Many people argue that Generation X will fill these leadership roles and that all will be fine. Well…if you do the math, you will find our three main demographics in our world today include these numbers:

Baby Boomers: Approximately 70 million
Generation X: Approximately 45 million
Generation Y: Approximately 80 million

If you look at these figures, it is obvious that once the Baby  Boomer Generation is out of the workforce, we are most definitely going to have a shortage of leadership talent.

I speak with young men and women under the age of 30 every day, and many tell me that they have been thrust into early leadership positions without any training, coaching or shadowing. They show up for work and hear “Hey…Margaret…Bob’s last day is tomorrow, … Read the rest of the post

1. Interview with Selena Rezvani: Leadership Guidelins for the Next Generation of Women Leaders
2. 7 Ways To Ruin a New Employee by Jeff Haden on BNET
3. The 5 Things Leaders Hate to Do that Stop them From Being Great
4. 5 Ways To Grow Your Business by Getting Plugged In To Your Local Chamber of Commerce
5. Why Does Generation Y Love Ron Paul?

You don’t need therapy to appreciate that your childhood has impacted who you are today. What you may not appreciate is how some behaviors you learned as a child may be holding you back in your career!

In my work as an executive coach and now as a Mother Whisperer working with women,* I’ve found that our relationship with our parents – especially our mothers has a powerful long lasting affect on all our relationships as adults – including how we interact with others at work. I call these childhood hangovers. We may not even be aware of them at first, but they sure do give us – and often those around us – some headaches! For many of us, recognizing them for what they are, and shifting our thinking can become just the aspirin we need!

Childhood hangovers are usually hidden behind our professional image … Read the rest of the post

1. 5 Steps for Improving Accountability on Your Team
2. 9 Steps to Convincing Your Customers “Be the Brand”

My answer is this…the company has become comfortable with mediocrity…things have always done a certain way, so there goes the mindset…into the ditch:

1. Eh…performance is okay…it could be better, but it’s fine.

2. No need to change…it’s too hard, too time consuming and way too costly…let’s just focus on the status quo.

3. We do things around here “this way” and this has worked for decades…our approach is doing a “fine job”.

4.  I don’t like these people on this team or who work for this company anyway…let’s just stay in mediocrity, and maybe they’ll just “go away”.

When I hear this, I ususally start digging a bit deeper…to find that

• the same people are in the
… Read the rest of the post

1. 5 Warning Signs that Your Arrogance is Tearing Your Team Apart
2. Myth Squashing Time! There’s No Need To Vote If You Can’t Seek The Truth
3. Survey: What is Robbing You of Your Time? 15 Very Busy Professionals Weigh In
4. Assessment: Are You Truly a Digitally Savvy Leader?
5. The 5 Qualities Required for a Leader to Make it to the Top

It was beautiful…sunny, warm, a bit windy and the sky was blue.  I don’t think we even had a tiny cloud in the sky like the one shown in this photo.  As the old saying goes. “On a clear day, you can see forever!”  That is exactly how I felt!

And, before I went to sleep last night, I looked outside and could see stars everywhere.  I can see that spring is coming, and the clarity was truly beautiful.  Following an unusually cold winter and a great deal of rain, snow and ice, I found it comforting to know that I could truly see a beautiful, clear sky and the stars for miles and miles.  It made me trust that there is a huge universe out there for us to explore and that today I would be able to write this blog post…and here I am…writing my blog post for the week!

But…I have to say, while still beautiful, on days like this photo to the right…when the fog is so thick you can feel it on your skin, I … Read the rest of the post

1. J Stands for Justification
2. M Stands for Moving On: 10 Signs It’s Time for a New Leader
3. N Stands for Never Say Never
4. K Stands for Know it All
5. O Stands for Overcoming the Oscillating Fan Syndrome Podcast

So, today, I want to just share with you 3 very simple “How To’s” to consider for 2010…just take a step back and consider a few of the basics.

1.  HOW TO INNOVATE: Innovation is such a big buzzword today, so when something is a big buzzword, it means that it is important to the business landscape.  Many people believe that people are just born as innovators.  This may be somewhat true, but real innovation takes place through learning.  If I have any advice on this topic it would be this:

1. Get out there and talk to the 3 most innovative companies you know to find out how they come up with bright ideas that actually make it to the market and thrive in the marketplace.
2. Study and read everything you can about an innovator you admire (Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs would be two I would start with).
3. Talk to at least 12 people from different industries about one idea you are rolling
… Read the rest of the post

1. J Stands for Justification
2. L Stands for Lucidity
3. M Stands for Moving On: 10 Signs It’s Time for a New Leader
4. N Stands for Never Say Never
5. O Stands for Overcoming the Oscillating Fan Syndrome Podcast