Yeoh Siew Hoon takes lessons from the young – both at home and in the workplace; Do you know, bosses, you've got a lot to answer for?

I've been spending a lot of time lately with teens and young people – perhaps it's because at my age, everybody just seems to get younger while you get older.

Even at the beach the other day when I saw a dead body on the water's edge near where my dog Dylan was swimming and when the police came to cordon off the "scene of the crime", I noticed that they (the police) looked too young to be investigating anything let alone a potential homicide or accidental drowning.

I could not really tell the age of the deceased but that's not the point of this story I am telling.

I am interested in how the young act and think and I wonder if I was like they are now. I am sure I was. One thing that's different though is I used to go to bed with a glass of warm milk, they go to bed with their mobile.

My niece sleeps with her mobile next to her and it's the last thing she says goodnight to and the first thing she says hello to when she wakes up. So do my god-daughter and her brother, my god-son.

When they come to stay, my little flat looks like an Internet café and mobile phone showroom. Between us, we have more gadgets than some kids in Africa have bowls of rice to eat in a year and when I try and remind them of that fact, they roll their eyes at me.

My god-son, Nigel, 16, does not roll his eyes at me because most of the time, he doesn't know what I am saying because he's got headphones permanently covering his ears. (I predict that one day humans will evolve to have just giant thumbs and no ears.)

One day however I got his attention enough to ask him if he would mind writing an article for me – I wanted to know his thoughts about technology and travel and how one aided and abetted the other, if they did.

And he kindly obliged. It's a piece worth reading to understanding the workings of a young mind, our future consumer.

I then got the idea to put a Young WIT panel together at the last WIT*e – Inspiration & Mentoring. I thought it would be refreshing to hear from relative newbies to our sector – for us to listen to new voices who will one day lead our industry.

It was a good discussion and I will share their views in full in next week's newsletter.

But what I found most interesting was when they were asked who they most looked up to and admired, all of them said their bosses – perhaps they said it to be polite and their bosses were in the room but I think there's an element of truth in it.

When you are starting out, the person with the most influence on you is your immediate boss. If you are lucky, you get a good boss, one who will mentor you well. If you are unfortunate, you get a lousy boss and you get so disenchanted and then you leave the industry.

This is where I think we could do a better job. We complain we don't have enough bright, young talent entering our industry but the bigger challenge, I think, is keeping them interested, engaged and inspired.

I wonder how many bosses really know the influence they have on young minds? Imagine if someone enters our industry, fresh, eager and enthusiastic, and a lousy boss beats it out of them?

By the same token, though, as Kathleen Tan, head of commercial for AirAsia Group, observed in her interview session at WIT*e, you've also got to learn to manage your bosses.

No point just blaming it on them, you've got to take things into your own hands as well and change the things you don't like.

As someone much wiser than me said, we all get dealt cards, good and bad, in life. The difference is in how any of us deal with them – that's the true measure of one's character.

Yeoh Siew Hoon, one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, writes a regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry for 4Hoteliers.com.

Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her other writings can be found at www.thetransitcafe.com

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