Author Archives: themillennialjourney

Mr. Henck Goes to New York

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NY 5

Just over a month ago, I had the great privilege to be speak on a panel at the New York Times, invited to join a conversation on “Intergenerational Leadership: The Challenges of a Shifting Workforce.” This event was co-sponsored by the International Leadership Association (ILA) which I’ve blogged about before here and the NYTimes in Leadership project, working to connect college students with current issues of leadership in practice across the globe.

As you know, my own experiences with our changing world of work, started my own efforts here on “The Millennial Journey.” As a Millennial manager working with staff and volunteers from across the generational spectrum, my crash course in intergenerational leadership launched my interests and pursuits of continued learning, research and study. This panel event was organized by the Global Coalition on Aging, as a “part two” of last year’s Annual Forum on Leading Across Generations in Berlin. Having had the opportunity to present at that event, I was excited to continue the conversation in New York.

The long story short is this: people are indeed living longer, working longer and retiring later. Our 20th century ideas and notions of aging and work need to shift to the realities of a rapidly changing 21st century workforce. Not only does this affect senior citizens but it tremendously impacts Millennials joining the workforce for the first time at record rates.

Since I’ve had a number of inquiries about the webcast link from the event, I wanted to share that with you. The full two-hour panel discussion (which I personally found fascinating!) can be viewed here. As you’ll quickly learn, this was a spirited conversation with some important conclusions shared. If you tweet, I’d encourage you to check out and join the conversation using #ILANYT. I’ve been told that this panel has been invited to reconvene at the 2013 Global ILA Conference in Montreal, so I look forward to continuing this dialogue.

We don’t just need organizations with multigenerational teams, but instead intergenerational approaches to leadership and life together that transcend our old ideas of age, position and power.

All Things New

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Happy New Year! I’m often reminded during this time of year of the great opportunity and potential that exists for each of us to reframe our approach to life and work and stretch ourselves in new ways, whether it’s fitness goals, pursuits of an organized life or attempting new habits and routines in this new year of 2013.

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I’ve had a whole new start to my journey in 2013: one week ago today, I began coordinating the Internship Programmes at World Vision International! As one of the largest NGO’s in the world, World Vision is “dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.” A few years ago, the organization created a new unit, “Professional Development Programmes,” which provides apprenticeships, fellowships, internships and soon to be, externships to undergraduate and graduate students. These different programmes provide meaningful learning opportunities in Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and New York City for students and recent graduates in the hopes of attracting, strengthening and retaining “emerging talent” within World Vision International. In my first week on the job, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting graduates of these programmes who are now fully employed by World Vision. These individuals come with backgrounds like accounting, journalism and law and have joined the organization as full-time staff in specialties like microfinance, climate change and international development.

For those who know my background, this opportunity could not be a better fit for me. I value quality higher education experiences and have developed a career (that seems a little weird to say as a Millennial) within the nonprofit sector. Having the chance to essentially recruit and develop talent for this NGO, while building and expanding these programmes is as cliche as it sounds: a dream come true.

Nearly 8 years ago, when my Baby Boomer father asked me “Son, you’re about to graduate from high school and head off to college. After that, who knows what’s next. What kind of places do you think you’d like to work?”

My #1 answer to that question: “World Vision.”

I’m beyond grateful for this professional opportunity and am excited to invest more time in the worlds of career development, higher education, humanitarian work and many more. As we continue into 2013, I am looking forward to finding more areas of my Millennial journey of life and work with all the things that can be made new.

How I See It Now

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A week ago today, I officially completed the coursework and requirements for my M.A. in Leadership degree when I shared my capstone portfolio presentation to a diverse audience of faculty, family and friends. As a part of this final component to my program, I shared about my growth and development in leadership competencies but also presented my philosophy of leadership. After classes and lectures, papers and projects, reading and research, I’ve developed my own philosophy, as found below, for your consideration and review…

To lead is to have a deep awareness of self before sharing with others, encouraging trust in the lives of those who follow through vulnerability, enabling them to do the same in a transformational process creating positive change.

I invite your feedback and thoughts in the hopes of engaging different perspectives in a continued dialogue of what makes for good leadership. I look forward to this weekend’s graduation as I continue to see my perspective and philosophy grow with time.

Learning in the Rockies

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Just about a week ago, I returned from an incredibly rich and rewarding trip to Denver for the 2012 ILA Global Conference. As I’ve blogged recently, I’m glad to be a member of the International Leadership Association, which brings together academics, business professionals, students and other folks who study and practice leadership around the world. This latest conference experience made for the second opportunity to co-present with my fellow learner and mother (pictured above). We had submitted to present a session on generational differences for this conference and received a call the next day inviting us to present at the Berlin conference which was focusing on leading across generations. In Denver, we had the opportunity to present an interactive roundtable session with great conversations involving people from nearly every generation at work today. Nonetheless, it has been a worthwhile experience to come together, share, research and present with my “Boomer” mom!

The theme of the conference created a relevant and poignant framework for considering leadership study and practice during the time in Denver…

“Leadership Across the Great Divides: Bridging Cultures, Contexts, and Complexities”

After nearly four full days of learning in sessions, conversations with others and reading as well, I’ve realized again that as much as we can teach, write, speak about, and for that matter “sell” leadership best practices, principles for success or anything like “Three Things You Need to Know about _________,” there is no equation that works everywhere. Especially after my experience presenting in Berlin this summer, there are countless elements at play that create the need for different approaches and leadership solutions. From home country to organizational culture to unique team dynamics, the environments where we live, work, study and lead make all the difference to how we act. These “divides” of culture, context and complexity can be small and some can seem insurmountable to bridge. Nonetheless, before we can prescribe “three easy steps for leadership success,” there needs to be time and energy spent to identify and leverage these opportunities for coming together and leading forward.

