Jim Taggart
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Jim Taggart
Hey folks, here's something for you to chew on. It's one of my recent e-books; this one focuses on Leadership and the Intergeneration Divide. Check it out.
http://changingwinds.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/intergenerational-ebook...
Cheryl Roshak
Oh my, I started a discussion on Blazing Boomers and where are they on here and what are they doing now, transitioning, semi-retired, contemplating their futures and the like and are they intimidated by this site and the whole thing disappeared. JC and Jim responded but I have no clue what happened. Would you guys like to repost again? There are so many of us Boomers. Why so silent? We have a lot to offer....
Scrollwork recommended this
JRandom42:
Here it is:
MoreHere it is:
http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/04/13/i-hate-david-dellifield-the-one...
67 weeks ago
MoreHere it is:
http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2009/04/13/i-hate-david-dellifield-the-one...
67 weeks ago
Tom:
Like JR I was actually fairly mobile and relocated as I needed... from MA to KY in the 70's, then NY for better job, then to VT after '86 layoff ...MoreLike JR I was actually fairly mobile and relocated as I needed... from MA to KY in the 70's, then NY for better job, then to VT after '86 layoff to run my own biz, finally to ME in '88 due to poor biz. Was tough on the kids a couple of times but for the most part we stayed put in ME for their formative yrs. My ex was in insurance and always found an okay job, but I was clearly the prime earner at 3x her salary. I am sure I'd have no problem landing a good chem eng job if I were able to relocate. I had a recruiter who thought I'd be ideal for a project mgmt position she was trying to fill in NJ. But, I remarried a while back and over the yrs my wife has progressed to where she is now earning more than I was when I was laid-off. She has a great job at a great company that appreciates her. In fact we are presently living in Oslo while she is on temp assignment at her corp headqtrs. So I stepped back since at this point with only 8 yrs until official retirement age, it makes little sense to relocate and for both of us to start a new job and take on the resultant expenses and a big mortgage or huge rent pmt. Our home is modest but my pmt is under $500/mo and it is nearly paid off and we have no other debt. Financially we are not great but okay. Retirement saving have taken a bit of hit without my contributions to a 401k, but we do max out my wife's. Plus my finance courses definitely sunk in and have me on the right track for our investments... gained back everything lost in '08, plus... just so happened I was taking finance in fall of '07 and risk mgmt in summer of '08!
@Cheryl - I thought I could step into a low to mid level associate position leading to a management position, same as any other MBA grad - pretty much anything other than retail, PR or sales... tech support, commercial banking, fuels/energy... my experience is chem eng'g but a great deal of my work was project management - I designed and built several new facilities from site work to on-going operation support. As for my resume, it is pretty much all about accomplishments... kind of hard to hide what I've done... otherwise it would be blank. Over the last 5 yrs in my job, I designed and built processes and plants more than anything else. I took over IT/IS mgmt as well - did some work myself, hired out and managed the rest - again, a good deal was project oriented. My project mgmt background got me the MBA internship via a connection to the company, it lead to a temp consulting job for an aquaculture business feasibility study. I was later on the short list at the University for a mechanical R&D/engineering assoc program mgmt position, but a major contract fell through and they canceled the job. On the brightside, unemployment allowed us to go to Oslo which is going to be a good thing for my wife in the long run.
67 weeks ago
@Cheryl - I thought I could step into a low to mid level associate position leading to a management position, same as any other MBA grad - pretty much anything other than retail, PR or sales... tech support, commercial banking, fuels/energy... my experience is chem eng'g but a great deal of my work was project management - I designed and built several new facilities from site work to on-going operation support. As for my resume, it is pretty much all about accomplishments... kind of hard to hide what I've done... otherwise it would be blank. Over the last 5 yrs in my job, I designed and built processes and plants more than anything else. I took over IT/IS mgmt as well - did some work myself, hired out and managed the rest - again, a good deal was project oriented. My project mgmt background got me the MBA internship via a connection to the company, it lead to a temp consulting job for an aquaculture business feasibility study. I was later on the short list at the University for a mechanical R&D/engineering assoc program mgmt position, but a major contract fell through and they canceled the job. On the brightside, unemployment allowed us to go to Oslo which is going to be a good thing for my wife in the long run.
