LISTEN below, and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

If you’re a Boomer, you’re rolling your eyes….but, since Millennials make up the largest segment of the workplace these days, it’s a legitimate question. Although we hear a lot these days about Millennial “snowflakes” and their participation trophies, what does the research say about the impact Millennials have on the workplace?

Yes, as painful as it may be for the BOSS, it’s time to get some real data-driven insight into the impact of Millennials on the modern workplace.

As it turns out, what Millennials want at work isn’t so different from what other generations have wanted, but what they bring to the workplace IS quite different, in many ways. So, are they good for business?

Oh, and let’s not forget that the youngest Millennials are in their mid-20s and the oldest among them are pushing 40. That means they aren’t the new kids on the block anymore. There are now Millennial managers, and the mistakes that they are making as leaders aren’t that different from their older counterparts. Luckily, there’s research on that, too.

Join Kelly and Robby as they examine the latest research on the impact of Millennials in the workplace and try not to get sidetracked by a few good rants along the way.

The post CM147: “Are Millennials Good for Business?” appeared first on CounterMentors.

LISTEN below, and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

Millennials often struggle to figure out the BOSS. In many cases they don’t even bother, and that’s the question in this episode: Is it a waste of time to even attempt to understand the old, out-of-touch, technology-challenged BOSS??

Scene: A group of Millennials get together at Happy Hour and before long they’re talking about the BOSS: “Dude. My boss is killin’ me. What a disaster.”

Yup. They don’t understand you. They think they know everything. They don’t have a clue about pop culture, and are trying to tell you how to do your job, and don’t give you any feedback. What’s the point of sticking around?

It’s a good question. But here’s an even better question: Have you even tried to understand your boss? Have you ever tried to connect and find out what’s important to him/her? Maybe, instead of griping about the BOSS, the really smart move (the one that demonstrates a little emotional intelligence) might be to try and understand them first? To work hard to make their job a little easier?

Join Kelly and Robby as they break down the over-generalizations and the bad communication that prevent Millennials and Boomers from connecting at work. And stay tuned until the end for a set of principles that can help Millennials maximize their success in the workplace.

The post CM146: Is It A Waste Of Time To Understand The BOSS? appeared first on CounterMentors.

LISTEN below, and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

There seems to be an assumption that leadership requires an individual to have certain personality traits. Perhaps not surprisingly, research confirms our intuition–even children know instinctually what kinds of people tend to get placed in leadership roles. So, we tend to assume that the best leaders are the best talkers–that extroverts make the most effective leaders.

But is that actually true? Is it an individual’s personality that makes them a good leader, or can leaders be developed?

Join Kelly and Robby as they discuss our biases about leadership, what it looks like, and how leaders behave. More importantly, stick around as they share how the habits of great leaders can be cultivated by anyone with the discipline and desire to excel.

The post CM 145: Are Extroverts Better Leaders Than Introverts? appeared first on CounterMentors.

LISTEN below, and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

If you’ve been working more than a couple of months, you’re probably aware of a problem employee. The prima donna. The bull-in-a-china-shop. The bad attitude. The ‘my-way-or-the-highway’ bulldozer.

It seems like we’ve come to accept drama as a condition of existing in the workplace. But, while problem employees create enough problems of their own, sometimes those employee turn out to be great performers. Now what?? Should they stay or should they go? Is the performance worth all the problems that come with it?

One thing is for sure–it is amazing how often leaders give that employee a pass. It’s a recipe for disaster–and a real crisis for leadership.

Join Kelly and Robby as they discuss a high-profile example of a talented performer getting away with bad behavior in the world of sports. As always, the difference between a winning culture and team dysfunction usually comes down to the actions of the leader.

The post CM 144: Are Employees Holding You Hostage? appeared first on CounterMentors.

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Bad behavior didn’t use to be so public! But now, social media has made it possible for people to throw temper tantrums on a scale we could never imagine just a few years back. More and more, conflict gets played out on public platforms rather than between people.

It’s too easy to get a daily does of public conflict courtesy of major league sports. Professional athletes and organizations have become quite adept at airing their dirty laundry all over the media. It’s not only unprofessional and immature, it also provides the perfect reflection of the kinds of conflict that happen in the workplace for those of us who ride a desk, not a bench.

In this episode, Kelly and Robby examine recent examples of team conflict from the world of sports and discuss the vital role of emotional intelligence in building a high-performance team.

The post CM143: More (or Less) Emotional Intelligence appeared first on CounterMentors.

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Chances are really good that you’re ignoring a powerful drain on your team and its productivity.

In fact, it’s too easy to simply dismiss emotional intelligence as something you are too busy to consider. After all, where is the return on investment for these so-called “soft skills”?

That’s an easy question to answer, and the numbers are scary! EQ is vitally important to workplace success, especially for leaders!!

Of course, Boomers often think that Millennials spend too much time with their “feelings.” Millennials, in turn, counter that Boomers are repressed and tend to ignore conflict rather than resolve it.

