Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Leverage the power of generations; it’s a matter of choice

Four generations are together in the workplace for the first time in history. It is how we choose to work together that will determine our success. All age groups must work diligently at being receptive and involved in the process.

1925 - 1945

Silent Generation

1946 - 1964

Baby Boom

1965 - 1979

Generation X

1980 – 2000

Net Gen, Generation Y, or Millennials

Demographic Truths

In 2008 I read a white paper by international consulting firm Deloitte entitled, “It’s 2008. Where Are Your Employees?” It discussed the impending talent crisis. I was fascinated with the undeniable demographic truths on the horizon:

· Baby Boomers exiting the workplace in high numbers

· The tremendously large size of the Millennial Generation

· The diminutive size of Generation X and its inability to backfill the spaces left by the departing generation

Simultaneously, I was being bombarded with requests for coaching and consulting regarding the challenges the established generation was experiencing in leading the Millennial Generation.

Economic Recession

Suddenly, and for the next several years, the economic recession cast aside the focus on these truths as organizations struggled to survive. But of course, these demographic trends did not pause and wait for the recession to pass! In the midst of one of the worst economic downturns, many Baby Boomers opted to stay put rather than retire. This only served to put a band-aid on the talent crisis predictions, and for the time being, nothing happened.

The reality is, the talent crisis will once again amp up, the Baby Boomers will regain their confidence and proceed to retire (in droves), and Generation X will not be able to backfill the openings left by the Boomers. This situation will be further complicated by the fact that there has been minimal sharing of knowledge and the Baby Boomers are leaving with critical insight that Generation X needs to carry on.

Leverage the Power of Generations

I believe the best solutions come when all the generations are at the table, collaborating, and coming up with solutions and innovations that leverage the power of the generations.

Unfortunately, this is rare. What is happening in the marketplace is collective eye-rolling—established generations roll their eyes at younger generations, and vice versa. There is fatigue and frustration on both sides of the equation.

I often tell people that a challenge and an opportunity usually dwell within close proximity of each another. That is definitely the case in this situation. The result? Solutions are created without collaboration. Here is an example

Not long ago I received a call from a client asking me to review their new website. I asked, “Who is your target audience?” They said males and females ages 18 to 40.

The moment I landed on the website it was obvious it had been built by a group of over-age-40 males. Front and center was a talking head with a crisp shirt and conservative suit yammering gobbledygook. He was preaching corporate-speak on steroids! Fascinating, isn’t it? This is akin to a roundtable discussion on how to target the female purchasing audience without one woman at the table!

The younger generations are more interested in human beings with hearts, personalities, and a bit of humility. They are not interested in someone who is preaching from a lofty position with eyes cast downward.

If the company had invited the up-and-coming generations to the table, they would have quickly realized what younger professionals like and don’t like. They would have created a website that would appeal to the target audience with the influence that sage wisdom and decades of experience bring.

This is one of countless examples where collaboration—leveraging the power of generations—would have yielded a superior outcome and a more innovative solution.

I always say that order matters. We all have something to learn, and we all have something to teach—in that order. If we come from a place of curiosity, where each party says to the other “I want to learn about and understand you,” we would quickly realize that we have more commonalities than differences . Once common ground is established, we can see our differences as strengths and begin to realize the infinite opportunities that exist with four generations in the workplace.

Multiple generations working together can be leveraged as a source of great potential rather than a cause for tension. I believe that we are in a unique place where sage wisdom blended with new, fresh ideas can create the solutions the marketplace and workplace desperately need.

