FutureNow Inspiration Journey NYC Sept 30 – Oct 2: Talent Management & Employee Engagement

FutureNow_StackedWho:  Exceptional Leaders who care about the future of their organization and the employees that make it what it is

What: A 3-day Inspiration Journey to ignite new thinking, unearth fresh insights, and build momentum to make the changes necessary for a better future.

Why: Today’s organizations are stuck.  We want to help unstick them and create workplaces where their people can thrive!

How: Inspiration through visits to cutting-edge host companies, insights through facilitated sessions with experienced innovation professionals, and action through planning, coaching and conferring with our experienced staff and your fellow delegates. Join a select delegation in a revelatory 3-day behind-the-scenes exchange with cutting-edge New York City business visionaries. You won’t leave with just a few good ideas…you’ll leave with a plan.

NEW YORK CITY SEPT 30-OCT 2:  TALENT MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT:  TIME FOR A NEW EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP MODEL

Host leaders and companies for our June 17-19 Inspiration Journey include*…

  • Whole Foods Markets –  an inspiring model of distributed employee engagement through deep transparency, autonomy and accountability
  • Donorschoose.org – One of the most innovative companies in the world happens to be a nonprofit.  We’ll get special access to  their Founder, Charles Best, about what makes this organization so special to work for
  • Everwise Millennial UNPanel – Everwise’s, “The eHarmony of mentoring”‘s CEO and Founder Mike Bergelson will host our UNPanel with Millennials on the future of coaching and mentoring

…and more from the likes of Foursquare, Shapeways, Tapad, American Express and others we are finalizing to be part of our Inspiration Journey!

Each inspiration journey will visit 4+ host companies who are either famous for their engaging culture and/or are doing something incredibly innovative in the talent space. These visits are meant to inspire and unearth insights about the top items on today’s organizations’ people agendas. But beyond inspiration, we’ll run interactive events and sessions to help the delegates bridge from insights into action for their own organization. The group will be capped at a very small number, so they’ll be able to receive personal attention and coaching for their own challenges. The goal is for the delegates to be energized and equipped to move from inspiration to action once the tour is complete.

*speaker and engagement schedule subject to change  / still being finalized

Contact us today to save your spot before there are none left! Visit www.futureleadernow.com to learn more.

For a Millennial’s “Jungle Gym” Career, Mentorship is their Harness

Sheryl Sandburg’s 2012 HBS graduation speech famously coined a metaphor that most millennials have been embracing since they entered the workforce – career as a jungle gym, not a ladder: “(careers are…) not a ladder; they’re a jungle gym. …look for opportunities, look for growth, look for impact, look for mission. Move sideways, move down, move on, move off. Build your skills, not your resume. Evaluate what you can do, not the title they’re going to give you. Do real work. Take a sales quota, a line role, an ops job, don’t plan too much, and don’t expect a direct climb. If I had mapped out my career when I was sitting where you are, I would have missed my career.”

Now consider this:

  • We know that mentorship is a critical success factor in development and career success
  • Millenials ask for more mentorship, and seem to need it more to succeed than their peers, according to an in-depth study by Viacom.  Their results indicate that “an important distinction about Millennials in the workplace is that they actually want a “perpetual feedback loop.” Whereas Xers may have eschewed any feedback — even an annual review — Shore says, “Millennials are like, ‘Can you give me daily reviews?’ Their drive to self-improve is extremely high, and it reflects the world they grew up in, because they’re in a constant feedback loop.”
  • Millenials, and heck, the rest of us, are having a hard time finding a mentor in our current workplaces.  Whether it’s because we’re approaching our career with a jungle gym approach, causing lots of movement (inside or outside of a company) or we just work for a company that has very few individuals that would qualify as a good mentor, it’s hard to find someone to give you the sage advice you need at the time you need it.  Being “assigned” a mentor seems outdated, and Monica Higgins, a professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Educate,  stated in this Bloomberg article“one senior person can no longer be the only place you turn for career support.”

So how to bridge the gap between the increasing demand for good mentors and seemingly decreasing supply?  In our upcoming FutureNow event we’ll be talking about this very topic with Everwise, an new kind of mentoring “matchmaker.”  This company is founded on the concept that sometimes the best mentors are outside of your existing organization.  Interestingly, Everwise was co-created by Mike Bergelson and former eBay COO and LiveOps COO, Maynard Webb, who continues to be a personal mentor of mine throughout my own “jungle gym” career.

It’s companies like this that are thinking innovatively about what mentoring means, and how to equip and support a future workforce that will continue to rely more on themselves (vs. the organization) for development paths and opportunities.  Future-thinking organizations must also think about the best ways to provide productive coaching and mentoring to this new workforce, as they are our future leaders, and ultimately the success of the organization lies in their hands.

FutureNow, a 3-day Inspiration Journey is happening June 17-19 in San Francisco and September 30-October 2 in New York City.

