STUDENTS: BUILDING RESPECT AND AUTHORITY
SO YOUR PARENTS ASKED YOU TO HAVE SOME GUIDED CONVERSATIONS, EH?
Why?
The short answer is that they love you and want to understand you better.
The longer answer is that they want to give you an opportunity to become stronger, more confident, more articulate — and more powerful, in a real-world sense.
You’re getting closer to the adult world — jobs, interviews, decisions — and they want you to walk into that world with presence and a clear sense of who you are.
With a clear understanding of who you are — and experience carrying it into real conversations.
What this actually is (and isn’t)
- 10 Questions is not a test.
- It’s not therapy.
- It’s not about fixing you or steering you toward a specific outcome.
It’s a structured way to have real conversations with adults — starting with your parents — that help you:
- notice patterns in what energizes you and what doesn’t
- understand how you think and work best
- put that understanding into words that feel true
- get comfortable being taken seriously in adult conversations
That matters more than it sounds.
Why this matters right now
Most people don’t get much practice interacting with adults unless they’re being evaluated.
- Applications.
Grades.
Interviews. - Performance reviews.
That’s a narrow and stressful way to learn how the adult world works.
10 Questions gives you practice before the stakes are high.
It’s a chance to:
- talk without being judged
- ask questions as well as answer them
- hear how adults actually think about work and decisions
- learn how conversations turn into relationships — and how relationships open doors
10 Questions is practice for being taken seriously.
What you actually gain
- A clearer sense of who you are
- Not labels.
- Not personality types.
A practical understanding of:
- what you enjoy
- where you do your best work
- what drains you
- what kinds of environments and people help you thrive
This isn’t abstract. It’s usable.
2. Language that’s actually yours
Over time, you develop words for:
- who you are
- how you work
- what you care about
- what you’re exploring next
Not buzzwords.
Not scripts.
Language you recognize as true — because you’ve already used it.
3. Comfort and presence with adults
The more you do this, the more natural it feels to:
- talk with adults as people, not authority figures
- ask thoughtful questions
- hold your ground
- be treated like someone whose perspective matters
That’s not confidence you fake.
It’s confidence that comes from experience.
4. Relationships that can actually lead somewhere
Most adults want to help younger people — but they don’t know how to do it without overstepping.
These conversations give them a reason.
Over time, conversations turn into:
- perspective
- guidance
- introductions
- opportunities
Not because you’re “networking,”
but because people understand who you are and want to support you.
That’s how doors open in the real world.
What do you carry with you into the world?
By the time you move on — to college, work, or whatever’s next — you don’t just leave with ideas.
You leave with:
- deeper self-awareness
- language you’ve already practiced using
- experience being taken seriously by adults
- confidence built through connection, not performance
Not because someone told you who to be —
but because you’ve already practiced being yourself in rooms where it matters.
Sidebars
Sidebar: Tiger Woods and presence
When Tiger Woods won the U.S. Amateur Championship, something interesting happened.
It wasn’t just that he won.
Announcers, officials, and sponsors spoke to him with deference — like someone whose future was already assumed. They asked thoughtful questions. They treated him as a peer in the adult world of professional golf.
That wasn’t about age or credentials.
Tiger already had:
- clarity about who he was
- confidence that wasn’t performative
- comfort being in high-stakes adult rooms
That presence changed how people related to him.
That’s power.
Not control.
Not arrogance.
The quiet confidence that comes from knowing who you are — and having practiced showing up that way before the stakes are high.
Sidebar: Bill Gates and being taken seriously early
As a teenager, Bill Gates spent time talking with adults — professors, engineers, and business leaders — not as a student waiting to be taught, but as someone actively thinking through problems.
People didn’t engage him because he had a résumé.
They engaged him because he was clear, curious, and already comfortable discussing ideas at a serious level.
Gates enrolled at Harvard but didn’t even finish college.
He left because he already had clarity about what he wanted to build — and relationships with adults who took his thinking seriously and were willing to back him.
By the time real opportunities appeared, Gates wasn’t learning how to speak with adults or defend his ideas.
He had already practiced.
That early experience shaped how people responded to him — and which doors opened next.
That’s not about skipping steps.
It’s about developing presence and confidence before the stakes are high.
Sidebar: Have you ever heard of Gary Cohn?
Most people haven’t.
As a kid, Gary Cohn struggled badly in school. He was dyslexic, had trouble reading, and didn’t fit the traditional academic mold. Teachers didn’t see him as exceptional.
Because reading was hard, Cohn learned something else early:
how to think out loud, argue ideas, and engage directly with people.
He became comfortable speaking up in adult conversations — asking questions, pushing back, and holding his ground.
Those skills followed him into the real world.
Cohn went on to become President and COO of Goldman Sachs, one of the most demanding organizations in the world.
He wasn’t powerful because school went well.
He became powerful because he learned how to sit in his own understanding — and use it — long before most people do.
