CONVERSATION WITH
SMILEY POSWOLSKY
Pulse: How did you come to be an expert on leading the next generation of
workers and finding meaning in the workplace?
SMILEY POSWOLSKY: In 2012, I was stuck in a job that on paper was perfect—
I had an important job in the U.S. government; a great salary, healthcare and
job security. But the truth is I was deeply unhappy and unfulfilled. This led to a
very brutal quarter-life crisis where I compared myself to my friends on Facebook
and worried that I’d forever be stuck in a career that wasn’t the right fit. I
started writing about my quarter-life crisis and interviewing other millennials
going through the exact same thing I was facing. My self-published book about
millennials searching for meaningful work sold nearly 10,000 copies and led to
a book deal with Penguin Random House. Turns out: I wasn’t alone, and a
whole generation was seeking answers for how to find meaningful work in an
era of rapid change.
How do you energize the next
generation of workers in the
current spa climate? Just ask
Adam “Smiley” Poswolsky.
Poswolsky is an expert on
millennials in the workplace
and the author of
The Quarter-Life
Breakthrough, a book
all about how to seek
out meaningful work
and flourish. Pulse
spoke with
Poswolsky to learn
more about him
and what he thinks
about the future of
the spa workforce
in advance of his
session at the
2021 ISPA
Conference & Expo.
P: That book is called The Quarter-Life Breakthrough, and in it you discuss
how millennials aren’t the “me” generation. In your mind, what defines them?
S: Millennials currently make up more than half of the workforce and in the next
10 years, millennials will make up as much as 75 percent of the workforce. Based
on my research, stereotypes about entitled, lazy and selfish millennials couldn’t be
farther from the truth. Millennials want to work—and despite being shackled by
debt, a recession and the jobs crisis, they aren’t motivated by money. Rather
they’re motivated by meaning—they’re driven to make the world more compassionate,
innovative and sustainable. We aren’t the “me, me, me” generation. We
are the purpose generation. Fifty percent of millennials would take a
pay cut to find work that matches their values, [and]
90 percent want to use their skills for good. According
to Deloitte’s millennial survey, 75 percent of millennials
say the business world is getting it wrong—that
businesses are too focused on their own agendas,
rather than on improving society.
P: What do you mean when you write that a career
is made of “lily pads,” rather than being a traditional
“career ladder.”
S: The average millennial will have at least 15-20 different
jobs in their lifetime. The traditional career ladder,
where someone spends decades in the same job, is no
longer available for most workers. The average job tenure
for a 20-24 year-old is just over one year; for 25-35 year-olds,
[it] is 2-3 years, and the average job tenure for all workers is
just over four years. In other words, we need to think of our
careers like a pond of lily pads, spread out in all directions, and each lily pad is
an opportunity to live your purpose and gain experience, opportunity, skills and
connections that will help you grow in your career.
SEPTEMBER 2020 ■ PULSE 21