67 weeks ago
Tom
I just joined the group and am wondering... is anybody here? I see 3 posts by the leader and a few replies by only one other. So tell me, is social networking for boomers a fruitless effort?
Jonathan S. Ross:
@Tom: I think that by simply joining this site and looking for ways to become active, at least you are ahead of the curve. Brazen Careerist seems ...More@Tom: I think that by simply joining this site and looking for ways to become active, at least you are ahead of the curve. Brazen Careerist seems to me, at least, to have initially been focused largely on the 30 years old and under crowd, but I'm actually Gen X and a few years older, and there are also definitely some people ages 50+ on the site too.
BC has a different feel than either LinkedIn or Facebook; to me, it feels more like a "niche" site, and I've noticed that many of us are self-employed or otherwise very entrepreneurial. Truthfully, with social media, it seems that one has to spend a fairly substantial amount of time and energy to establish a presence and build credibility before any real ROI can be analyzed, and that ROI may not necessarily directly translate into financial revenue.
For me, juggling the time that I can afford to spend in front of a computer "networking" when I have a life outside of this is the challenge; I've actually spent over 4 years on LinkedIn and built a fairly solid presence and credibility there; now I'm trying to do the same on Facebook (which I initially resisted because I wasn't interested in sharing my personal life to any large degree), making occasional use of Twitter (I'm still struggling to figure out the best use for me, despite the fact I've attracted some "followers"), and interjecting myself into these BC threads...
69 weeks ago
BC has a different feel than either LinkedIn or Facebook; to me, it feels more like a "niche" site, and I've noticed that many of us are self-employed or otherwise very entrepreneurial. Truthfully, with social media, it seems that one has to spend a fairly substantial amount of time and energy to establish a presence and build credibility before any real ROI can be analyzed, and that ROI may not necessarily directly translate into financial revenue.
For me, juggling the time that I can afford to spend in front of a computer "networking" when I have a life outside of this is the challenge; I've actually spent over 4 years on LinkedIn and built a fairly solid presence and credibility there; now I'm trying to do the same on Facebook (which I initially resisted because I wasn't interested in sharing my personal life to any large degree), making occasional use of Twitter (I'm still struggling to figure out the best use for me, despite the fact I've attracted some "followers"), and interjecting myself into these BC threads...
69 weeks ago
Blay Whitby:
I'm here Tom - and geographically a long way off. Net savvy? Some of us are. I had a homepage on the Internet before there was web. Those who ...MoreI'm here Tom - and geographically a long way off. Net savvy? Some of us are. I had a homepage on the Internet before there was web. Those who waited for the web made a good choice. I built a home computer from a kit in 1979 - before IBM thought of the PC - and I was a postgrad student back then, not a teenager. Those who bought the Apple II instead made a good choice. I sent my first email in 1981 and joined Facebook in 2006. Brazen is very good but all this technology doesn't work miracles. If my previous experience is anything to go by, it will get better.
69 weeks ago
69 weeks ago
Elizabeth Jarvis
My role is not well defined so I tend to get a lot of random requests and general questions - what's a nice way to tell my co-workers that I'm not the office assistant without being rude?
Kristina Summers and Karolyn Chowning recommended this
Elizabeth Jarvis:
Thanks Everyone this has been helpful.
Philip - to answer your questions my role has been fairly undefined because I have had 3 different job ...MoreThanks Everyone this has been helpful.
Philip - to answer your questions my role has been fairly undefined because I have had 3 different job titles in the past year and a half. A month after I started at my company we reorganized and I went from a Membership Coordinator to the Special Projects and Administration Specialist, now I'm slowly transitioning into the Marketing and Communications Manager. Part of the issue is that there isn't a lot of institutional knowledge among the newer employees.
Jay - I think what you outlined will work in my office
Rebecca - Thanks! I totally get that - I just want to make sure I'm able to fully transition into my new role and actually have the time to devote to it, rather than getting stuck in the admin minutia.
