The Clinton-Lewinsky Generation

My generation is defined as being pushed into adulthood earlier, emerged into a technological culture, witnessed the Iran hostage crisis and the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Being raised in a home where my parents were divorced and had a working mother, I was obliged to take care of my two younger brothers. Lets just say that I developed a strict hand and zero tolerance. 

The evolution in the music world and the creation of the first, house sized computer, opened me to a new world of multiple cultures. I guess I could say I earned my independence at an early age. I began working at the age of sixteen and worked my way into college. I entered the workforce in my early twenties and still remain to this day. I am a single mother of two, in the process of finalizing my divorce... great. I have learned how to manage my time between work and my children. I divide my day into PTC meetings at school and long work hours filled with business meetings. I am exhausted and have no time what for ME. I can say that I enjoy working. 

I began to work at a very young age and I never had anything handed to me for free. I know the value of hard work and dedication, and lets just say I am great at multi-tasking. I read this great article on Parents called, "10 Ways to Reduce Single-Parents Stress". The article gives 10 easy steps that I have learned to follow: It goes as follows:

1. Get a handle on finances                                                          

2. Set up a support system
3. Maintain a daily routine
4. Be consistent with discipline 
    (especially with my kids)
5. Answer questions honestly 
6. Treat kids like kids
7. Abolish "guilt" from your vocabulary
8. Take time for your children
9. Take time for yourself
10. Stay positive

The Working Mother has a great article by Lori Gottlieb that helps give a perspective of what it is like to be a single mother in the workforce.

Image from Adobe Stock

Think Global, Act Local

Limited minds lead to limited success. In order to become successful in life or in a business, a person needs to think globally. A leader needs to have an open mind and be prepared to deal with anything they put in front of him/her. This person needs to have an ability to learn new skills, have an open mind to other cultures and accept change, and have the ability to form new connections. In a business, a leader needs to develop an organizational culture based on their abilities. A leader must be willing to pass their knowledge to the employees in order for the company to form their own culture. It is important for a leader to avoid ethnocentrism and adapt parts from different cultures that exceed others.

 A great way of doing this is by comparing cultures and never stereotype people coming from the same culture. Going against this could lead to forming gender, race and religious barriers in a workplace. It is important to form a collectivist culture to avoid the "me" and "I" and focus on the "we" and "us". Think as a team... think as a whole. It is important to remember that in a business there will be people coming from different cultures and countries, especially in the U.S. People are leaving their home in order to work, and a leader should create a tolerant and open organizational culture to avoid foreigners to feel unwelcome. 

A company should prepare its employees to be more culturally accepting and open. In an article from the Harvard Business Review, Bill George states that American companies have the ability to form global leaders. This will strengthen our economy as well as global trade and attract other companies to establish their operations in the country. He goes on by listing 5 advantages that America possesses in this matter. It goes as follows:

1. America’s higher education system is a magnet for talented leaders from all over the world. 
2. U.S. companies actively promote executive officers with diverse geographic and cultural backgrounds.
3. American companies send their most promising leaders abroad for global leadership assignments. 
4. The U.S. leverages its pool of top talent to attract research and business units.
5. America fosters risk-taking and innovation by entrepreneurs who become global leaders.

In my opinion this country still has a long way to become more culturally accepting in the workforce. A great way to incorporate this more is to provide cross-cultural-training for employees and create an environment with people who are culturally diverse. 

An article from the Huffington Post, states that due to advances in technology the world has become smaller and more connected. One business or event can impact other businesses from other countries due to the connections formed between countries. By using technology in a positive way, people can become aware of their surrounding and ultimately become more global minded.  

Image from: Free Photo Pixabay

Five Things Needed to Make an Organizational Culture

Would you dress for a gala event as you would for your neighbor's barbecue? Although you would never receive a dress code along with these invitations, there is a certain ambience that implies for you to dress, think and act a certain way in each event. An organization's culture works in a similar way. The culture conveys shared values, attitudes, beliefs and standards that characterize an organization's goals. An example would be, if a company treats a maintenance employee differently than they would towards a finance director, there will be a lack of progress from the maintenance employee. Overall it is imperative for an organization to create a strong culture and therefore, create a good impression for potential future employees as well as customers. Co-founder and CEO of Entrepreneur, Jeremy Bloom, highlights six easy steps for organizations to follow in order to construct a solid culture within an organization:

1. Transparency
2. Time to Disconnect
3. Empowerment and Sense of Freedom
4. Physical Space
5. Talking to Customers and Employees
6. Input Organizational Design "How you do things"

Recently Business Insider listed the microblogging company, Twitter, as the number one company in terms of corporate culture and values according to it's employees. According to Fortune, people working for Twitter receive "rooftop meetings, free meals at its San Francisco headquarters, in-office yoga classes, and unlimited vacations for exempt employees". 

I was surprised to discover that tech companies are dominating the top rankings. Glassdoor community expert Scott Dobroski states that employees working for such companies buy into their organizations' mission statements.

If a company creates a good environment within it's walls, it's employees will respond positively. This will reflect on the output and overall product of their hard work. All of the values and beliefs within an organization contribute to the final brand image by which it will become remembered by.





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