The Generation Unretired phenomenon is growing, and there is new data to support that. A study conducted by Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a nonprofit in Kansas City, MO, shows that with job market in decline more and more older Americans are becoming entrepreneurs.

During the last decade people ages 55-to-64 had a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity than fresh out of college youngsters and people in their 30s.

Many of these older entrepreneurs are targeting their own demographic as customers. Based on their experience, they better understand the needs of their own age group and are often able to successfully meet those needs.

Even the most active of Gen U business owners sometimes meet with problems. Banks, for example, are often reluctant to lend money to older people. The society needs to put aside age-related assumptions and embrace the phenomenon that will only continue to grow.

Other Gen U workers are still returning to more traditional jobs. To read more on this overall trend, please see the links below:

- Lynn Taylor Consulting

- BusinessWeek

- Respectful Workplace

- Wall Street Journal

- Noozhawk

- Kauffman Foundation

Be Your Own Valentine

With Valentine’s Day approaching this weekend, it’s another reminder that many couples may not feel very festive — or romantic — given their job situation these days. In fact, in many conversations these days, I hear workplace and job concerns becoming all-consuming in people’s lives.

Thirteen hours in a five-day workweek are spent worrying about one’s job fate, and similar studies are in my earlier blogs. Even when people are employed, many of them feel tenuous in their jobs due to uncertain economic times and often challenging bosses.

Maybe you’ve tried counseling your special someone, reviewing a resume, role playing an interview or trying to empathize about an unreasonable manager. Time for a romantic toast anyone?

Perhaps this year, you can let cupid’s arrow hit YOUR OWN world, specifically your career and job.

Maybe this year, you can be your own Valentine, even if for a moment. Love yourself enough to be proud of your skills that no one can take away from you; your accomplishments; and the incredible ability you have in the future to achieve great things.

For starters, you can take control, rather than letting your career or job control you. Here are some simple empowering reminders that can make your life – and perhaps your Valentine’s day more fulfilling:

1) Remember that you’re a free agent. Yes, unemployment is high, but you have a skills set that is unique and if you’re currently looking, all you need is one job. The best jobs are not always advertised. Often they’re found through networking, especially with the availability of social media tools, such as Linkedin.

2) Think about how your skills can contribute to the bottom line. Then share it and get the nod to pursue it. Are there weak links in your existing company or a prospective company that could mean greater profits? Many jobs have been created for people who can bring in revenue or reduce costs.

3) Use your interpersonal intelligence with bad boss behavior (or Terrible Office Tyrants – TOTs) to understand what’s really behind the blustering. Usually there’s a lot more beyond what meets the eye. Once you crack the code, you’ll see events through a new lens, helping you focus and thrive.

4) Try to resist the natural temptation to allow others’ tension devour you. Realize that you can take specific steps to manage relationships on your terms. Your leverage is your daily contributions and unique skills. That’s your focus. Your own success is the best revenge, but remember, revenge is usually an unsustainable motivator.

Happy Valentine’s Day …to YOU.

In Case You Missed
Just in case you missed these articles in the last few weeks, please take a look; they offer some helpful input on trends, surveys and maybe a few laughs:
- Contingent Workforce Strategies
- Glamour
- Orange County Register
- AOL WalletPop

A recent survey commissioned by Lynn Taylor Consulting presents ample food for thought.

“It’s all in the packaging” applies to more than the latest irresistible gift you bought. It also has a lot to do with how you package your actions and verbal communications at work. Case in point: an independent study we released recently showed that employees spend 19.2 hours in a seven-day week (13 hours during the work week and 6.2 hours on the weekend) worrying about what their boss said or did!

“What could it lead to? What should I do? How should I present myself, what words and actions could help me advance in my job, or at least make sure it is still mine tomorrow?” This survey’s respondents ask themselves those questions, as well as many of my readers who want to learn to “manage up” – a skill that comes in very handy if one has to deal with a difficult boss, especially in difficult times. If one works for such a boss – a TOT (Terrible Office Tyrant) – it is very important to develop an approach that will allow to defuse difficult situations, keep balance in the workplace, and make sure productivity doesn’t suffer.

