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“Greatness daunts us all”: Video-poem promotes construction careers to Millennials

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) is hoping to inspire Millennials to find purpose and fulfilment in a professional career in construction through a spoken performance recorded on video by the poet, LionHeart. 

The opening scene of the 2.5-minute video shows the poet alone in a dark room next to an expansive window.

"Greatness daunts us all," the poet begins, before going on to challenge the stereotype of Millennials – people in their 20s and 30s – as wanting good things in life without being prepared to put in the necessary work.

The truth, asserts LionHeart, who is a Ted X speaker and Poet in Residence at Grimshaw Architects, is that Millennials are a generation more likely than others to be "seeking motivation to raise the bar of who we are".

"We know any grade is degrading if you aren’t pushing yourself past your capacity," he says in the poem produced for release today, which is National Poetry Day in the UK.

Watch the video:

 

The CIOB said the video, "Poetry of Professionalism", sets out to challenge negative preconceptions about construction.

"Talking about professionalism is really important, especially when issues of poor quality and bad practice are evident in the industry," said Saul Townsend, the CIOB’s head of communications.

"Showing pride in your work and not comprising your own values are the behaviours we look to celebrate in this piece of work, and we encourage the industry to share its message."

Expanding on its intentions, the CIOB published its own poem on professionalism, with one verse saying: "A brick is not a building, and a career is more than a paycheque. So we will use different means to send a message to keen ears."

Image: The video challenges the stereotype of Millennials wanting it all without the work (CIOB)

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