Archives for January 2012

The Future Across Generations

January 31, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

After a week of heated dialogue at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, four Global Shapers took the stage with Klaus Schwab and Muhammad Yunus to end the event on Saturday with a panel titled The Future Across Generations.  

Watch this video to see the power of young people who have a real seat and voice at the table. These Global Shapers, Manju George (India), Tyler Spencer (US), Rapelang Rabana (South Africa), and Niel Bowerman (UK) cited flat decision-making, open networks and collaboration as key to leadership. Yunus and the Shapers spoke of visioning as key to create a world where more people can be active contributors. The core values that mattered most were: equity, empowerment, interconnectivity, respect, honesty, authenticity. Global identities have surpassed national or local identities. The panel called for adaptability, values, accepting change, and constructive solutions that are more responsive to the needs of our world.

Next generation leadership is not only my work but it is my calling. This was clearly my highlight of Davos! Enjoy!

 

 

Filed Under: generation y, leadership · Tagged With: , ,

Davos 2012 is in action

January 26, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

The conference has begun. Blackberries, black suits, and BMWs have taken over the streets of snowy Davos. 3,000 leaders have across the world have flooded the halls and sessions sharing their opinions on the debt crisis, emerging economies, health reform, technological innovations, diversity, and more.

A key conversation has been on the role of business in society. CEOs have been challenged to break the view that there is no ‘them’, there is only ‘us.’ We live in an increasingly interconnected world and many of the conversations have questioned the decision-making practices of CEOs. Business leaders have been called to personalize their role in society, openly share their tax payments and how they make an impact in their community. Matt Bishop from The Economist spoke of the failure of shareholders to focus on long-term sustainability, called for ethical capitalism, and advocated that atleast 1 person under the age of 30 to be on each company board.

My most inspiring moment of the day was the opening plenary with Desmond Tutu, former archbishop of Cape Town, who said “we need a revolution led by women. I think women ought to be saying to us men: You have made a mess, just get out and let us in…let us re-align forces, let us ensure that women have a significant part in the decision-making process.” His speech came shortly after German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the world’s most powerful woman, gave the keynote address at Davos.

The push to promote women and youth at these forums has been exciting and inspiring to me, yet there is much more work to do in this domain. The Global Shapers delegation is an incredible set of 70 leaders, yet it isn’t entirely representative of all young people today. However, for me, truly being of service is about stepping up to the opportunities here and engaging with people who are very different from me. We need more Gen Y leaders to step up (in December, I called for more Gen Y women to take the stage). This is an evolution that will be happening for the next century.

More to come! Follow @davos @wef and #4mygen for leaders from our generation.

Filed Under: leadership, Women · Tagged With: , ,

Day 1 at Davos

January 23, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

More than 50 percent of world’s population is under the age of 27. With today’s youth having the highest stake in the future, the World Economic Forum recently launched the Global Shaper community made up of millennial leaders to help leaders ‘think younger’ about today’s global challenges.

I am thrilled and honored to be part of a delegation of 70 global shapers at Davos this week to share voices from our generation. Today we focused on highlighting the aspirations and most pressing issues facing our generation (see #4mygen and the picture above).

Later this week, I will be speaking on a panel on Leadership Across Generations discussing what inspires and engages younger and older generations. Here is my most recent piece on ForbesWoman on this topic: Gen Y workforce and workplace are out of sync. I’ll be blogging about my conversations on all things related to the future of leadership here over the next week.

Xo,

Erica

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New year..new site!

January 23, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Welcome to my new website! For the past 18 months, my wordpress blog has been a place to capture my thoughts and experiences, but my website felt stuck and not truly representing me.

Like everything, my new site here is a work in progress and I’ll be making more changes in the coming weeks and months. But I hope you’ll check it out and sign up. There will be a lot more coming from me on next generation leadership, talent innovation, and even Bollywood dance!

I could have waited to make my new site perfect, but I know that getting it out in the world NOW is exactly what I needed to do.  My theme for this year is building a culture of experimentation in my life, being able to test new behaviors and ways of working, whether it’s a website, a product, or even a dance routine!

When was the last time you didn’t wait to make a project or blog post or paper ‘perfect’ and shared it with the world? Chances are it was more authentic and real and you more quickly improved it.

Filed Under: leadership ·