While the latter part of the study – verbatim responses from U.S. employees – is more lighthearted, it does speak eloquently about the unfortunate morale-dampening atmosphere of many offices today that resemble a corporate playpen, rather than productive work environment. It certainly shows that there’s room for improvement. But let’s first take a look at what people need to save their current jobs.

In a national independent study of 586 employees commissioned by Lynn Taylor Consulting, we asked, “What techniques do you believe work for employees who must ‘manage up’ with childish bosses?” Here’s how their answers ranked:

1. Strong listening and communications skills

2. Demonstrating calm under pressure

3. Being a good role model for leadership and respect

4. Proactive problem solving

5. Working around a boss’s strength’s and weaknesses

6. Using humor

7. Showing empathy

Analysis of this research lead me to my favorite acronym which is a formula not only for saving your job – which certainly helps during a period of 10 percent unemployment – but also for thriving in it. It’s called “CALM” – Communicate (openly, honestly and frequently); Anticipate (be aware of potential problems and stop them from escalating by offering proactive solutions); Laugh (use levity to diffuse tension and create a bonding atmosphere; and Manage (manage up, or “parent” without patronizing, by using positive and negative reinforcement with certain behaviors, e.g., by setting limits to poor behavior).

How to Lose Your Job

Those who consider themselves mavericks, need that extra push to become self-reliant entrepreneurs, or always wanted to know what it’s like to burn the bridges – those can follow the lead of what some employees dream of saying at work! In a related study, we asked employees to state what they would say to bosses who slip into “TOTdom” (childish behavior), if there was no reprisal.

This is not to say that all employees or support teams aren’t capable of behaving like TOTs themselves! If you subscribe to the theory that we all share the same basic human instincts, needs and fears, then it stands to reason that TOTs run across the org chart, whether we’re two or 52. With that caveat in mind, here’s what employees would say (in their dreams) to TOTs, in order of priority:

1. Why don’t we compromise? (P.S. This is the only phraseology that does work with both children and managers!)

2. I can’t hear you when you shout!

3. Stop whining!

4. That’s not allowed!

5. I’m leaving!

6. You’re cranky; do you need a nap?

7. Go to your room; you’re getting a time out!

8. If you ask one more time, you’ll never get that!

9. Are you teething or do you just need a cookie?

For now, suppressing that “maverick” impulse and saving one’s job might be a better choice for most people, though many of them may be just buying time and looking for greener pastures. Humor surely helps you get through the day, and these nine phrases gave our respondents at least some temporary solace. But there is a serious side to it, and a sobering reality behind it: we all – managers and employees alike – can occasionally fall into TOTishness and unwittingly throw a wrench into what is supposed to be a smooth-running machine. So we all need to be aware of this potential pitfall and have the wherewithal to deal with it.

SANTA MONICA (January 13, 2010) — According to a new survey released today by national workplace expert Lynn Taylor, author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant –TOT (John Wiley & Sons), U.S. employees spend 19.2 hours a week (13 hours during the work week and 6.2 hours on the weekend) worrying about “what a boss says or does.”

The national study was conducted by an independent global research firm and commissioned by Taylor’s firm, Lynn Taylor Consulting, which offers workshops on how to humanize the workplace for increased productivity and profitability.

Taylor said, “The study illustrates the tremendous drain that a manager’s words and actions can have on the minds and work product of its most valued asset – people – at a time when companies can least afford the loss. Particularly during this period of high unemployment, bad boss behavior can go into overdrive – distracting employees from the work at hand.”

“Conversely, the survey suggests that greater interpersonal sensitivity can significantly boost morale and help a company thrive,” Taylor said. She advises managers to go the extra mile by showing interest in the team’s well-being. “Employees’ careers are not on hold, even if major corporate initiatives are,” she added. Taylor said that spillover anxiety on weekends of 3.1 hours a day further underscores how critical the boss/employee dynamic truly is.

