Power Shift
The New Rules of Engagement
8 Management Myths Debunked
Management Myths that are Stifling Performance - #1
Power Shift Synopsis
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Power Shift: The New Rules of Engagement
by Sherry Buffington. Ph.D. and Marc Schwartz
Article by Sherry Buffington, Ph.D.
Respected researchers, from Harvard School of Business to the Gallup Organization, have amassed a lot of evidence showing the high cost of disengaged employees. Yet the percentage of disengaged employees has remained of around 70% since early 2000 according to Gallup polls. Clearly, what leaders have been doing to stem this problem has not worked.
Brace yourselves, leaders. As challenging as it has been trying to keep employees engaged over the past fifteen years, you haven’t seen anything yet. The largest generation in history is about to change the game in ways few can even begin to imagine, and leaders who can't or won't play by the new rules will soon be obsolete.
My team and I have been researching Generation X and Millennials since 2002 when disengagement had become obvious enough that many leaders and managers were beginning to lament what they saw as lack of commitment on the part of Generation X employees. The research extended to Millennials as they began occupying the workplace. We found the consistencies that define this generation to be such a radical departure from current thinking that it was apparent this generation, the largest in histroy, would be game-changers.
Millennials are estimated to be 95 million strong in the United States. This far exceeds the 78 million Baby Boomers, which have been the primary influencers of change since the fifties. According to the population projections released by the U.S. Census Bureau in December, 2014, the Millennial generation will surpass the Baby Boom generation as the nation's largest living generation in 2015. In this same year they will also become the largest generation in the U.S. workforce.
Not only are they a much larger cohort, their values, beliefs and behaviors are far more diverse and more radically different than those of the Baby Boom generation. The sheer size of this generation coupled with their radical departure from established rules and expectations has begun shifting the fulcrum of power in unprecedented ways. This power shift is affecting everything from societies to businesses to governments worldwide, and to navigate the new territory will require new awareness and a whole new set of skills. This great shift in power, the new rules it brings with it, and how to navigate it successfully is what Power Shift: The New Rules of Engagement is about.
Power Shift is essentially a SWOT analysis of leadership today and into the future. It provides leaders with the information they need to evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats so they are fully aware of the risks involved in continuing along the old leadership path, the challenges they are likely to encounter as they adopt a new and better model and the huge benefits of meeting those challenges. From a place of deeper awareness, leaders can expand their strengths, minimize weaknesses and take full advantage of the great opportunities that lie before them.
We are on the threshold of a major shift. One that is inescapable and filled with both risk and opportunity. Awareness of both is the key to influencing change we can all embrace. Influential leaders have been the impetus behind every great movement and every significant transformation throughout history, and will be through the challenges organizations face today. But to be influential, it’s essential to know what those you seek to lead want and expect. Within the pages of Power Shift: The New Rules of Engagement you will discover what it takes to meet an irresistible force (the values and mindset of a large generation) and lead change. You will see how the power of influence can move people of every generation to heights of effectiveness most never imagined they could reach, turn big dreams into reality, skyrocket productivity and profits, and launch global giants.
Power Shift provides leaders with tools and strategies they can use right now to successfully ride that great wave of change, keep their people engaged and productive, and build a high performance organization that is both purposeful and profitable now and into the future.
Why Bother? First it makes financial sense. Engaged people are many times more effective than those who just show up for a paycheck. By some estimates, one engaged employee gets more accomplished than eight non-engaged ones do. The disengaged create more problems, have more accidents, take more sick days and occupy far more of their boss' time and energy. But there's another reason to learn to lead the Millennial generation. Millennials don't just check out mentally, they are notorious for walking off the job if the job or environment is not meeting their needs. The long term effect of this is that organizations that can't keep Millennails engaged cannot remain viable for long.
Generational influences generally last at least 50 years and the great shift Millennials are creating in the wotrkplace has just begun. To survive and thrive into the future, leaders will need to learn the new rules of engagement and lead accordingly.
The cover of the November 2015 edition of Fortune Magazine proclaims "Every aspect of your business is about to change." Indeed it is.
