I have phone calls several times each week from people wanting to know how to best communicate with and market to Gen Y. The best advice I have for people is to start following Brazen Careerist. The popular blog probably has more hits daily than any other career blog on the internet, and it is authored by a few hundred Gen Y bloggers. So…if you really want to get to know Gen Y, you have to listen to them and know what’s on their minds before you go barging into their world.

So, today I Wordled the site (today, May 7, 2009):

As you can see, the words that pop out are school, just, people, immigrants, like, something, spouse, job and a few others that pop out.  Wordle will tell you what the most popular words are being used, and my logic tells me that:

1) These words above are the words that are on the minds of the Gen Ys who blog for BC download fast and furious 4 online

2) These words are commonly used by these young adults

So…if you want to know what’s going on in the world of Gen Y, spend some time on Brazen Careerist. Read their posts, listen to their concerns, and you will then know much better how to interact with twenty-something employees (AND how to market to them!)

I am reading a great book right now by Gerald Sindell.  If you want to learn how to turn your raw ideas into brilliance, you should read this too!

This is such a quick read, filled with inspiration and each chapter just flies by…great stuff.

Listen to the podcast below to learn why I think you should pick up a copy today!

During this episode I had the pleasure of  interviewing Terry Osborn and Ben Aronson, the founding partners of  the TAO Experience, a Marketing, Branding and Talent Management firm based out of Hoboken, NJ.   Listen in as we talk a bit about marketing to the Gen Y and Gen X demographics and their highly successful Break’n Through event, which showcases Gen Y talent to the New York City public.

Those of us who are in the leadership business are studying closely how President Obama was able to pull off such an amazing campaign and of course victory. This photo is just one example of how Obama used technology and a grassroots approach to reach the younger voting demographic.

I know I received several messages just like this one over a period of about nine months.  I am still receiving e-mail updates and following the President’s messages on You Tube.

We are certainly in interesting times with a new generation at the helm.

In today’s fiercely competitive world, innovation and global collaboration are two of the building blocks both small and large businesses will need to thrive in the world. In our opinion, no one knows this subject better than Liam J. Cleaver, IBM’s Program Director for Collaborative Innovation and IBM Jams. During this insightful interview, Bea Fields and Ryan Coleman (The Next Force) will be talking with Liam about how IBM has used jams to involve its more than 300,000  employeesround the world in far-reaching exploration and problem-solving. This is going to be a great show! Please tune in on January 29 at 4:00 Eastern.

Listen to the show live here on Thursday.

Don Tapscott (in my opinion) is THE master when it comes to being fully educated, open and quite savvy about all that is going on with Generation Y. He conducted a $4 million study on the subject and has written some brilliant books that I highly recommend to anyone who is truly serious about getting with it on the Gen Y front.

The podcast is here on Twit.tv.

Books by Tapscott that I can personally endorse. I have read them both, and I could not put them down.

WIKINOMICS

Grown Up Digital

The one area that I must agree with in this audio is that the cynics of the world are out there painting Gen Y to be lazy, dumb and entitled. I agree with Tapscott…Gen Y is the smartest, most civic minded and giving generation we’ve seen in a very long time. It is quite common for people who feel threatened by young, up and coming superstars to criticize them and call them names…I guess it makes people feel better about themselves in some bizarre and twisted way.

If your Gen Ys appear as if they are kicking back at times, it’s not because they have been dumbed down or because they’re lazy. It’s probably because they are falling into one of the below categories.

1) They’re totally bored with the work they are being asked to do or the work has absolutely no meaning or has become irrelevant

2) They have already finished your task list in about half the time it usually takes you. With their skill set, they can run circles around all of us on the whole productivity/time management thing. One suggestion: make your Gen Ys of your company productivity coaches…they can take on the task of studying your company, improving your efficiencies and then coaching the rest of your team members who are still doing things the “long way” (like trying to manage clients using an Excel spread sheet…saw that one last week…looked pretty boring, long and taxing! I had a headache and eye strain after 10 minutes of looking at this darn thing for someone.)

3) They have used their online networks and resources to help them get the job done a LOT quicker than many of us could ever fathom doing

4) While they are “kicking back”, they are thinking, texting and collaborating (trust me…the texting is not just for fun!)

OR

They are burned out from the thousands of things we as parents have asked them to do to build their resume, get the college scholarship, get the great job and blah, blah.

So, listen to the podcast, pick up Tapscott’s books, and get up to speed on Gen Y. They are amazing, and it’s time that we all came together across generations to get the job done that we need to get done (and unless you are living under a rock, you know the job we all need to get done!)

A great article in the Wall Street Journal is an excerpt from the new book The Break-Through: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama by Gwen Ifill.

The article points to the fact that young voters helped the soon to be president gain an edge across both generations and race. Very interesting read.

Shelly Banjo is a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires in Jersey City, NJ, covering wealth management. She also writes about Gen Y trends, careers and personal finance and contributes to the Journal Women Web page, writing about young women starting out in the workplace. Previously, she wrote the Wall Street Journal Sunday’s “Starting Out” column which offers personal finance and career advice for twentysomethings. She was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal for her article A Perfect Match? which we will be discussing during this call. You don’t want to miss this interview!

Listen in below

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I had the pleasure of interviewing Scott Asai of GrowingForward.net tonight. Scott is on the border of Gen Y and Gen Y, and I spoke with him about some of the most common coaching questions he most often receives from managers about coaching Gen Y and a few strategies you can use to improve your relationship with the 20-something workers.

Listen in below

I had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan Allis last night on the topic of business, his life as a social entrepreneur and his success. I can see why Ryan and i-Contact are so successful.

If you are someone who is in search of a top contact management system that is top-notch and affordable, I encourage you to visit i-Contact today and sign up! I get absolutely nothing from sending you over there other than the pleasure of connecting you to a super-sharp young businessman and one of the fastest growing companies in the country.

Listen to the audio interview with Ryan below…he has some wonderful advice on how to be successful in business.

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