Here are a few more of the questions that came in during a recent HBR-sponsored webinar — but that we didn’t have time to get to. These are primarily focused on career decisions and interpersonal dynamics in the workplace. I hope you’ll share your own views. On-Ramps You asked: What do good on-ramps for X’ers look like? Good on-ramps for X’ers should build capital and offer choice. That capital comes in three forms:... 

Recently, Harvard Business Review , in collaboration with Right Management , sponsored a webinar during which I spoke about the characteristics that I believe will make the members of Generation X strong leaders for the decade ahead. We didn’t have time to get to all the questions that came in, so let’s begin a discussion of some of them here. I hope you’ll share your own views. Characteristics of Gen X Outside the U.S. You asked:... 

A reflection before Father’s Day. “But how can we know what is correct?” I was sitting with a group of executives, discussing the advantages of social technologies. One member of the group was quick to point out what he perceived as a major disadvantage: Too much information from too many sources made it difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain which source was right, which authority he should trust. I gently suggested that... 

When my children were young, before the age at which schools frowned on parents who pulled them out of class, I used to take them with me on occasional business trips. Part of my goal was to spend some precious one-on-one time with each child (I only took one at a time), but I also imagined I was teaching them some valuable lessons … View post: The Day I Took My Daughter to Work  Read More →

I was intrigued by the recent article in The New York Times on David Cameron, the new British Prime Minister. Born in 1966, the 43-year-old Cameron is a member of Generation X. (So is U.S. President Barack Obama, who is 48.) Based on the Times’s characterization, it sounds like Mr. Cameron shares many of the traits and perspectives I’ve observed in other X’ers. Here’s my general description of Gen X’s formative events... 

As companies look ahead to a recovering economy and expanding job opportunities, many leaders have asked me how they can “restore trust.” How can they dissipate the cloud of fear and resentment that hangs over many employees, still tender from years of layoffs, salary freezes, pay cuts, and furloughs. How can leaders recreate an atmosphere of trust in the organization? My superficial answer: Forget about it — or at least, forget... 

It’s counterproductive to discuss whether we have a talent shortage or high unemployment. We have both. Even as the economy recovers, the Obama administration’s Council of Economic Advisors earlier this year projected that the unemployment rate would stay well above 6% until 2015. At the same time, the argument that my coauthors and I put forth in 2006 in our book Workforce Crisis remains true: There are significant, growing shortages... 

It’s counterproductive to discuss whether we have a talent shortage or high unemployment. We have both. Even as the economy recovers, the Obama administration’s Council of Economic Advisors earlier this year projected that the unemployment rate would stay well above 6% until 2015. At the same time, the argument that my coauthors and I put forth in 2006 in our book Workforce Crisis remains true: There are significant, growing shortages... 

You’re Generation X. You’re in your 30s and 40s, in the middle of your lives, your careers, and the workforce. You’re wedged between two huge groups of people who are, in their own ways, taking up a little too much of your room. Boomers to the left of you, Gen Y to the right — and you with all the frustrations that come with being part of a smaller generational cohort. I’ve talked with hundreds of you and written lots... 

Has your company labeled you a ” high potential ?” Do you know? Do you care? There’s a debate growing among human resource professionals on the usefulness of “hi-po” programs. In theory, the idea of singling individuals out for this label allows companies to focus their development resources and plum opportunities where they will have the greatest return — on people who have the capacity to grow into higher levels... 

There’s an art to tweeting. And, I’m sorry to say, most people just haven’t mastered it. Twitter, for the few uninitiated out there, is a social networking site that limits your posts to 140 characters. You can sign up to “follow” (receive the Tweets) from just about anyone you choose. I initially signed up to follow lots of people — colleagues, journalists, academics, politicians, comedians, friends and family.... 

President Obama is arguably the United States’ first President who is a member of Generation X. (I say “arguably” since the boundary line between Boomers and X’ers is subject to debate. Born in 1961, in my view, he’s the vanguard of the next generation leaders .) While I don’t believe any individual is poster child for the shared traits of a generation, I do think some of President Obama’s actions reflect... 

It happened last year, around the first of July. In my experience, the switch was just about that abrupt. All last spring, most senior business leaders I met shrugged off the business applicability of Web 2.0. Allowing access to social networks in the workplace was something they were willing to consider only if it was absolutely necessary to keep younger employees from complaining. Twitter? What was that? But by summer, the conversations I was... 

This is a big month for me. And since many of you have contributed ideas to the discussion here over the past three years — and I’d like to ask you to join me in a little celebration. The third book in the trilogy I’ve written to the generations is published this month. More than the previous two, this book, is less “mine” and more “ours.” Your responses to posts on this site helped me understand your perspectives;... 

I predict this year will be marked by five changes in the evolving relationship between those who work and those who pay to have work done. Most of these trends have been percolating for some time — many stemming back to the 1981 recession, and its then-startling lay-offs. The most recent recession accelerated and intensified the changing nature of the employee-employer relationship. Recessions unquestionably leave a mark on the way we work....