83 weeks ago
Philip - to answer your questions my role has been fairly undefined because I have had 3 different job ...MoreThanks Everyone this has been helpful.
Philip - to answer your questions my role has been fairly undefined because I have had 3 different job titles in the past year and a half. A month after I started at my company we reorganized and I went from a Membership Coordinator to the Special Projects and Administration Specialist, now I'm slowly transitioning into the Marketing and Communications Manager. Part of the issue is that there isn't a lot of institutional knowledge among the newer employees.
Jay - I think what you outlined will work in my office
Rebecca - Thanks! I totally get that - I just want to make sure I'm able to fully transition into my new role and actually have the time to devote to it, rather than getting stuck in the admin minutia.
83 weeks ago
Jim Taggart:
Elizabeth,
You might consider defining your duties and vetting them with your boss. Explain (politely yet firmly) to others that you consider ...MoreElizabeth,
You might consider defining your duties and vetting them with your boss. Explain (politely yet firmly) to others that you consider yourself professional and that they, too, also want to be respected as professionals. Rebecca makes point about duties being shared. In the old days when I had two assistants in my unit they did all the gopher work. That was their job. However, that was then; this is now, where organizations have greatly reduced support staff and where "professionals" have taken on more and more admin-related tasks, such as photocopying and doing their own typing and slide presentations.
So stand your ground, but equip yourself first so that your co-workers understand from where you're coming.
83 weeks ago
You might consider defining your duties and vetting them with your boss. Explain (politely yet firmly) to others that you consider ...MoreElizabeth,
You might consider defining your duties and vetting them with your boss. Explain (politely yet firmly) to others that you consider yourself professional and that they, too, also want to be respected as professionals. Rebecca makes point about duties being shared. In the old days when I had two assistants in my unit they did all the gopher work. That was their job. However, that was then; this is now, where organizations have greatly reduced support staff and where "professionals" have taken on more and more admin-related tasks, such as photocopying and doing their own typing and slide presentations.
So stand your ground, but equip yourself first so that your co-workers understand from where you're coming.
83 weeks ago
Jim Taggart
Hi folks,
Every day we read negative news about the economy and the labor market. How are people coping? How are you dealing with Boomerang kids (been there, done that -- twice). What's your next gig?
Rebecca Thorman and Bryon Ownby recommended this
Jim Taggart
As a long-practicing economist who follows the business news very closely, and one who's retiring in two months but hoping to continue working in some form, I pose the question to my fellow Boomers:
Because of the horrendous impact on Gen Y from the Great Recession and the likely drawn out very modest recovery, should we be exiting the labor force sooner than later in order to mitigate the effects on young people?
Jim Taggart:
Indeed. Pass the Alka Seltzer. Seems that flameouts can do comebacks, though if I were a politician I'd keep my distance from Fiorina.
88 weeks ago
88 weeks ago
JRandom42:
Back when I was working with and for H-P, they were still the giant of Silicon Valley that everyone looked to for leadership. Even if their ...MoreBack when I was working with and for H-P, they were still the giant of Silicon Valley that everyone looked to for leadership. Even if their management was slow in deciding, and sometimes they missed important trends, there was a seriousness and a look to the long view that you didn't see very much, even in companies like Oracle, Sun, Cisco, and the internet startups. You got the sense that they were in it for the long haul and that, by treating their people right, and making sure there was a consensus in decision making, that they wanted to make sure they got things right, not just for now, but for the next 20 or 50 years.
One thing that almost everyone seems to forget, is that both Bill and Dave were hard-nosed, clear-eyed, businessmen-engineers. The "H-P Way" was a method of doing business that put their faith in the smart people they hired, and making sure any decisions that were made, were the right ones for the right reasons.
H-P was special, and I'll never forgive Carly for turning it into "just another company."
88 weeks ago
One thing that almost everyone seems to forget, is that both Bill and Dave were hard-nosed, clear-eyed, businessmen-engineers. The "H-P Way" was a method of doing business that put their faith in the smart people they hired, and making sure any decisions that were made, were the right ones for the right reasons.