FutureNow Inspiration Journeys – San Francisco June 17-19 || NYC Sept 30 – Oct 2

Who:  Exceptional Leaders who care about the future of their organization and the employees that make it what it is
What: A 3-day Inspiration Journey to ignite new thinking, unearth fresh insights, and build momentum to make the changes necessary for a better future.
Why: Today’s organizations are stuck.  We want to help unstick them and create workplaces where their people can thrive!
How: Inspiration through visits to cutting-edge host companies, insights through facilitated sessions with experienced innovation professionals, and action through planning, coaching and conferring with our experienced staff and your fellow delegates.

Join a select delegation in a revelatory 3-day behind-the-scenes exchange with cutting-edge Bay area business visionaries. You won’t leave with just a few good ideas…you’ll leave with a plan.

SAN FRANCISCO JUNE 17-19:  FUTURE LEADERSHIP:  THE WHO, WHAT & HOW TO ENGAGE?

NEW YORK CITY SEPT 30-OCT 2:  TALENT MANAGEMENT:  TIME FOR A NEW EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP MODEL

Host leaders and companies for our June 17-19 Inspiration Journey include*…

  • eBay, Inc. – Dane Howard of Global Brand Experience (Paypal, eBay, etc.) about the intersection of brand and its people, plus others from eBay’s innovative leadership group. Learn how they’re attracting and retaining future leaders.
  • Achievers – A company whose main product enables engagement through technology for its clients, but also walks the walk when it comes to their own culture!
  • Gap, Inc. – We’ll engage with other Gap executives in HR and Talent Development and run an insight session on Future Leadership where we will invite Millenials (from both inside Gap, Inc and outside) to develop insights around what leadership looks like to them, and how organizations need to be thinking to develop this next generation of leaders
  • Everwise & Citrix – Everwise’s, “The eHarmony of mentoring”‘s CEO and Founder Mike Bergelson along with Diana Joseph, the Director of Education at Citrix, are offering a session with other HR leaders in Silicon Valley to explore new solutions to current workplace challenges
  • Box – The SVP of People, Evan Wittenberg, and other Box leaders will reveal how they’re approaching their future talent pipeline while scaling and creating an incredibly engaging, award-winning culture

Each inspiration journey will visit 4+ host companies who are either famous for their engaging culture and/or are doing something incredibly innovative in the talent space. These visits are meant to inspire and unearth insights about the top items on today’s organizations’ people agendas. But beyond inspiration, we’ll run interactive events and sessions to help the delegates bridge from insights into action for their own organization. The group will be capped at a very small number, so they’ll be able to receive personal attention and coaching for their own challenges. The goal is for the delegates to be energized and equipped to move from inspiration to action once the tour is complete.

*speaker and engagement schedule subject to change  

Contact us today to save your spot before there are none left! Visit www.futureleadernow.com to learn more.

Is your workplace thriving or dying? Why you need to know the answer.

Light Streaming Through the Crown of a TreeYour people ARE your business. If not for them, you would have nothing.  Creating a workplace where your people thrive is paramount not only to the growth of your company but also to its very survival. 

A mind shift needs to happen so that we believe that creating an engaging workplace, one where employees enjoy their work, get to share their strengths and passions, and are able to grow and develop, is not just something “good for the employees”.  We need to believe that a focus on creating a thriving workplace and the changes you are brave enough to make are a win-win.  They are good for you, for them, and for the organization at large and your customers.  When your people are thriving, everyone wins.

With everything that we know about what motivates individuals to do their best work, there are still very few organizations making innovative strides to align their organizations with those motivations.  According to Dan Pink’s book DRIVE:  The Surprising Truth Behind What Motivates Us, individuals are not primarily driven by money, as traditionally believed.  Once they are paid at a level they believe is commensurate with their work, financial incentives actually start to work in reverse.  His book points to truckloads of research that says what really motivates employees is three things: Mastery – the need to continue to develop and learn, Autonomy – the desire to be self-driven and not micro-managed and Purpose – an alignment with the “what” of what the company is creating.   And yet, we still think that if we provide a good salary and benefits that that should be enough.  It’s not.

According to a Forbes article entitled “Why Millennials are Ending the 9 to 5”, freelancing and self-employment are on the rise.  The article also notes “Millennials are leaving their companies in less than three years. With 87% of companies reporting a cost of between $15,000 and $25,000 to replace each lost Millennial employee, industries need to start paying attention to structural changes.”

Start paying attention to structural changes, huh?  I say, start paying attention to the people.  You want them to come.  You want them to stay.  You need them to thrive.

Follow me and my blog as I take you on a journey into workplaces big and small, and what they are doing to start creating the workplaces of the future, today.  We’re all in this together, and don’t you want to create a workplace where the next generation can work in an environment where they can shine?

