Times are Changing: Age, Sex and Our Future (2 of 2) by Darren Hardy

As we discussed in the first post, gender and generations are changing the landscape of business and the dynamics of the work environment in dramatic fashion.

If you can learn to adapt your culture and your leadership you will thrive as we march forward into the future.

Don’t adapt and it could be curtains for your business and your prosperous future.




So I have two methods to suggest in helping you adapt, develop and thrive.

1. Reverse Mentoring
This is the best way to integrate the trading of skills, perspectives and experience throughout your organization. Have men be mentored by women and boomers mentored by millennials.

Have women teach men many of the communication, social and interpersonal skills that women are more naturally adept at and how a man should best communicate to, work with and help support women in the workplace.

Have millennials teach boomers new technology, web services, social media and how the should best communicate to, work with and help support their younger colleagues in the workplace.

You might be asking, why the one-way street?

Well, first, it’s where the greatest gap and need exists, and secondly, mentoring the other way will happen naturally through the relationship.

Women will learn a lot more about their male counterpart in the workplace and how they, too, can adopt some of the skills more natural or prevalent in males in the workplace, and certainly millennials will pick up important leadership, discipline and mindset insights from their more experienced boomer workmates.

2. Be a Student Leader
This action item is particularly for you—the leader of your organization. I want to suggest you go around asking lots of questions to those outside your gender and your generation.

The best way to find out how they tick is to ask them… and listen… really listen.
Here is a questionnaire document I made for you to go through this process. Download here

Suggestion:
Interview at least 3 people (5 is better) from the opposite gender and 3 (5 is better) people from a generation other than your own (particularly the one you understand the least and might frustrate you the most as a result).

Next Step:
Ask one of those from the opposite gender and different generation to mentor you on the topic. Ask them to be your go-to person to talk through interactions and experiences you are going through with people of their orientation and get feedback and advice from them.

Follow-up:
Let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear what ‘ahas’ you get when you interview those of different mind and background. You can find me on my blog, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. I can’t wait to read your comments.

Take on these two suggestions and you will become a dynamic and influential leader of men and women… of all ages.
Wow, what power that will give you.

Share your thoughts, ideas and inspirations in the comments below. ‘Share’ and ‘Like’ below too.