It is how we choose to work together that determines our success. By finding common ground, respecting differences, and letting go of assumptions, great things can happen!

www.ShiftingYears.com

Laura Goodrich

Innovator l Video Producer l Author l Speaker

TV l Radio l Program Host

Internationally Recognized Expert in Change and the Future of Work and Life

Email: laura@onimpactproductions.com

Website: www.onimpactproductions.com

Program Host and Author: Shifting Years: Leverage the Power of Generations

Film: www.shiftingyears.com

FB Shifting Years: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shifting-Years-Leverage-The-Power-of-Generation...>

Laura Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LauraGoodrichOn Impact

Twitter: http://twitter.com/lauragoodrich

Blog: http://lgoodrich.posterous.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lauragoodrich

Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/LauraGoodrich

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/35914444@N07/

Program Host and Author: Seeing Red Cars Film and Book: www.seeingredcarsbook.com

Book Video: http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m3PE5HUKRUKIKZ/ref=ent_fb_link

Seeing Red Cars Conversation Starters: Amazon Instant Videos http://amzn.to/eUdiGA

FB: http://www.facebook.com/SeeingRedCars

App: Seeing Red Cars “I Want Statement” iPhone/ Ipad http://bit.ly/afWHOx

Seeing Red Cars Products: http://bit.ly/cB29Tq

Seeing Red Cars FB: http://www.facebook.com/SeeingRedCars

Seeing Red Cars Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/SeeingRedCars

LiveMint and the Wall Street Journal have identified Seeing Red Cars – Driving your Yourself, Your Team and Your Organization to a Positive Future as a top five

Monday, July 11, 2011

Wayne Hurlbert Interviews Laura Goodrich

Acclaimed radio and television host, internationally recognized expert in change and the future of work and life, co-owner of On Impact, and author of the inspirational and very practical book Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Futures,Laura Goodrich, describes how when you buy a red car, you see red cars everywhere. Laura shares how this is seeing and getting more of what you focus on in business and in life. Unfortunately, she points out that people spend too much time and energy focusing on what they don't want instead. Laura offers ideas and techniques to help you stop fixating on negative thoughts, and rewiring your brain to focus on positive results. Laura demonstrates how this concept can transform a company culture where employees ply to their passions and strengths, focus on what they want, and achieve breakthrough results and innovations.

Listen to the Interview here http://www.blogtalkradio.com/waynehurlbert/2011/07/01/laura-goodrich-seeing-r...

Acclaimed radio and television host, internationally recognized expert in the field of workplace dynamics and relationships, co-owner of On Impact Productions, and author of the inspirational and very practical book Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Futures,Laura Goodrich, describes how when you buy a red car, you see red cars everywhere. You will learn:

* Why we tend to see things that we focus on

* Why people focus on what they don't want instead of what they do want

* How to transform your focus to what you do want

* How to change workplace culture to focus on what people do want

Laura Goodrich (photo left) is like Suze Orman meets Katie Couric with a splash of Dear Abby and a Meg Ryan smile. Whip-smart and vibrant, but also down-to-earth and approachable, Laura is an internationally recognized expert in the field of workplace dynamics and relationships.

Energetic and enthusiastic, she has over twenty five years professional experience; sixteen of which she has spent as a speaker, organizational trainer, coach, and consultant. Her business stories and experience from all over the globe have earned her the reputation as someone who can create positive circumstances and relationships in even the most challenging workplace dynamics.

If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.

Laura Goodrich´s”Seeing Red Cars Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future ” by Wayne Hurlbert

“You could be getting more of what you want – more new ideas, more teamwork in your department, and a more positive attitude in the company”, writes internationally recognized expert in the field of workplace dynamics and relationships, Laura Goodrich, in her inspirational and very practical book Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future. The author describes how we get more of what we focus on, and shares the tools for enhancing and sharpening the focus on what we really want.

Laura Goodrich points to the very familiar phenomenon of the purchaser of a red car suddenly seeing red cars everywhere. The author recognizes this sudden appearance of red cars as simply a fresh focus on red cars on the road. In fact, the red cars were there all along, but without the focus on them, they went unnoticed prior to the red car purchase. With this change in concentration, writes Laura Goodrich, a dramatic and very noticeable change in outcomes is possible. Unfortunately, as the author describes, people will often concentrate their focus on what they don’t want. The result is that those people also receive the bad things on which they sharpened their gaze. Laura Goodrich shares how the world doesn’t have to be that way, and guides the reader to focus on the desirable outcome, and how this reversal of direction makes all the difference in the world.