“Employees should take the initiative in 2010 to build their own human relations skills,” Taylor said. She added, “Tackle issues early on with diplomacy and deploy good ‘parenting skills’ in the office – without patronizing. Use positive and negative reinforcement; provide positive role modeling; humor; and set limits to unreasonable demands with tact, showing the benefits of an alternative compromise.”

The U.S. study was based on telephone interviews conducted with 1,000 respondents 18 years of age or older. For more information, visit www.LynnTaylorConsulting.com and www.TameYourTOT.com or call 1-800-454-0083.

About Lynn Taylor Consulting

Lynn Taylor is the founder of Lynn Taylor Consulting, which advises companies on how to humanize the workplace. A nationally recognized workplace expert, dynamic speaker and acclaimed author, Taylor is the author of the book, Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant™(TOT); How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job (John Wiley & Sons, July 2009).

In Psychology Today.com, I talk about how it’s time to shore up your career and managerial skills for 2010. I’d like to address that here, and wish you much joy in your career and life in the coming year.

Many had to settle for a less-than-agreeable situation at work in 2009. But 2010 is upon us, and here’s a brief metaphor: 2010 is the Chinese Year of the Tiger, and the tiger is known for its strength and strategic skills in getting results. Without being a predator, you can be aggressive about achieving your career goals in the New Year.

First, decide what your heartfelt objectives are, then set your own rules. You do possess needed skills and company know-how. Your leadership skills are hard to replace. So if you like the job you’re currently in, but not the terms, now is the time to fine-tune them and dial up your satisfaction level.

Assess your weaknesses. Clarify what you want more, or less of. How can you better control office challenges by through reading, training and professional development? If fear has held you back, consider if it’s time to move on to the “great unknown.” Design your career objectives based on what would bring you the best long-term happiness. Then, pounce.

Regardless of your choice, the macro environment we’re in dictates a few requirements that will keep you at the top of your game:

• Make human relations skills your priority for 2010. Just because it’s a tech world on steroids doesn’t mean we must lose our humanity. In fact you can counter this trend by increasing yours. Even if those around you regress to virtual toddlers (Terrible Office Tyrants, or TOTs, as I call them) in the pressure cooker recession environment, ratchet up your “interpersonal intelligence” to set you apart from other managers in 2010. You will help “TOT Proof your company” in the process.

• Take the initiative. Like so many aspects of achieving success, maintaining an objective, healthy perspective and being a proactive problem solver can make all the difference. Learn how to role model calm, clear thinking, positive behavior with those around you - this is a transferable skill. The practice will be contagious to top management, too, and benefit those across the organization as well.

• Keep Your Eye on the Prize. Despite the prevalent “sky is falling” mood in corporate America, stay focused and positive on fulfilling your career dreams. When things are in flux, chances for advancement can unfold before you at any time - if you allow them to.

• Reach Out - With Precision. Regardless of whether you’re making job move, networking is essential to career success, and who you know does make a difference. However, choose your venues wisely; time is a non-renewable resource. Master social networking tools, such as LinkedIn groups, blogs and Twitter, as well as targeted trade groups in your area. Reach out to contacts who are helpful, but also be of value to others in return.

• What Are You Saying? With text messaging, e-mails and hurried memos, your writing skills can deteriorate into a terse, nonsensical mess. Recipients may spend needless time trying to decipher what you mean, or worse, take it the wrong way. Take classes in writing and public speaking so that you can better sell your ideas and put your best foot forward in business.

• The 2.0 You. No matter how much experience you have, you can always become more tech savvy. Now is the time to not only upgrade, but to learn skills outside your comfort zone. Jobs are becoming increasingly specialized over time, and so is software that supports those positions. The willingness to learn continually is an invaluable asset.

Make 2010 the year of bold decision-making that you may have been putting off. (Just be careful to sharpen your skills, not your claws, as you set your sights on your goal.

A sunny, helpful, open and positive disposition - combined with a thirst for knowledge - are the real “killer” skills that will last beyond 2010. They will last a lifetime.

Yes…aim to tame the Terrible Office Tyrant (TOT) behavior that lurks in your offices, reducing it at times to a corporate playpen, rife with sandbox politics. Toddler behavior in the boardroom (tantrums, demanding, stubborn and self-centered behavior) costs you. These are some of the 20 traits in my book that many business leaders consider required reading for their managers.

