A Must Read: “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett

Of the many things that I am lucky enough to do each month — many of which obviously keep me too busy to consistently write this blog (shame on me for breaking one of my own social media rules) — I get to take part in a book club with a number of open-minded and well-read female young professionals. I look forward to this get-together every month and highly anticipate the book selection, knowing that it is probably an extremely interesting book and something I most likely would not have found on my own.

While every book I have read since joining the club has been enjoyable, this month’s book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, was so good that I felt compelled to take to my blog and share it with the world.

The brief description of The Help on goodreads.com – a site that any book lover should sign up for and explore — is: “three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.” That barely does it justice. It is a story about race relations in Jackson, Mississippi, and how people – both Black and White – worked in their own way to bring civil rights to the people of their racist and stubborn southern town during the early 1960′s.

 It tells the story of  a young, female socialite  raised by her Black maid, who after returning from college, strives to find her place in this world and at the same time correct the injustices that maids are forced to tolerate every day. At the same time, these women risk everything to tell their stories to this idealist young woman, for a book that might never be published, in hopes that the truth about their lives will come out and that it will change the way their children are treated.

Each maid’s story is artfully intertwined with the story of the White women in the town, illustrating the complex relationships between the women themselves, their families and the social standards that existed in the South during that time period. Despite the many stories being told, you never feel confused, except when Stockett’s amazing character development erupts into a moment of empathy for the very character you know you should dislike.

Even though I clearly love this book, I feel like I can barely do it justice by writing about it in this post, so I would highly recommend picking the book up and giving it a read!

Too old or just too young to understand?

My mother, a 30+ year educator with a vast amount of experience, was recently discussing her decision to stop teaching college classes with me. One of the reasons she decided to stop was her lack of knowledge when it came to new technology. She has years and years of proven success and experience with students, schools and school districts, but she recognized that she couldn’t teach about the rapidly changing technological world.  

My immediate reaction was ‘what a loss for these students.’ Through her experiences, my mom could teach these students skills you just can’t find on the Internet.

As I thought about this more, I realized my own lack of understanding when it comes to my aging co-workers. In my opinion, it would be a great honor to work and learn from my parents, but for some reason that feeling has never transferred to some of my co-workers who are about the same age.

I started reading up on the topic of the aging workforce and was surprised to find a study done by Louisiana State University that found older workers – those 55 or older — may not pick-up on changes in the office as quickly, but they are much more willing and devoted to making change work within the office.

That made me think of my dad’s recent move onto Facebook. He had no idea what he was doing and I probably spent days explaining how everything works, but he was, and still is, more determined to understand how it worked – and use it appropriately — than many of my 20-something aged friends.

So, the next time you struggle when working with an older employee consider these tips from Forbes:

1. Appreciate that your motivation for work may be different. Younger workers are generally on a path for promotions or increased salary, but many older workers are already financially stable, so their motivation for working is self-satisfaction.

2. Communicate: Each generation communicates differently. In general, older workers would prefer to talk more often in person and on a more consistent basis. You both have to communicate to find the best way to work together.

3. Respect experience: After decades in the workforce the chances are they know and thing or two about successful business. Sure they may not know everything about the project, but they can probably share some valuable lessons from past experience.