I have always been fascinated with the concept of employee engagement. Before I became a professional speaker, I owned and operated four retail-clothing stores in Houston. Back then, I instinctively knew the power of employee engagement. I saw first hand that if my employees were happy and motivated they would be more productive—selling more and growing the business. And I found ways to support and encourage these positive attitudes in [...]
Before becoming a keynote speaker I will admit I was afraid of public speaking. As far back as I can remember the fear of getting up in front of any group made my heart beat fast and my nerves run wild. It took me almost 10 years to be comfortable giving a speech on the big stage. In this blog post I am sharing the tips and practices that have [...]
Many of you know I speak around the country on the subjects of Generations in the Workplace, Change and Rebranding, and Generational Opportunities. A few weeks ago I returned home from an event where the team who booked me was under the impression that my 45-minute presentation would give them the quick and easy steps in “How to Manage Your Millennial.” The director said that these young kids are a huge interruption in [...]
I have to admit that I have neglected LinkedIn for a long time. Although I hopped on its platform years ago, most of my social time and energy went to the more playful and engaging sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And then the light bulb went off. It happened one morning while I was watching CNBC’s Squawk Box when I heard Joe and Becky singing their praises about LinkedIn. [...]
I have been presenting keynotes on Millennials and the generations in the workplace for nearly 10 years now. I can remember back in 2008 when there were just a handful of Millennials in the crowd. Today, my audiences are filled with professionals aged 36 and under, while the number of Millennials in the workplace continues to increase. This “New Workforce” is close to half of the US workforce and they [...]
Recently I was on a conference call discussing the new leadership style of Generation X. The keynote’s title was "Bridging the Generation Gap – Passing the Torch!". The leaders on the call shared with me that their leadership team, of mostly Baby Boomers, were all close to retirement. It was time for Generation X to take over the leadership reigns. The Boomers were worried–and the X'ers were excited! Gen X leaders [...]
My last keynote focused around generations in healthcare. The event brought me to New York City where I had the honor of presenting to a room of about 150 physicians and some staff from hospitals across the country. They asked if I would do the opening keynote on “The Generations in the Workplace,” with a focus on healthcare. In addition they wanted a breakout going deeper into generational perspectives in [...]
I was a retailer in Houston for almost 20 years before becoming a keynote speaker. Our mindset in the retail world—“the customer is always right” that we borrowed from Nordstrom and Warren Buffet—has stayed with me even throughout my speaking career. Many times when a speaker delivers an uninspiring performance, they blame the audience’s lack of energy or sense of humor. In my experience, the key to a speaker's success [...]
What do Jack Welch, Helen Mirren, Robert De Niro, Mick Jagger, Tom Brokaw and Martha Stewart all have in common? They are members of the Traditionalist Generation born between 1925 - 1945 and they are still working... and still killin' it! In this post you will learn to marvelous contributions Traditionalists continue to make in society and your well being. After you read it, call you mom and your gramma! Traditionalist [...]
I started speaking on Generations in the Workplace, to corporations and associations back in 2000, when the Baby Boomers were in the heights of their careers and businesses. Back then, Boomers were the leaders in most organizations. Today, it's a different story. Boomers have either retired or are facing retirement in the next few years. Since the Boomers have left their mark on America and our ways of doing business I decided to [...]
