Chapter 4. Introduction Is success at work based on childhood and adolescent experiences? The infl uence of childhood and adolescent experiences in relation to adult work success has not been widely studied. We were interested in exploring those factors that Employees of the Year recognised from their lives, especially from childhood and adolescence, as having enhanced their success. This is important if our aim is help people with their opportunities to fi nd a suitable occupation in which they can use their talents.
Experiences and events taking place in childhood and adolescence can be crucial or can at least point people in the right direction. The second part of the chapter then continues the analysis from the point of view of caring teacherhood. Success starts from childhood?
As such, positive development is a holistic process. This means that developmental processes form an entity that affects all levels of the person-environment system. At the same time, all the elements within developmental processes interact. Therefore, the developmental process also varies between society and culture Magnusson and Mahoney Numerous studies have focused on positive development, and they have often taken a specifi c stand or approach to the theme.
However, current approaches to the theme have begun adopting more and more holistic foci concentrating on factors that affect both positive and problem youth development Catalano et al. Success is not just sunshine; it requires the ability to be fl exible, adjust, make compromises and cope with failures and adversities. It is important to consider how the home teaches and supports a child, including in circumstances in which he or she does not achieve goals, i.
What might be the most crucial aspect for this study is the manner in which people learn to interpret their experiences. Indeed, top workers do not develop independently; they are surrounded by their families, friends and relatives.