I can also address the topic at greater length in a lively speech for companies and organizations. A preview is available at various sites: LT Speaker clip site, Lynn Taylor Consulting and very soon on YouTube with keywords Lynn Taylor, Author, Speaker, TOTs. You can also contact: 1-800-454-0083.

2010 must be the year of “what’s in it for us,” not “what’s in it for me,” if our economy and businesses are to rebound. P.S. a surprising new sector can help you ratchet down tension with their years of wisdom and corporate savvy. See more on “Gen U”as I call them - Generation Unretired (featured in BusinessWeek) - and read why, at the TameYourTOT.com blog and at another website of Lynn Taylor Consulting’s: www.GenerationUworkforce.com.

Finally, let’s hope that these boss antics are not happening under your nose, but for the sake of levity during the holiday and some helpful awareness, here’s what some some employees reported recently in a national survey, not unlike that shown in an existing, similar YouTube clip!

Now people over 65 (and even under, who thought they could retire early) are asking:

“Is this all there is?”
“Is this all I’ve got?”

Driven by a devastating financial crash, housing market or just plain restlessness, Gen U will make up almost all the growth of the U.S. labor market over the next seven years. According to AARP, eight out of 10 of the 80 million Baby Boomers will work part- or full-time rather than retire. Those 64 million unretiring Americans will constitute the biggest demographic shift in the American workforce since Baby Boomers emerged.

KEY FACTS

1) 93% of the growth in the American labor market from now until 2016 will be from workers 55 and older [because] new estimates show the average retired couple may need more than $300,000 in savings to live comfortably and pay off late-life health care costs. [Based on a recent study by the Pew Research Center].

2) Only 20% of retirees now feel very confident they have enough money to live comfortably throughout their retirement, down from 41% in 2007. [Employee Benefit Research Institute research].

3) Eight out of 10 baby boomers say that they plan to work at least part time after they reach official retirement age, according to the AARP, as noted earlier.

4) 36% of those 56 or older are still working – more than ever. That’s more than twice as many as in 1984 [2007 Bureau of Labor Statistics report].

5) 9.5 million Americans are considering at least a partial return to the workforce because of the economic downturn, according to a recent study by Charles Schwab.

OTHER INTERESTING FACTS

• Only about a quarter of employees 55 and older who were laid off during the past year have found jobs versus 71% of those 25 to 34.

•  According to the Social Security Administration, if you are of full retirement age, the government will give you your full Social Security benefits no matter how much money you earn. (Note: If you return to work after you’re receiving Social Security benefits, but are not yet of “full retirement age” - usually 66 years of age - the government will deduct one dollar from your Social Security benefits for every two dollars you earn over $14,160 a year.)

• Baby Boomers are earning online degrees in record numbers to train for unretirement [http://www.allonlineschools.com/online-education-resource-center/adults-online-learning]

• Generational demographics: there are:
•    80 million baby boomers
•    46 million Generation Xers
•    78 million millennials (Gen Y)

THE IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS AND GEN U

This presents an enormous opportunity for companies who wish to tap into this rich resource of skill and experience. While unemployment was at a 26-year high at 10.2 percent in October 2009, there are still a plethora of specialized skills available among Gen U. They laid the foundation for the high technology revolution and challenged the status quo of business in the 1960s. Now, interestingly, they are challenging the status quo of retirement.

Gen U’s contributions reside not only in their skills sets garnered over many years, which can be passed onto Gen X, Gen Y, and Baby Boomers. They have also learned a thing or two about people skills – something often lost on today’s frenzied, high-tech workplace.

Today’s need for a humanized workplace can be well served by such timeless, valued traditions as business etiquette and diplomacy – tenets of business practices applied more extensively in the heyday of the Gen Uers. These skills are the antithesis of what I call Terrible Office Tyrant (TOT) behavior. Suffice to say that their interpersonal skills can help, especially once companies are in a hiring mode again. Just be sure that your managers avoid using TOT management styles when tapping into Gen U for optimum results.

