What's Wrong With Generations X and Y?

I just attended a business conference with the most intelligent and highly educated speaker I think I have ever heard.  His name was Dr. John Howard, MD, MPH, JD, LLM.  I leaned over to my co-worker and told her that he was "the smartest guy in the room" by far.  He had some very interesting statistics about the make up of the workforce in this country and about where that make up was expected to go in the near future.  The thing that really didn't sit well with me was his facts on the Generation X and Generation Y portion of the workforce.

From 2000 to 2010 there was a 9% drop in the number of workers ages 35 to 44 (Generation X).  This is expected to continue thru the year 2020.  During this time, workers in other age categories will increase.  What the heck!

Generation X is made up of people born between 1965 and 1980, followed by Generation Y (born 1980-2000).  In the study presented by Dr. Howard, from 1992 to 2002, Generation X'ers desire for jobs with greater responsibility fell from 69% to 54%, while Generation Y's desire dropped to 60%.  So in other words, those in Generation Y are demanding higher level jobs at a higher rate than Generation X (although not by much).  And, this decline happened during the '90's.  What happened in the '90's that caused the younger generations to lose the motivation and drive for jobs with higher responsibilities?  And, why is it worse for Gen X than Gen Y?  What's wrong with responsibility and with being in charge?  These positions set the standard for business.   They set the rules of business.  They are some of the change agents of the world.

I'm a little frustrated that the younger generation is more likely to be my boss in the future than I am to be theirs (statistically - I'm definitely not in-line with my generation).  Now, look at these next figures.

According to this study, Generation X values are less aligned with the organization than any other generations (of the 4 generations since 1928).  Even Generation Y is more highly aligned with the organization's values than X.  Gen X is also near the bottom (very closely followed by Gen Y) when it comes to caring about the fate of the organization. 

What in the world is going on with people born between 1965 and 2000?  And, are we passing on this apparent apathy to our kids?  With this much apathy, it is my opinion that the "cream will rise to the top".  That's why those of you reading this need to be aware and take action.  Be more motivated than the average Gen X'er and Gen Y'er.  I think there is real opportunity for the 30 and 40-somethings to get into positions of authority and make a difference.  Get into the top of the class (so to speak).  That doesn't appear to be too hard unfortunately.  Take some initiative.  Don't be part of the 9% drop in workers from our generation over the next 10 years.  And if you can't get aligned with the values of the organization, then by all means, start your own!  Do something!

I hope that reading this makes you feel unsettled just like it does me.  My business conference had a lot of other information in it today, but the rest of it was a very distant second compared to Dr. Howard's presentation. 

Let's reverse this trend.

You're Worth It!

Have you ever taken the time to just think about what you put your time into?  If so, spend some time comparing it to the things that you want - in life, in work, financially, family, etc, etc, etc.  How does the time you spend compare to the things you want?  You need to realize something very important:  You're going to get exactly what you're willing to put your time into.  So, where are you spending your time?

I want to be (for lack of better words) a famous management guru.  I also want to someday win a million dollars in a world class poker tournament.  I want my kids to be crazy smart and be more successful that I dream of even myself being.  I want my wife to think and say nice things about me when she thinks of me and talks to others (and I want her to mean it).  All of that stuff takes work (TIME).

What do you want?  Maybe you want to make more money.  Maybe you want to make A LOT more money.  Or, maybe you want to be a better cook, or a better student.  Maybe you want to be a better hunter, better coach, better mom or better dad.  You just might want to be better than the person in the office next to you.  OR - Maybe you want to be the best at something.  (Yes, I know - I've made my point.)

Personally, I think you should want to be the best at something.  I sure do.  I want to be the best at everything that I do.  Well then, figure out all the other places you're wasting your time and re-allocate that time to the things you want to be best at.  Then, work at being the very best in the world.  Don't sell yourself short either.  Believe me, you can be the best at something.

I'll get you started.  This is so easy - I promise you that you can get this done. 