6 years…it’s okay

A warning to anyone who reads my posts normally…this is a break from my normal thoughts on personal development…this one is well, just plain old personal…

My mom passed away suddenly, of a stroke, 6 years ago today.  I forgot.  I mean, I didn’t forget she died, I just forgot today when I woke up that today was the day.  September always brings such hope with the start of the school year, with a new spring in my step, and then…

…something felt wrong.  Off.  On. Off.  Then a message from an old friend:  “Thinking of you.” and another “sending love and friendship today and always”. Right.  Right.  Today’s the day.  They remembered.  I forgot.

Maybe that’s a good thing?  Maybe it’s the most terrible thing ever.  Ever ever.  I’m now mad my husband didn’t remember.  That’s ludicrous.  Even as I’m thinking of it I’m realizing I’m projecting my own frustration and disappointment.  6 years.  SIX years.  What happens in six years?

Others who have asked me, when it happens to them, if it gets better…I say yes and no.  Because right now it’s no better.  But this morning, before I remembered, it was better.  It was.  Really.  Or was I just not thinking about how not better it is?

I miss her just as much.  And as the gap gets bigger I see how much she’s missing.  And how much I’m missing.  My little girl’s first words.  “Peas?” for please.  My son’s first spelling “DDD D!  It starts with the letter D!”  His first day of school is coming.  I can take a picture.  I have no one to send it to.

I sometimes still grab my phone and realize I have no one to dial.  I have no one that understands me the way she did.  No one to call when I have five minutes.  Where just five minutes is okay.  Where just five minutes is everything.

Six years.  I was a different person then.  The girl with the mom.  Now I’m the girl whose mom died.  Years ago.  Not as powerful anymore, right?  It was years ago.

But the thing is because it’s been years more things have happened that she has not been here for.  There are more reasons to miss her.  The hole has gotten bigger.  The wound has gotten deeper.

And yet.  I am my mother’s daughter.  Not one to dwell.  Not one to make others uncomfortable.  I’m fine.  I’m good.  I’m good!  I am healthy.  I am loved.  She loved me.  I loved her.  My last words to her were “I love you, mom”.  She knew, I knew.

Tonight I saw her twinkle in my little girl’s eye.  Sigh.  Tomorrow”s another day.  6 years and a day.  It’s okay.

Branding Basics Book Giveaway!

I have read this book from cover to cover, recommended and given it to clients, and applied it to my own work.  Maria Ross’s book, Branding Basics for Small Business recently got great reviews from both Midwest Book Review and MarketingSherpa.com.  It’s a must read for any entrepreneur or small business.

And so, since many of you, my community, fall into this category I am doing a giveaway (my first!)!  To qualify to win a copy of Maria’s book, you most post a comment here answering this question:  which three words do you think most perfectly describe your brand.  This can be your personal brand (“superwoman!”, “energizer!”, “motivator!”) or it can be your company’s brand (“tactical”, “empathetic”, “innovative”).  I will pick the winner at random tomorrow at 5PEST from the respondants!

Can’t wait to see your brands boiled down into three words!

May Behavior Change Challenge: Daily Writing

Okay, people, moving on!  One behavior change down (work out consistently!) and many to go!  For those of you who are new here, I have embarked on my own public change journey regarding behavior change.  I made a list off singular behaviors that I would like to change about myself and am tackling them one by one.

Here’s what’s left from my original list:

  • Drink more water
  • Go to bed earlier
  • Cut out sugar
  • Meditate daily
  • Go on weekly “Artist Dates”
  • Write daily
  • Be on time
  • Be more organized
  • Put myself first once daily

So, in doing this exercise, I need to go with what I know:  the thing that I most fear is probably the thing most worth doing.  When I look at this list, “write daily” scares the bejeezus out of me.  Not because it’s necessarily hard to do, in and of itself, but because I know it takes a commitment to myself and my own development that I have not done in a very long time.

If you said that “writing every day” meant ANY kind of writing, I would not fret.  I write a LOT – I am posting, blogging, emailing, developing, etc. But THIS writing is different.  This is reflection.  This is journaling.  This has no audience.  This is only for me.  And that’s what scares me.

So something just for ME?  Working out has set the tone – taking care of me is  important in this equation of what I can give to the world.  But working out still had an “external” flare to it – going to the gym, being part of a group…felt like we were all in it together.

For this one I am on my own.  So what do I need to do to make it happen?  Again, knowing what I know about myself:

  • Set a concrete, stretch but realistic goal:  I will write in my journal at least 5x/week
  • Go public:  I will let you all know if I did my writing – how shall I do that without being annoying?  Who wants to know?
  • Plan for it:  I will write between 6:30-7:00 each day, whether or not the kids are up.
  • Get support:  Does anyone want to have a writing date with me?  That might help me with #2 – going public
  • Ship it out!  I will start tomorrow!!!

Okay guys – looks like i need to find a new journal to fill.  Any thoughts from all of you as to how to support my goal of writing daily is much appreciated!