Here we go again. I just got another mailing from a tech magazine announcing that they are searching for the best young talent in the consumer electronics industry. They are asking for help searching for leaders under 40-years-old from all corners of the CE business: retail, distribution, buying groups, manufacturing, and technology developers.

The magazine will profile the winners in their June issue. They are asking for nominations for a person who has gone above and beyond in helping to take the CE industry to a new level. “Choose wisely, you never know. One day this person can be your boss.”

First of all, if you are a magazine in the tech business and you don’t know who the leaders are that have taken the CE industry to a new level, then shame on you. This search is nothing more than an advertising ploy. This has been done over and over by other magazines, especially Crains New York. “You stroke me, I will stroke you.” The publications obviously think that the under-40 crowd is the one delegating the ads. I get so upset when I see these feature stories.

I am way over 40 and I would like someone to do a story about survivors. Why is the focus always on the young as it is on the skinny and the rich. Yes, it is nice to see a story about a youngster in business who did something special, but lots of people get lucky. I want to read more stories about people who did something remarkable over and over. Let me see a track record.

The worst thing you can do is inflate the ego of a young person in business. They will believe that they are something special and will expect those accolades all during their career. The minute they stop, and they do, they don’t know how to survive without them. It happened to me early on. I had a lot of mentors and ego boosters in my inner group. Over the years, most of them retired, died, or went into other industries. I had to learn to stand on my own two feet. It is still one of the most difficult tasks of my career.

I would love to see the business world give out awards to career people who successfully reinvent themselves, do remarkable things year after year, and give inner strength to young people who think they know it all.