Role models and people we can learn from are all around us in life. When it comes to "work" and sounding the alarm of where we are in THIS day and age of college debt/costs, the skills gap and overall approach to a fulfilled life, I can think of nobody better then Mike Rowe.
Yes I'm a fan of his series Dirty Jobs.
I'm an even bigger fan of his foundation: mikeroweworks.org
Mike's foundation has awarded more than $5.2 MILLION in Work Ethic Scholarships for learning the trades. Admirable, by any means.
BUT.....in my opinion, Mike's greatest contribution may indeed be The S.W.E.A.T Pledge
(Skill & Work Ethic Aren't Taboo). 12 principles that are golden, not just for success, but for overall happiness.
We have big goals for the Brick By Brick Apprenticeship. All great ideas need a set of governing principles that underlie the overall program. Think of it as a House. Houses that last for centuries have Rock Solid Foundations. That's what core principles are.
The 12 S.W.E.A.T Pledge Principles are as sound as they come.
I clearly did not "codify" the principles, Mr. Rowe gets the credit for that.
Part of education is taking a long, hard look at ideas that are around you and then asking yourself: "If these become core to who I am, would my life be dramatically better?"
Clearly my view is YES. It's rock solid.
And ALL Brick By Brick Apprenticeship members will need to go through them, and say "Yup, makes sense. I get it. Let's go."
12 principles are below, along with the 12 videos (pretty entertaining) that will bring the concepts home.
Over time I anticipate adapting these for our business and goals of our education/experience program. But for now, this is the beginning foundational structure.
