I work with an organization whose executives struggle daily to advance a mission, achieve meaningful results that yield growth, and align its people around a shared vision. They are failing. Every day. They’re not unusual.
Empowering the Global Workforce One Individual at a Time
Posted by Toffler Associates
Nov 16, 2016 8:38:18 AM
The Secret to Success: Empower Your Multi-Generational Workforce
Posted by Hans Davies
Oct 28, 2015 9:43:25 AM
Every day in the U.S., approximately 10,000 Baby Boomers leave the workforce. While there’s talk of a talent gap, the actual size of the labor force continues to grow year over year.[1] The employment market is hitting a tipping point in 2015, at which point, there will be more young professionals in the marketplace than tenured individuals. By 2025, it’s projected that Millennials will represent approximately 75% of American employees.
Technology and Pace of Innovation Demand a New Leadership Approach
Posted by Deb Westphal
Oct 8, 2015 9:20:00 AM
Desynchronization [n] The relation that exists when things occur at unrelated times.
As we move deeper into the election cycle, it is a good time for corporate and political leaders to consider the impact desynchronization has on key issues and how they are managing the implications of these varying rates of change.
A look back at the 1996 election cycle shows we were beginning to address issues like the voice of the digital generation, economies shaped by microtrade and microcapital, and social democratization caused by widespread technology access and adoption.
If we look at those issues today, they are very much a part of the fiber of our political, economic, educational and enterprise sectors. It’s certainly interesting to look at the amount of change that’s occurred over two decades. For leaders, however, it’s far more important to understand the rates of change, the conflict and opportunities being created from the differences, and how to adapt to resultant shifts.
I recently spoke with the CEO of a large, multi-layered global organization. After six decades of building operational strength through a command and control/top-down structure, employee communication has become an area of overwhelming concern. The pace of technological change and ubiquity of social media as a mode of human connection has completely changed the way organizations must disseminate information.
If you’ve attended a seminar on leadership lately, it’s likely that you’ve run into quotes from Machiavelli’s
The Prince, perhaps something on leadership or the difficulty of changing a system. Hate or love its message, the book has been influential for almost 500 years.
Although the book (and many others like it) still has a place in any leader’s library, we think its lessons are too easy and too proscriptive. Machiavelli’s message was relevant in a time of both aristocracy and bureaucracy, but today’s workforce wants more than imperatives. They want to believe. They want to have a cause.
Leadership today and in the future is not about fear; it’s about setting a vision, mentoring, coaching, and building a team. If you’re looking for a model for outstanding leadership, we suggest that you stop trying to model a prince, and consider looking to a frog:
Kermit the Frog.
Driving in the Fast Lane - How Today's Business Leaders Are Like Racecar Drivers
Posted by Deb Westphal
Sep 3, 2014 11:02:00 AM
One of the first things we are taught when learning to drive is the simple principle of "look where you want to go." This principle is especially critical for racecar drivers who travel four or five times the speed of the average motorist.
Futurists Alvin and Heidi Toffler – the namesakes of Toffler Associates – are visionaries. Celebrated in the 1970’s, 80’s and beyond for their future-forward thinking, they traveled the world, crossing paths with and making an impact on some of today’s best-known and highly successful entrepreneurs, government leaders, and business people.