The truth at the heart of both of these stereotypes? We’ve all got a problem with emotional intelligence.

In this episode, Kelly and Robby discuss why Millennials need to work on better self-regulation and Boomers need to consider more carefully how their actions impact other people. Find out why you cannot afford to ignore this hidden source of workplace failure.

The post CM142: “The Source of Workplace Failure You Don’t Recognize” appeared first on CounterMentors.

LISTEN below, and SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

Do you roll your eyes when you get Friend Requests from people you haven’t seen since high school – and the first thing they want to do is sell you their latest something?

What about you….how much time do you waste sending LinkedIn requests to people you’ve never met?

And who doesn’t LOVE going to networking events? Delivering your “elevator speech” in an attempt to dazzle a captive stranger in a few nauseating minutes?

If the very idea of networking makes you cringe, you are going to want to hear some good news from our guest, David Burkus, author of Friend of a Friend: Understanding the Hidden Networks That Can Transform Your Life and Your Career: Those methods DO NOT WORK.

Ok, great. So… what do we do now?

Join Kelly and Robby on this new episode as they learn all the best strategies from David for networking in today’s hyperconnected social universe. Find out his best advice for maximizing your existing network.

FINALLY! Let yourself off the hook for skipping those cocktail hours with strangers.

“Networking doesn’t have to be all about talking shop over appetizers

The post CM 141: “Your Friend Requests are Annoying” appeared first on CounterMentors.

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Coaching is, for many managers, a highly under appreciated skill. It is usually assumed that anyone who is good at something, when promoted to manager, will naturally be good at teaching and coaching those skills.

Not so much.

Teaching and coaching are powerful skills that have to be learned just as much as the skills that get managers promoted. And those skills will make you a far more effective leader. In this episode, Kelly and Robby are joined by perennial champion football coach, Bill Blankenship to talk coaching for leaders in the workplace.

Coach Blankenship has won everywhere. He has coached two Oklahoma 6A schools to state championship titles (Union and Owasso). He coached Fayetteville high school to an Arkansas 7A football state championship in his only year there. And, to top it off, he spent four seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, the University of Tulsa, finishing 19-8 with a Liberty Bowl championship in his first two years, before falling to 5-19 his final two years.

Hear Bill’s tips for coaching through failure, setting expectations, how to create a winning culture, and much more. Learn how effective coaching unlocks the potential of your people, and try to tune out the boys geeking out in the presence of a legend.

“Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.”

 “Bill Blankenship slays the monster he helped create” NewsOK

The post CM 140: “Coaching For Leaders” appeared first on CounterMentors.

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What does it mean to be the the GOAT? The “Greatest of All Time?”

It is measured by results. Wins. Championships. Legacy.

Of course, the GOAT may be a spectacular performer, but he or she also has that quality that makes other people want to be part of the magic. Great leaders produce incredible results, and they do it year after year…after year. GO PATS!

Great leaders – like Belichick and Brady – create and inspire teams to work seamlessly toward a common goal. In the workplace, great leaders inspire us and bring out the best in us.

So, yeah, we may recognize it immediately, but great leadership is hard to define and even harder to teach. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. What are the principles that great leaders know? What are the practices that great leadership employs?

Join Kelly and Robby as they celebrate another Pats Super Bowl and outline what great leadership can do for an organization. The Pats provide vivid leadership lessons that anyone can take into the workplace. (Also, discover the easiest way to get your hometown team into a championship game. Hint: it involves Robby moving there.)

“Talent sets the floor, character sets the ceiling.”

The post CM139: “The Greatest of All Time” appeared first on CounterMentors.

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Our book, Counter Mentor Leadership: How to Unlock the Potential of the 4-Generation Workplace, is available everywhere!

But another book about Millennials? REALLY?

Well, hold on, cupcake. Yes, there are a lot of leadership books out there and lots of books about Millennials. We’ve read them all–well, that is, the Pops has read a lot of them, and Robby has read some Tweets about a lot of them. We’ve done the research, and we have over two decades invested in helping leaders transform potential into performance, regardless of generation. You definitely haven’t seen anything like Counter Mentor Leadership. #snarky #sarcastic #truth

In other words, this isn’t your grandparents’ old-school approach to management. It’s definitely not another #boringleadershipbook. Counter Mentor Leadership is about harnessing the power of the tech-infected Millennials and the new GenZ. It’s about building a powerhouse, 4-generation workplace. And Boomers, if you think we’re here to pat you on the head and send you on your way, you’re in for a shock. Your old-school, because-I-said-so antics just aren’t cutting it. #straighttalk

Join Kelly and Robby as they discuss their new book, how it came to be, and why you should put it at the top of your reading list.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/countermentors/CM138_Another_Book_About_Millennials.mp3

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

The post CM138: “Another Book About Millennials? (a shameless plug)” appeared first on CounterMentors.