Step 1:  Write Down Exactly and Specifically What You Want to be THE BEST AT.
Step 2:  Write down 5 or 10 ways you can make that happen.
Step 3:  Never, ever give up until you've accomplished your goals.
Step 4:  Give yourself a way of knowing when you've accomplished your goals. 
Step 5:  Reward yourself for getting it done.

Also, be reasonable.  Look, I want to be President of the United States, but they're not going to let that happen.  I also want to be Free Safety for the Dallas Cowboys, but I can't list all the reasons that's not going to happen.  However, I do want to make $350,000 per year.  I can make that happen, so I'm working the steps.  I do want to be on the cover of a business-related magazine.  I can make that happen too, so I'm working the steps.  I'm just putting the time in that it takes to get this done.  It's hard work, but the payoff is going to be huge.  And, I think I'm worth it.  And, so are you.

Finally, if you find yourself reading this and telling yourself reasons you can't do what you want, or reasons you can't have success in areas that I think you should, then stop it.  Start back over at the top and try again.  Don't shut yourself down.  There are plenty of people out there who will try to do that.  Don't help them.  Lots of people are going to tell you that you can't do stuff.  That's OK.  They're wrong anyways.  Don't make it true by buying into it.

For lots of people, this requires a complete paradigm shift in their lives, but you know what?  Make that shift.  Don't sell yourself short.  You're worth the success that you dream you should have and it's not too late either.  Carpe Diem - "Sieze the Day!"  Sieze it every day.

Working ON the Business

As a top manager or business owner, the way you spend your time at work will determine the impact you have on the business - either positive or negative. You can not allow yourself to get buried in the day-to-day tasks of your organization. If you, for example, answer phones, stock shelves, purchase inventory, or do other work that could be handled by someone else, you are hurting your business because you aren't serving your primary purpose of growing the business. When you spend most of your time working in the business, it's like you're a hamster on a wheel - you're working really hard and getting no where.

As the top manager or owner, you need to spend the vast majority of your time working on the business. When you work ON the business, you are doing things that grow the company in many different ways, from creating policies and procedures, to devising strategy for getting new customers. Some tasks that you should be doing instead of the day-to-day tasks of the operation are:

1. Writing and modifying policies and procedures.
2. Writing marketing and strategic plans.
3. Creating budgets and reviewing financial statements.
4. Talking to customers to get their feedback on ways to improve the business.
5. Training others to do the day-to-day tasks of the organization.
6. Reviewing sales reports.
7. Reviewing your chart of graphs to find problems and opportunities.
8. Training people to do the training of others.
9. Delegating assignments and following up on their completion.
10. Working with suppliers to get better deals.
11. Talking to established clients and future prospects.
12. Talking to your staff to find out what problems they are having and identify areas needing improvement.
13. Creating new products for sale.
14. Building alliances with complimentary products and services.
15. Finding ways to get more efficient.

These important tasks can not be left to someone else. You are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of you operation. Jefferey Fox suggests (and I agree) that you first need to hire a office / business manager and a marketing / sales person. You will be able to delegate many key tasks to these positions which will save you the time you need to work on the business. While these people will also be charged with doing their part to work on the business, their key responsibilities will be to work in the business and ensure that your priorities are handled effectively.

Working ON the business is the only way for you to grow the business to the level that you envision in your own mind. Start delegating the day-to-day tasks of the organization and do the things needed to grow your business.

My Story of Perseverance

This is part of my story and due to its personal nature is the hardest entry I will write. Some will find it "cheesy". Others will find it self-serving. Still others might even find it pointless. But, someone will find it motivating and inspiring. I am writing this to that person.

As a kid, I was small, quiet, shy, and in my opinion, just average, but there was my grandmother. She always told me that I was big, and smart, and cute, and great at everything. She told me that I could do anything that I wanted to. I believed her. Thank God she was right.

