work ethic has been underlined by business executive William Spriggs to Hamilton Rotarians. David Fox reports A business development executive yesterday outlined to Hamilton Rotarians a blueprint that could breed more successful Bermudians.

Today's youth can enter the 21st century with the required money management mind-set that breeds success in the marketplace, if skills that include attitude and service training are taught in high school.

William Spriggs of the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation told the La Coquille Restaurant gathering he was disturbed by the number of CedarBridge students who speak as if they have no work ethic.

He said, "There are too many heads on desks, blank stares and young people speaking to their peers and adults with all the language of a bad attitude.'' Mr. Spriggs argues that failure to study the attitude and service skills of Bermuda's young people today, could lead to serious weaknesses in the future work force, with skill deficiencies in individuals that will continue to hamper them in life.

Mr. Spriggs' vision of a better Bermuda has young people identifying and recognising their life purpose or mission, with goal-setting and the building of a skills portfolio.

"Acting on purpose with passion, has power,'' he said. "How many of our students really embrace the thought that whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve? Probably not enough. How many are thinking just enough to get a job? How many understand the concept of bringing value to the table? How many have already given up on the marketplace's new rule of continuous improvement?'' He said young people need to understand what Fortune Magazine reported recently, that: "The era that traded loyalty for job security is virtually dead. The new contract is: There will never be job security. You will be employed as long as you add value to the organisation, and you are continuously responsible for finding new ways to add value. In return, you have the right to demand interesting and important work, the freedom and resources to perform it well, the pay that reflects your contribution and the experience and training needed to be employable here or elsewhere. This is the new deal.'' Mr. Spriggs advocates teaching students an understanding of wealth and the principles behind creating, maintaining and growing money.

He believes the school curriculum could be used to teach some of the most important lessons for a lifetime -- lessons like good saving habits, which are best learned young.

Other lessons include goal-setting, financial planning for the future and the need to find life work that grows wealth because it is what one is best-suited for and most interested in.

He added, "How the stock market and mutual funds operate are rarely taught in schools and many people, if not forced to learn, are quite happy to stay ignorant and apart from the reality of a better life.

"I ask you, how can we expect our young people to act differently? So, why not teach the inner workings and hidden mechanisms of money?'' He suggests one of the lessons should be about the importance of saving at least ten percent of monthly income.

"In summary,'' he concluded, "attitude, service, life work, personal mission and a wealthy mindset are all things that we can embrace now, but I ask you, would you have benefited if you had learned a few of these ideas as a student? "Could these ideas have been useful in your college years or during your first few years of work? How much time have you spent agonising over not doing what you love and not knowing what to do about it? "How much money has slipped through our fingers over the last five, ten, 15 years because of bad habits? Have you down-graded your ambitions because you doubt that whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve? "Clearly, hindsight is 20/20 and we aren't going to reach everyone. But the question still remains, `Are we empowering our young people with the basics of what they need to know to be competitive in our changing marketplace?' "I don't think so. I say let's give them an earlier start towards real wealth and wisdom.'' Schools should teach financial planning -- business executive: The importance of Bermudian students understanding money and having the right attitude and work ethic has been underlined by business executive William Spriggs to Hamilton Rotarians. David Fox reports