region around. Then, when our children return, they can use their newly minted experience, perspective, ideas, and energy to take us all to the next level.
from Cool Cleveland contributor Andy Birol abirol@andybirol.com
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