At the age of 9, my grandmother asked me if I wanted to learn how to play the "fiddle" (not the violin - trust me there's a difference). I wanted to please her so I said yes. She paid for my lessons with the best fiddle player I have ever heard. Before the year was up, she began entering me into fiddle competitions against other kids my same age. I stood on a stage, in front of a microphone and crowds of people who were watching and hoping that their kids would win. At the end of each competition, I disappointed quite a few moms and grandmothers. My grandmother always told me I was the best and I believed her. I never placed lower than 2nd, but usually 1st (and I won $25 to $50 each time - I couldn't believe that they paid me to do that).

I continued winning for the next 3 years until I put down the fiddle to play the trombone. Thankfully, I maintained my healthy self-esteem and was the best at trombone too. I won 1st place in most of the competitions. I was the "1st chair" of my band's trombone section. I played solos in the Jazz band and solos in the marching band, including the state champion band when I was just 15. I stood on the 45 yard line of the University of Texas football stadium and played a beautiful solo - totally fearless and absolutely unaware of the possibility of failure.

After a few years of music, I decided to quit the band to focus on sports. Several years before this, I was little and slow. Instead of giving up on sports, I just kept working at it. As a 14-year old, I began to grow, got faster, and generally began to "figure it out". By my freshman year in high school, I made the varsity track team for the 400m dash and the mile relay. I wasn't slow anymore. In practice, I ran until I literally puked every single day, then I kept running. In my sophomore year, I blew out my ACL (knee ligament) and had to run with a bulky, fiberglass brace for the next 2 years after two knee surgeries. In each of those 2 years, I was voted the MVP of my varsity track team, despite running on a bad knee.

Academically, I was a straight-A honor student and an officer in the National Honor Society. I graduated high school with honors and went straight to college at the University of North Texas. It was at this stage of my life that everything temporarily fell apart. I went thru 3 different academic programs, was placed on academic probation, and at one point was 1 hour away from being placed on academic suspension. I got an A in that 1-hour basketball class and the rest was history. I started making the deans list, re-took all of the classes I failed, and finally graduated with a degree in Kinesiology (coaching, PE, personal training, etc).

I knew I was going to be a strength coach until the Summer of '98 when I spent one training camp with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a volunteer strength coach. What a great experience this was, but it helped me realize that I needed to change career paths because I wanted to be able to spend time with my family while making a fortune professionally. That just wasn't going to happen soon enough for me in the NFL.

Two years later, my boss asked me a life-changing question: "Chris, do you think you could run this place?" "Of Course," I said, and I had no idea whatsoever about how to do it, but I knew I could do anything, so I said yes. Years later, we're breaking records. Since then, I went back to school to get my MBA (Master's of Business Administration) and I am so proud and thankful that my grandmother was still alive to see it. Sadly, she later passed away and I will never stop missing her and I will NEVER forget her - enough said.

The keys to my success (and the main point of this entry that I hope you will take away and use for yourself) were the unbelievable and infinitely loving supportiveness of my grandmother, my subsequent huge belief in myself and my abilities, extraordinary hard work and perseverance, never turning down a great and life-changing opportunity, and a laser-sharp focus on my goals. You need to believe in yourself. Otherwise, how can you expect anyone else to? Always work hard and set big goals. Never turn down a great opportunity. These are the lessons from this part of my life.

Turning Around a Failing Business - Part 1

Three years ago, I had the unique and special opportunity to turn around a failing business. It was my company's second office. The manager at the time was a brilliant clinical practitioner, but the management decisions that were made absolutely destroyed the company. At one point, the company was losing tens of thousands of dollars every month, and the next part of the story is my favorite. Read on.

My office is internationally accredited for excellence in rehabilitation. This is a very prestigious honor that we have maintained for 7 years. Three years ago, we were set to undergo our next accreditation survey, but the weather was a horrible icy mess. I was worried that I would be iced in the morning of the survey, so I decided to spend the night in my office floor so that even if nobody else was there to oversee the survey, I would be. Yes, I slept overnight in my office floor. When I woke up the next morning, I got dressed and ready for the survey team to show up (fortunately, they stayed in town overnight so they were able to be at the office that morning). My boss (the CEO) stopped me in the hallway and told me something that I will never forget. He told me that the manager of the other (failing) office said it was my fault his office was failing, due to some really ridiculous reasons that later proved to be false.

