There are four generations in the world today, said corporate leader Herman Cain. He described these as the X, Y, Z and G generations. Each generation is self-motivated differently.
The G generation is made up of people who are age 56 and above.
“Their primary motivation is to survive,” Cain said. The G generation faced the Depression and World War II.
The Z group is ages 35 to 56, otherwise known as the “baby boomers.” But Cain calls them the Z group because it rhymes with G.
“They assumed survival,” he said. “Their motivation is to thrive. We want to thrive in this great country, not just survive.”
Between the ages of 26 and 35 is the Y group, who Cain said glides through life.
“Their motivation is not to survive, they assume that. Or not to thrive, they assume they are going to thrive,” he said. “I call them the glide group. They just glide. They know they’ll land, they just don’t know when.”
Cain’s daughter is in the glide group. He said she came home from college and said that most people said it takes five years to graduate college. So she said she is going to take five years to graduate.
“I said, `Is that right?’ ” he said. “I stopped eating mid-pork chop, and said, `I want you to be happy and if you want to take five years for college, you go ahead. Dad’s paying for four.’ ”
Cain’s son is in the last group, the X group. They are known to Cain as the drive group. These are people between the ages of 16 and 25.
“They drive through life in somebody else’s car,” he said. His son told him that he has three priorities, they are to graduate, to buy a new car and get a new job.
“What’s wrong with that picture?” asked Cain. “I said, `Don’t you want to get a job before you get a car?’ `No’ he said. `I want a new car so I can find a new job.’ ”
But Cain does admit that it is a calamity not to have dreams or ideals.
“On Sept. 11 our ideals for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were attacked,” he said. “We were wounded but not destroyed. America has been wounded before. It is our responsibility to keep America beautiful and great.”
He called for Americans to focus on leadership because leadership keeps getting tougher.
Leaders have ideals and are self-motivated, he said. But everything is moving so fast it is sometimes hard to stay motivated and on top, so Cain’s advice is if Americans can’t be on the cutting edge, “be on the blade.”
But leaders need more than just motivation and cutting edge information. Leaders must remove barriers that prevent self-motivation, obtain the right results and inspire others.
“Leadership keeps getting tougher,” he said. “It must get better. You can’t motivate people, they must motivate themselves.”
Inspiration is self-motivation and passion, said Cain. He called for everyone to be their own chief executive officer of Self, Inc. to be happy.
“We have been reminded about how much we believe in those ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” he said. “You can’t help people around you be happy if you aren’t happy. It is your responsibility to be happy.”
According to Cain, happiness involves work, love and hope.
“Hope is that fuel that causes you to go beyond the wounds that are a necessary part of this life,” he said.
He said that he is going to have three things on his gravestone: his name, the date he was born and the date he died.
“But the most important is not going to be my name or the date I was born or the date I died,” he said. “The most important thing on that stone is the dash in between the dates. It’s going to answer the question `What did you do with your life?’ “