Whether hearing from the father of organizational culture, Edgar Schein, asking a question of Barbara Kellerman regarding followers and their growing influence in organizations or listening to Brene Brown speak again about leading through vulnerability–it was clear as I “learned in the Rockies,” that complex issues need more than simple solutions. As I continue to mentally unpack another learning experience, I hope to not be as quick to jump at offering an answer or solution to a situation and instead appreciate unique needs, try to understand the elements at work and ask good questions.

“Culture Eats Strategy”

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This quote is one that I have remembered pretty frequently over the course of the last few years in my work in leadership development, studying effective organizations and understanding the significant part that the culture plays in organizational life. These words and the popularity of this quote and its concept, from the “father of modern management,” Dr. Peter Drucker, are emblematic of his impact on the fields of leadership and organization study and practice. The full quote is, “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” For those of you who follow me on Twitter, (@MillennialTweet) you know that I tweet a “Daily Drucker” quote to consider and chew on each day. Drucker’s writings and contributions to the field are great in number and I’ve enjoyed reading, in more depth, some of his books. After a quick weekend earlier this month to visit friends in San Diego, we were visiting a used bookstore and I came across Drucker’s, “The Age of Discontinuity.” This vintage edition was in relatively good shape so I picked it up and decided for the $5 pricetag that it was well worth the purchase. It has not let me down and in fact, a good part of his writings have been used in my graduate program capstone portfolio. From one of his most poignant passages…

“Lack of creativity is…not the problem of organization. Rather it is organizational inertia which always pushes for continuing what we are already doing.”

As I continue to consider the impact of individuals on organizations and vice versa, this quote made me realize that the collective influence of our comfort and familiarity with the culture that we are a part of is enormously impactful on our ability to achieve success for the future. We can say that we don’t have creative solutions to position an organization for a more effective tomorrow or we can realize that the history that we’ve either helped write or inherited is potentially preventing us from positive change. By coining the phrase “organizational inertia,” we have an understanding of the driving momentum of culture to trump any strategy that can be proposed.

May the organizations that we lead and belong to recognize the need for adaptable cultures that are ready for change and not mired in the cycle of what we’ve already seen and known.

Back to the Beginning

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Last week marked a milestone on “The Millennial Journey” as I looked back at two years of sharing my ideas and thoughts on leadership, culture and five generations at work together. I began this online endeavor in between professional seasons and I find myself back here again as I continue the road towards completing my M.A. in Leadership Development (just two months away!) and looking for what meaningful opportunity is next for me. Perhaps, the most significant thought that has remained constant over my two years here has been the process of “journey.” Whether it is change taking place at your organization or listening to your calling & vocation (as one of my favorites, Parker Palmer writes) or living your life in a mindset of never arriving; recognizing that you have much more to learn and understand–we each have a journey or two in the multifaceted lives that we live each day.

Back in October 2010 when this “online journey” began, I wrote…

“I begin this blog with a full mind, complete of passions, thoughts, ideas and much, much more.”

A full two years later, I continue with the same mind (now just overflowing) with new lessons and knowledge to unpack as I look ahead to the journey in the future.

Learning to Lead + Learning to Follow

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I’m in the midst of a writing project (that I’ll be sharing more about in a few weeks) and have recently been working through the title of this blog post as a central thought. In these days of continued and unprecedented global change, especially with revolutions and movements for change in several countries, our understanding of the role of the “follower” has developed considerably. Several believe that these events have taken place because leaders have failed to recognize and understand those who follow them.

In my experience, I’ve realized that in order to learn how to lead well, you need to learn how to follow.

What say you?

Daring Greatly

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“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the area, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly…”

This quote from Theodore Roosevelt, is the basis of a new book, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. The book’s author, Dr. Brene Brown (who I’ve blogged and tweeted about before) is a vulnerability researcher and popular TED talk speaker. I’ve had the great opportunity to hear Dr. Brown speak via webinar twice over the last few months and am convinced that her work has great value in the field of leadership (as well as so many others!). I’m excited to start Daring Greatly and look forward to hearing Brene speak in person next week and in October as a keynote speaker at the 2012 ILA Global Conference in Denver!

Any other Brene Brown fans/readers out there? 

What Say You?

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As September has begun and the fall season shortly comes to an official start, I’m eagerly looking ahead to next month and the ILA Global Leadership Conference in Denver. I’m excited to co-present a roundtable session, “Leadership Across the Great Divides: Bridging Generational Differences in the Workplace.” As I’ve continued to read and research there definitely is more and more coming to light not about the differences but the similarities between generations at work together. With the month ahead, I’m hoping to hear from you and I need your help.

What 3 similarities do you see between yours and another generation that you work with in the workplace?

I’d like to include anecdotes from professionals from multiple generations as we share next month in Denver about these leadership implications on organizational culture. Send me a thought on Twitter: @MillennialTweet or email me at themillennialjourney (at) gmail (dot) com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Living as a Laid Off Millennial

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As I’ve been blogging here about my journey as a Millennial, I’ve shared about lessons and learning in my life that have shaped me and taught me much about life as I continue growing in my personal and professional future.

A week ago today, I began a new and unexpected chapter. According to Forbes, 13.5% of Americans aged 20-24 and 9.3% of those 25-29 years old are currently unemployed. I now join these statistics of unemployed Millennials. As has been the case at companies and organizations across the country, rightsizing has resulted in my position being eliminated.

Looking ahead towards the rest of 2012 and the completion of my graduate program, I am eager to find new opportunities that fit my passion and strengths for developing people in teams and organizations. If you or anyone in your networks want to connect, I am actively engaged on LinkedIn and you can always tweet me @MillennialTweet.

Here’s to continued learning and future growth in this new chapter on “The Millennial Journey…”