Blog Post: Jonesin' for a New Generation of Leadership

You don't have to look hard to notice that our Country is experiencing a crisis of leadership. Pick up any newspaper and you'll find dozens of articles recounting the latest leadership shenanigans marked by self-interest masquerading as capitalism. Blagojevich, Madoff, Thain... And then there are the companies that continue to blunder their way through, only to make matters worse. Microsoft posts a $14.7 billion profit, lays off 5000 workers, and then wants props for maintaining its employee giving program this year--oblivious to the hypocrisy of this.  Citibank receives billions of dollars of government bailout money and yet somehow it slips someone's mind that they should probably cancel the purchase order for the new corporate jet. The headlines are littered with examples that prove some of the formerly elite Fortune 100 leaders still just don't get it, and in some cases are actually making things worse.

The good news is that shakedowns of this magnitude ultimately will lead to a more evolved generation of leaders - leaders who more accurately reflect the values and goals of their stakeholders. Because as appalled as we are at the apparent disconnect this current batch of leaders has with reality, they are still a notch up from the martini swilling, ass-slapping philanderers of the 1960's. (Think Mad Men.)   So there is hope.

The real question then becomes,"Are you prepared to usher in this new, more evolved, generation?"

Meet Generation Jones
If you were born between 1954 and 1965, as apparently 53 million of us were, you have to check out "Stuck in the Middle" by Jonathan Pontell published this week in USA Today. Reading the description of Generation Jones provides as much nostalgia as listening to a Lionel Ritchie CD on an original Sony Walkman. But most importantly, I feel like my values finally have a voice. Here are a few of my favorite highlights from the article.  (READ MORE)