Take Best Practices From One Generation and Apply Them to Others

The “Remixer of the Month” is a representative of the concept of The Remix, the topic of my next book, to be published by HarperCollins in Spring 2019.

As I define it, to “remix” is to take a best practice of one generation and “mix” it in some way with the best practice of another generation (or several!) to achieve a positive end result. Although most of my focus is on the business world, remixing can take place in any realm, from marketing to politics to sports to parenting and beyond.

Remixers Of The Month

MICKEY CALLAWAY AND THE METS

As a child of the ‘80s in the New York metro area (I grew up in Norwalk, CT), I’ve been a lifelong Mets baseball fan. While some seasons (2017) have been harder than others (1986), I love the team, and my husband and I (he’s also a Mets fan, of course) couldn’t be having more fun passing the passion on to our daughter Chloe (pictured above).

What does my family’s baseball fandom have to do with the multigenerational workplace, you might be wondering? Well, this year the Mets have a new manager, Mickey Callaway, who has attracted some attention. Besides the fact that the Mets had their best season start in the 57-year history of the team, Callaway has been noticed for his leadership style off the field as well.

Read more to learn a few of the strategies Callaway has used as a first-time leader of a multigenerational team of people.

TIFFANY DUFU AND THE CRU

Tiffany Dufu is a women’s leadership advocate, bestselling author, fabulous speaker and fellow Gen Xer. She and I had met at various professional events over the years, but it was her recent video post, “Everyone Needs a Millennial Mentor,” that prompted me to reach out and reconnect with her, which I did basically the minute the video ended.

As Tiffany shares in the video, it was her Millennial colleagues who prompted her to offer her thoughts and advice in a vlog, and now she has amassed over 100 videos, called “Tiffany’s Epiphanies.” When Tiffany and I got together at The Wing, a women’s co-working community in New York’s Flatiron district, I asked her to tell me more about her relationships with Millennial women.

Read more to learn the story she told me that  immediately prompted me to invite her to be my June Remixer of the Month.

MARCI ALBOHER AND ENCORE.ORG

Yes, Millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S. labor force, but did you know that Americans over the age of 65 are employed at the highest rates in 55 years?

Marci Alboher knows. She is a longtime expert on the changing workplace as well as vice president of strategic communications at Encore.org, a nonprofit that has been fueling the movement around encore careers. (Their tagline is: Second Acts for the Greater Good.)

Marci is a Remixer in her current job and in the way she has built her own career–and here’s why.

Casey Ryan and Reed Smith

Many of my law firm clients have shared that their long-time practices – such as billable hours, up-or-out career paths and high expectations for 24/7/365 client service – don’t always match the preferences of today’s generation of associates.

This is why I was particularly impressed when I conducted a workshop this past April for the partners of Reed Smith LLP. The global firm, founded back in 1877, recently implemented a series of changes to improve its associate experience to meet the needs of today’s workforce.

I recently had the chance to speak withCasey Ryan, the firm’s global head of legal personnel, about these new initiatives and learn how Reed Smith is “remixing” many other aspects of law firm life as well. Here are the highlights of our conversation.

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Lindsey is a globally recognized career and workplace expert and the leading voice on generational diversity. She has spoken for more than 300 audiences including Google, Goldman Sachs, Estee Lauder, Stanford and Wharton. Lindsey is the author of four career and workplace advice books, and her insights have appeared in media outlets including The TODAY Show, CNBC, NPR, the Harvard Business Review and the Wall Street Journal.

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