Recap: I just woke up from sleeping in my office floor. We subsequently received the maximum accreditation by the survey team. My office was making money. His office was losing money. I WASN'T EVEN LISTED ON HIS OFFICE'S ORG CHART. But, the problems were all my fault. Really? Jim Collins writes about this sort of thing in his book, "Good to Great". Only he writes about the opposite kind of manager who looks out the window for success and in the mirror for failures.

Anyways, to skip to the really good part - a few months later, the truth came out. I took over that failing office, turned it into a profit machine with the help of other managers, and it has just finished breaking records in net income for the last two years. I use the management principles in my blogs daily. These principles are the base line for how to get this sort of turnaround done.

For more on the details of how we turned office #2 around watch for Part 2 of Turning Around a Failing Business.

Business in Your Own Image

Many businesses take on the personality of its top manager. Who do you want your business to be? If you are a manager who panics in adversity, your company could find itself in a state of paralysis. Your staff will fight with each other and they will eventually quit to work somewhere more stable. Customers will realize it and they will leave too.

On the other hand, confident and optimistic managers will build a strong organization filled with employees who feel empowered to make good decisions for the company and its customers. Employees will report high satisfaction and customers will buy more products and purchase them more often. Confident and optimistic managers inspire the staff to achieve high goals. Their inspiration will be measured in many areas throughout the organization.

As a manager, who do you want your business to be? What do you want outsiders to think of you when they interact with your organization?

Here are 10 tips to build an organization in your good image.

1. Always seek to inspire and motivate.
2. Always be positive and upbeat.
3. Talk about big goals with all levels of the organization.
4. Be fun, have fun, and encourage everyone else to have fun.
5. Choose optimism over pessimism always.
6. Never panic - ever.
7. Be decisive and consistent.
8. Be highly organized and promote efficiency.
9. Get in really good physical shape and be in great health.
10. Meet with your employees often, get their opinions, and solve their problems.

Remember: Your company will be a reflection of you.

Think BIG!

The most successful people in our history have been big thinkers. Thinking big is a key ingredient to reaching huge goals. Instead of thinking incrementally, you need to think exponentially. My company just finished back-to-back record-breaking years. After reaching such a great accomplishment, I decided that I wanted to double in the next two years. So, I set a goal to double in the next two years. Simple. In order to reach big goals, you first must set big goals. Guess what has happened? The first 2 months of this year were double the average of the last 2 years. Setting big goals can be powerful. We'll keep it going in that direction too!

What big goals have you set for yourself and your business? Guess what? They aren't big enough, so set them higher. The pastor of my church, who is a very wise and great man, once said that God wants us all to achieve great things. He said that regardless of how big we think, it's never big enough. So, of course I look back at my business goal of doubling and I wonder how small that goal really is compared to my abilities. We'll sure see.

Get out of your comfort zone. Anyone can set conservative and easy goals. If anyone can do it, then it's not good enough. Be a little uncomfortable with your big goals. I want people to think you're just being cocky when you announce your goals. Good! Let them think that.

And, that leads to the next point - announce your goals publicly. You need to write them down, share them with others, and be held accountable for reaching those goals. Most people will work like hell to do what they say they are going to do. So, say it loud. Everyone in the organization, in your family, and your circle of friends needs to be aware of your big goals. Give yourself something big to live up to.

What's the worst thing that could happen by setting big goals - even bigger goals, announcing them and then working like crazy to reach them? Only good things can happen. Shoot for the moon and reach the stars. If I plan to double, but then only increase profit by 50%, do you think anyone's going to ridicule me? Heck no! I'll be known as the guy who broke company records 3 years in a row. I'll take that any day. Wouldn't you?

So, think BIG - BIGGER! Be careful though. This kind of thinking could make you famous.