Age and generational issues

The makeup of the global workforce is about to undergo a seismic shift. In four years, Millennials-the people born between 1977 and 1997-will account...

A quick skim through just a few of the discussions taking place on the HBR Answer Exchange’s live event with Tammy Erickson suggests there’s a whole lot of misunderstanding going on between Generation X managers and their Boomer and Gen Y colleagues and supervisors. Dress codes, goals and expectations, and office politics are all on […]

Melissa, a talented Gen X'er, is given a promotion that puts her in direct contention for a key senior spot. Although her Boomer colleagues are offering...

The professors of doom are pitching their tents once again on the pegs of a “leadership crisis.” This is nothing new. In fact, each time the world heads into an economic downturn we see soul-searching begin on the quality of leadership. These drums have begun to sound in the past weeks, louder in the US […]

I spoke with a company recently that had offered a “deceleration” option to older employees – with no takers. Hmm . . . I’ve argued for several years now that one of the keys to retaining Boomers post-“retirement” age is to create career paths that allow people to step back, to do less. Very few […]

My previous post here highlighted the smart practices that the digital-native Millennials are bringing to the workplace. Here I want to talk about a couple not-so-smart ones. The first is simple oversharing. I wrote before how narrating your work is a very smart strategy because it lets you be helpful to others, and also increases […]

Enough talk of recessions, silver linings, and stock swoons. Let's have some fun. Over the weekend, I was watching an episode of Seinfeld featuring a...

Today's kids know they aren't getting what they need at school.

How to promote candor across cultural, gender, and generational divides

What a female executive wishes someone had told her earlier.

Gender and age trends are redefining the “standard” career trajectory.

It’s popular today to point out that Gen Ys as children often received trophies for simple participation and extensive praise for just about any idea. Detractors criticize Y’s (individuals born between 1980 and 2000) as products of a misguided movement in parenting and education designed to buffer children from the negative effects of competition and […]

Who cares what games we choose...little to win, nothing to lose. So goes the chorus of the Strawberry Alarm Clock's 1967 #1 hit song, Incense and Peppermints....

In recent years, many have focused on the challenges of Gen Y, the latest generation of workers to arrive in and begin to reshape the workplace. For me, they aren’t of merely academic interest. I live in a country where Gen Y represents nearly 40% of the population. I work in a company where the […]

Why Baby Boomer executives need to push hard on gender balance - now.

This is a big month for me. And since many of you have contributed ideas to the discussion here over the past three years — and I’d like to ask you to join me in a little celebration. The third book in the trilogy I’ve written to the generations is published this month. More than […]

The hotel directed me to the wrong room. I found myself at someone’s retirement party, rather than with the group that was waiting to hear me speak about the changing workforce (including my anticipated recommendations to “retire retirement”). Like a stripper at a bachelor party, my participation there would have posed that key question one […]

The Boomer Century, a recent PBS special (first aired March 28, 2007), set off a torrent of vitriolic commentary. Whether you agree with the critics or...

At a recent dinner party, I was speaking with a friend who had just been promoted to vice president at a well-known New York hedge fund. The promotion was unexpected, involved an immediate 50% pay raise, and came with broad new responsibilities. When he should have been feeling optimistic and excited about his new position, […]

President Obama is arguably the United States' first President who is a member of Generation X. (I say "arguably" since the boundary line between Boomers...