Laura Goodrich (photo left) understands that not only can individuals change their outlook, but that entire corporate cultures can be transformed as well. Instead of concentrating on weaknesses, the author demonstrates how entire organization can enhance strengths, increase passion, and develop a more engaged and productive workplace. Combining the change in thinking with the tools necessary to make the transition from a negative focused culture, to that of one where the positive outcome is sought, the author provides a system that provides real bottom line results. While many companies expend their energy on what they believe is preventing problems, the more effective organization creates an atmosphere where overall success is the goal. With this profound difference in organizational culture and behavior, any company can get what it really wants.

For me, the power of the book is how Laura Goodrich utilizes the red car phenomenon effectively to describe how people see and receive what they focus on in life. The author combines effectively the theory of why concentration on anything either good or bad, produces that result, with practical steps on how to change that concentration problem. Laura Goodrich bolsters her theoretical framework with the latest research in how the brain processes information, and how it focuses upon either good or undesirable results. The author shares the tools, including an online toolkit, to effectively rewire the brains of individuals or of entire organizations to effect positive and lasting change.

Along with the theory and practical exercises, Laura Goodrich also shares real world stories of companies who have made the leap to a focus on positive goals. The results of these corporate cultural changes are both dramatic and motivational for anyone seeking to improve morale within the company culture. Engaged and positive employees are also more productive and increase the organization’s revenue and profitability. Happy workers, concentrating on seeing the shiniest red cars in life, are more likely to be creative as well. When innovative thinking is sought, bold new ideas and initiatives seem to arrive out of nowhere. Just like the red cars, those fresh ideas were there all along.

I highly recommend the innovative and results oriented book Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future by Laura Goodrich, to anyone looking for commitment, both individually and on an organization wide basis, to focusing on positive events. Looking for what you really want will surprise and delight the seeker of good things in business and in life.

Read the negative pattern breaking book Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future by Laura Goodrich, and discover how to make positive change with both realistic and effective techniques for personal and organizational transformation. You will be seeing red cars everywhere in the office and on the road of life.

Sreing Red Cars
Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future
By: Laura Goodrich
Published: February 7, 2011
Format: Paperback, 192 pages
ISBN-10: 9781605097275
ISBN-13: 978-1605097275
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with acclaimed radio and television host, internationally recognized expert in the field of workplace dynamics and relationships, co-owner of On Impact Productions, and author of the inspirational and very practical book Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Futures, Laura Goodrich, as she describes how when you buy a red car, you see red cars everywhere. Laura shares how this is seeing and getting more of what you focus on in business and in life. Unfortunately, she points out that people spend too much time and energy focusing on what they don't want instead. Laura offers ideas and techniques to help you stop fixating on negative thoughts, and rewiring your brain to focus on positive results. Laura demonstrates how this concept can transform a company culture where employees ply to their passions and strengths, focus on what they want, and achieve breakthrough results and innovations on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future, Laura Goodrich,organizational behavior, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

Laura Goodrich: Seeing Red Cars - Blog Business Success Radio - posted by Wayne Hurlbert : 12:53 PM

http://blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com/2011/06/laura-goodrich-seeing-red-cars-...

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Calibri} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Calibri; min-height: 17.0px}

Laura Goodrich

Innovator l Video Producer l Author l Speaker

TV l Radio l Program Host

Internationally Recognized Expert in Change and the Future of Work and Life!

Email: laura@onimpactproductions.com

Website: www.onimpactproductions.com

Business: 952-856-6071

Mobile: 952-240-1516

SKYPE: laura.goodrich

OOVOO: Laura Goodrich

Program Host and Author: Seeing Red Cars

Film and Book: www.seeingredcarsbook.com