How are college kids different today than baby boomers of 20-30 years ago? You might think it’s that they want more from work than a paycheck. Or, that they expect companies to be human, care about humanity, and treat employees as if they are human. Or that GenYrs just want more free time and flexible schedules.

I don’t think so. Baby boomers wanted all of this too. But instead of demanding it, speaking out about it, or creating it for themselves, they buried these desires and went to work for 12-16 hours a day.

GenYrs are braving new territory. And they view the world differently. In no time, they will be our employees, our bosses, our customers, and every marketer’s most important audience.

See what some GenYrs have to say for themselves. A really great video…

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There are several good online services to help you find cost-effective programmers, marketers, sales reps and just about any type of freelancer. You can choose from guru.com, elance.com, or rent-a-coder.com among others. And of course, there is Craigslist.

I recently put out a bid request for a new website. In the request, I included a detailed description of the required features and functions of the site and a rough mock-up of the layout. It’s always easier to bid out very small, clearly defined jobs over these sites. You will likely get better results. However, I had to get the new site done and here are some of the details of my experience so far. Show me more »

The problem may be organizational or it may be behavioral, but company marketing groups tend to be split into silos. PR, advertising, direct mail, branding and now interactive (or digital) groups set their own agenda, objective and strategies. For most companies this creates a lack of consistency, leverage and impact for all of marketing. Show me more »

There are bullies everywhere. Bosses that intimidate. Neighbors that harass. But it appears the worst kind are the anonymous bullies on the Web. My previous post on Kathy Sierra’s experience (Cruel Intentions) spoke to this subject. The discussion moved from the blogosphere to the mainstream press and continues to be reported on.

Companies, marketers and bloggers can choose to change the environment by simply saying not in my space. Allowing vicious, reprehensible behavior online in the name of “no censorship” is just down right ridiculous. Learn more at Cyberbully.org. Show me more »

I noticed people are still calling teams - where the members aren’t located in the same space - virtual teams. The dictionary defines virtual as something like, existing in essence but not in fact. It seems to me things have changed enough (with Web 2.0 and collaboration tools, etc.) to alter our way of thinking and speaking about teams with geographically dispersed members. Show me more »

I had the good fortune of speaking with Peter Sims who co-authored with Harvard Business School Professor and best selling author, Bill George, the soon to be released, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership. Peter developed a course on leadership while a graduate student at Stanford University and through the process met and worked with Bill George who previous to his role at Harvard was CEO of Medtronic, the world’s leading medical technology company.

True North is written to inspire us to make a difference. What follows is my discussion with Peter.

After interviewing 125 executives and CEOs, what did you learn are the qualities of a good leader?

For True North, what struck us when we interviewed these successful leaders like Charles Schwab or Donna Dubinsky or Andrea Jung or Wendy Kopp was that they could not be defined by any list of qualities or traits. We also learned we’re not alone: leadership scholars have unsuccessfully tried to produce lists of the traits and characteristics of good leaders through over 1,000 studies. Interestingly, we found that great leadership is an individual undertaking in
which leaders come to understand themselves and their authentic leadership by learning from their experiences. These great leaders come to know who they are: their strengths, their weaknesses, their passionate and lasting sources of motivations, and their values – their True North – and they channel those qualities into bringing out superior levels of motivation and performance from their teams and organizations. Developing that authentic leadership is a
process and it can be done in a deliberate manner. Show me more »

Hierarchy smothers employees. The problem is most companies you work at today are designed as top down hierarchies. Top executives have more information and more power. Middle managers have a little less information and less power. Individuals have too little information to do their jobs and no power. Show me more »

I worked for a start-up once that listed as one of its items on the company mission statement, Have Fun. The company wasn’t fun. The executives weren’t fun. In fact, they didn’t respect employees or treat people fairly. They didn’t empower people or appreciate hard work. Do you think they thought adding Have Fun to the mission statement would make us all believe it was a fun place to work?

Kathy Sierra writes “Remember, when I say I have a passion for a particular piece of software, it’s not really the software I’m passionate about. It’s always about my passion for what the software lets me DO. Companies should work the same way. By acting like a good UI and letting employees express the passion they have for their work, you’ll end up with employees who’d never consider going elsewhere.”

Right on.

The rest of the article is worth reading. Show me more »

1. Check your emotions at the door. Both men and women get frustrated, upset and angry at work. Men rarely show it (except through anger). Keeping your feet on neutral ground (and your tone and body language) helps the men around you deal with you better.

2. Don’t step on his ego. Men expect to play ego wars with other men, but not with women. You can get the job done and get the kudos without slapping him in the face (because you’re better, smarter, faster).

3. Leave your personal life at home. Men can gossip as good or better than any of my girlfriends. However, if you’re going to work with guys every day, you are better off leaving your personal details for personal friends. (Unless of course you went hiking, biking, motocross, or to a football, baseball, basketball game.)
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1. Create structure. Set a clear structure, philosophy and set of values everyone is supposed to work within. Then let people do their jobs. Let people create and imagine within the structure. Let people make decisions.

2. Ask the right questions. Talk to people anywhere you can find them and ask what is making their jobs difficult. Then fix it.

3. Give credit.If giving credit is formalized it rarely works. Give credit whenever it is due. Hold a contest. Let there be winners.

4. Give others more responsiblity. All the studies show, more money doesn’t make employees happier. Bigger jobs. Enjoyable work. Success. That’s what we’re all working so hard for.

5. Be genuine and honest. You don’t have to know everything, or be right every time just because you’re the boss. You don’t have to prove you have power. Collaborate with your team. Encourage them to collaborate with each other. Let others lead. Show me more »