For Gen Uers themselves, this presents an opportunity to re-apply their knowledge, pay off expenses, “give back,” and feel a renewed sense of purpose. While a sense of community can be achieved in a yoga class or golf game, for many of the unretired I have counseled - building something directly impacts the livelihoods of others can be quite rewarding.

This is a truly Gen-U-ine shift that is a win-win for companies and the unretired in the coming months and years ahead.

Let’s face it, when managers (or workers) act like toddlers, you sometimes have to laugh to yourself, and then do your best to use your parenting skills. My book, Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant™ (TOT): How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job is about the most common, everyday variety of bad episodic behavior that we can all fall into if not careful. (Tyrannical bullies who are lawsuit worthy certainly are not laughable.)

It was nice to hear some positive stories from both workers and enlightened anti-TOT bosses, too. I spoke with many more great people who we couldn’t get on camera due to the short length of these videos. If you’re one of them, thank you for your time and great insight; I wish we could have had it run for a half hour!

When it comes to the office, “the child within” should certainly stay there. Here’s proof: the YouTube video clip on funny, bad/childish boss stories, with the TOT boss looking a bit aloof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYQSOZEMVCI

We can humanize the workplace - together!

In other words, most bosses at some point have these episodic TOT moments, and you can usually be the “parent” and manage up. They realized the most common culprit is the “TOT,” not tyrant… the terrible two, grown child often acting out of fear or spurts of unwieldy power.

I reminded the TOT boss that this anniversary was a good time to start behaving like an adult, for the sake of humanity and office productivity. But he looked away. Videos to come.

Videos of these testimonials, along with the backdrop of our famed TOT: a tall, life-size TOT-boss icon from Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant™, will be posted online at various sites, including www.TameYourTOT.com.

On National Boss Day, each October 16th, millions of employees thank their bosses for their leadership and bigheartedness. Due to the current recession and tough job market, this year provides a unique opportunity for workers and managers to have a useful dialog about more productive interpersonal relations in the office during uncertain times.

The current environment has exacerbated bad boss behaviors, turning normally even-tempered bosses into Terrible Office Tyrants™, or TOTs. As you may know, Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant™ (TOT); How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job (John Wiley & Sons), talks about “parenting” unruly managers who resemble tots in their “Terrible Twos.” For senior managers, it addresses how to create a “safe for success, humanized workplace,” that is TOT-free.

TOT Boss Icon to Make Premier Public Debut

On both days, a 6’ 5” Terrible Office Tyrant (TOT) featured on the book cover will be present. The overgrown tyke, angry yet fearful with a large pacifier in his mouth - is designed to illustrate that behind the tough exterior of many bosses is often a toddler who has trouble modulating power. That’s because TOT episodes can be a human condition if not kept in check, whether we’re two or 52.

Event Coincides with New Boss Research

The on-the-street interviews on National Boss Day coincide with the release of Lynn Taylor Consulting’s (LTC’s) new national study on bad and childish boss behavior. Conducted by an independent global research firm and commissioned by LTC, the national five-year comparative study of boss behaviors found at TameYourTOT.com under “Survey Findings,” revealed increases of up to 50% in such childish traits as self-oriented, impulsiveness and stubbornness. Not a good sign for productivity or profits.

Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant™ (TOT) represents seven years of research, interviews and my insights on dealing with frustrating managerial and workplace situations while thriving in one’s job. It covers 20 of the most common behaviors by chapter, from the “bratty” to “little lost lamb” traits – including overly demanding, stubborn, tantrum-throwing, to moody, fickle and whiny behavior, to name a few – featuring true anecdotes and tips. There is also a special section for CEOs who want to mitigate harmful Terrible Office Tyrant (TOT) behavior, and throughout the book, bosses gain insight on what not to do with their teams.

Managing up requires awareness of core human instincts, while at the same time setting limits as you would with a child, minus the patronizing. While this is a serious subject, I strongly believe that humor is the shortest pipeline to the memory banks.

If I don’t see you later this week, I hope you have a GOOD Boss Day.