Championing the future success of today’s young generation in line with its belief that sport is a great teacher of important life lessons and values, MILO® Malaysia convened a panel of experts from the Government, education and corporate sectors as well as startups to uncover values that are critical in building the ‘grit’ quotient among children and young people, at the MILO® Grit Advantage Forum webinar.
‘Grit’ (Kecekalan) – the passion and perseverance for long-term and meaningful goals - was identified by 80% of educators and employers in Malaysia as the most important trait that drives a child’s future success, according to the recently released MILO® Grit Advantage Report. It is an all-encompassing character trait that encapsulates the eight qualities that are critical to a child’s early development as they are to future-proof a child – courage, determination, resilience, tenacity, passion, persistence, endurance and excellence.
However, our young generation today suffers from a widespread deficit of grit. This is evidenced by their attitude of giving up easily when faced with setbacks or failures, or switching from one interest to another without building real skills or passion. It is also seen in the fragmented career paths or frequent job switches among young professionals, according to 79% of employers surveyed in the MILO® Grit Advantage Report.
To this end, the forum served as a platform for experts to provide further insights into the MILO® Grit Advantage Report and share game-changing perspectives on further establishing the need for grit as well as ways to nurture grit in children and young people today.
Ng Su Yen, Business Executive Officer – MILO®, Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad said that the MILO® Grit Advantage Report, which preceded this forum, had achieved its objective of sparking conversations and building awareness of grit. “We know the struggle that parents today face, and we hear their concerns when it comes to preparing their children for the future. As a partner to parents, we are taking the lead in equipping parents with expert insights into raising their children for the 21st century with the values of grit. The values children learn from a young age are the values that they take with them to adulthood. Thus, it is crucial for parents to instill grit now as a tool to future-proof their children.”
The forum featured Datuk Dr Habibah binti Abdul Rahim, Director-General of Education, Ministry of Education Malaysia as special guest speaker among a panel of experts that included Timothy Johnson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Product & Partnerships, Inti International University & Colleges; Shahzad Umar, Executive Director – Human Resources, Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad; Ben Ho, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Talentbank; and Nina Othman, Founder, Grow the Goose and Borneo Cocoa.
Datuk Dr Habibah spoke on the importance of balancing academics with cocurricular activities to achieve future success, as did every 3 out of 4 educators in the MILO® Grit Advantage Report. She commented, “Not everything can be learned in the classroom. As such, we at the Ministry of Education Malaysia recognise that academic excellence is not the be-all and end-all metric for success.”
She made a case for sports as a prime example of how grit can be learned outside the classroom. “Parents should introduce sports to their child at an early stage, not only for the physical benefits but also for the values of grit that their child can learn and appreciate from sports,” she added.
The panellists also shared the view that sport is a great teacher of grit. Qualities that can be nurtured by taking part in sport such as drive, determination, hard work and discipline are the building blocks of grit and are as well embodied in the never-give-up spirit, attitude and mindset of champions. The achievement gained through sport is never immediate and is the result of years of training, perseverance and effort. To this point, the panellists agreed that sport complements academics best and is a must-have to support a child’s early development.
It was also highlighted that in the job market, well-rounded talents are preferred over those with just good grades – and that this will continue. With 85% of jobs that will be essential by 2030 do not yet exist, it is all the more reason students and future job seekers today need to develop the grit it takes to thrive and succeed, no matter what the future holds for the job market. The ability to learn and bounce back from one’s mistakes – which, according to the panelists is a critical component of the grit quotient and an important early predictor of success – is severely lacking among young professionals today. Thus, strong character traits are just as crucial as talents and skills in driving professional success in the future.
For the full discussion, tune in to the MILO® Grit Advantage Forum, available for streaming on MILO® Malaysia Facebook.
To find out more about the MILO® Grit Advantage Report and how sport builds grit, logon to: https://www.milo.com.my/get-active/kecekalan-tangga-kejayaan.
