A familiar pattern and a soon to be headache for leaders

This time of year is a busy one for me and my fellow associates. Part of this busy period comes from the increased demands for keynotes in April and May. Keynotes are always interesting and a lot of fun. It is a beautiful time of year in Western Canada, so I enjoy the travel, but even more so, I always get to meet very interesting and passionate leaders who always inspire me and of course fuel my ideas for further leadership and organizational development.

One of the most popular keynotes I do, and many of you have probably seen it in one form or another is "The times they are a changin". It is in reference to the growing phenomenon of the Multi-Generational workforce and the challenges it creates for leaders and fellow employees. I was in Whistler last Saturday speaking to this Multi-Generational phenomenon and it was during the historical piece of the presentation that a women in her mid thirties spoke up and said that she has delayed having kids because her career was more important to her at this stage in her life. She went on to share that during this economic uncertainty, having kids and the added expenses it would bring would delay her and her husband's plans for a family even further. This of course in some ways makes total sense and I am not surprised.

However, her comment does not bode well for leaders, especially those who are planning to be leaders for the next five, ten or even twenty years. As my keynote suggests, since the explosion of baby-boomers into the world, post 1945, we have seen a downward trend in birthrates. What is now happening today is the inevitable storm clouds that are brewing to create the perfect labour storm. For example, young families since 1965 have been making choices to have smaller families and this coupled with the growing trend towards “working moms” waiting till their 30’s to have kids are key contributors to our upcoming labour shortage. Throw in the cyclical nature of our economy and we are going to be facing a worldwide shortage of talent. This woman’s point during my presentation is just another perfect example of one of the many different “examples” that have lead to this multigenerational phenomenon and the perfect labour storm.

So you can imagine my interest, that a week later, I was reading the weekend Globe & Mail and an article I came across spoke quite succinctly about what I have just wrote about. You can see the article here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090509.wbabies09/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20090509.wbabies09

Remember, as leaders you need to be always looking at the bigger picture and how it will positively and negatively impact your success. We will start to see more and more of these “types” of stories, that in some shape or form, will all point to the inevitable labour storm that is coming. However, this bigger picture awareness will provide you with some great insights to making the right choices to help you succeed. As a leadership coach, I am a big believer that to be successful you need to be proactive. My question to you is, are you being proactive with respect to this upcoming labour storm?

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Shane Jensen, MA, CEC
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