H-P was special, and I'll never forgive Carly for turning it into "just another company."
88 weeks ago
Jim Taggart
I just completed 2 weeks of volunteer work at the Ottawa Bluesfest, ranked as the 7th largest music festival worldwide. In contrast to the Ottawa Folk and Jazz Festivals where I also volunteer, the Bluesfest covers a wide age range. Depending on the headliner act each day (eg, Santana, Drake, Great Big Sea, Weezer or Iron Maiden), it was intriguing to see how the hair color changed. I also enjoyed working with many Gen Yers, who don't attend the other festivals to the same degree.
Jim Taggart
Recently back from almost two weeks away during Christmas, where we spent time with our two granddaughters in New Brunswick and also visited the outlaws. Now that was an example of Zooming around. Think I'll stay put next Christmas.
Jim Taggart:
Everyone's welcome, Becky :-)
I suppose we should be calling ourselves "Zoomers" now, which is the term popularized for those early-mid forties ...MoreEveryone's welcome, Becky :-)
I suppose we should be calling ourselves "Zoomers" now, which is the term popularized for those early-mid forties to seniors. Some days I don't feel like zooming around!
124 weeks ago
I suppose we should be calling ourselves "Zoomers" now, which is the term popularized for those early-mid forties ...MoreEveryone's welcome, Becky :-)
I suppose we should be calling ourselves "Zoomers" now, which is the term popularized for those early-mid forties to seniors. Some days I don't feel like zooming around!
124 weeks ago
Jim Taggart
Back home after 3 great weeks of vacation in New England and New Brunswick. Now to figure out where I'm going with all of this cyber stuff.
Jim Taggart
Hey folks. Coming to you today from beautiful North Conway, New Hamshire-85F. White Mountains gorgeous. Tomorrow Bangor, Maine.
Jim Taggart
We can all collectively whine, but those who lived through the Depression and WWII were the ones who sacrificed fir us. Thanks JRandom42.
Jim Taggart
I hear ya, Angelo. My dad was a Scottish immigrant to Canada. He was a hard-ass, and being the oldest of two sons didn't make it any easier.
Jim Taggart
Angelo,
Not sure your age or your issue, but if all's well, great. If not, try having a Scottish immigrant father. Check out the forum.
:
My dad was from Italy. My point is Boomers are the strictest parents to me but they raised to great generations. X & Y.
142 weeks ago
142 weeks ago
JRandom42:
You think it's rough, try having my parents who went through WW2 in the interment camps.
142 weeks ago
142 weeks ago
Jim Taggart
For some clarity and an attempted objective perspective, check out my new post on Gen X and Y: http://ChangingWinds.wordpress.com
Michelle Amurao
What's the best espresso coffee I can buy for my percolator?
142 weeks ago from Coffee
Jim Taggart:
Check out Cliffhanger Expresso by Kicking Horse. It'll lift you out of your shoes. Click the link in my other comment.
142 weeks ago
142 weeks ago
Jason Simon:
Percolator as in... As for best, it's really about preference. Origin of the coffee and type of roast etc.
142 weeks ago
142 weeks ago
GenerationXpert Suzanne Kart
Question: Do you think Boomers understand Xers better now - and have more empathy for them?
I do.
Jim Taggart:
Do you mean in the context of the past two years of economic and financial turmoil? Not sure. Do Xers appreciate Boomers more? Doubt it.
142 weeks ago
142 weeks ago
:
I believe Boomers and Xers have cooled down with each other.
They may never be as comfortable but I'm sure Xers and Boomers found ground.
142 weeks ago
142 weeks ago
Jim Taggart
Greetings from the Big 'Owe!"
Nice to see a (hopefully growing) contingent of Canucks on BC.
Jim
Kanata, Ottawa
142 weeks ago from Canada
Jim Taggart
I like Rebecca's comments. My 3 youngest are 20, 25, 26. My oldest daughter (29) looks at her little sister like she's from another planet.
Tom Guarriello:
Seeing one another as hailing from different planets seems common. How do we overcome these reactions to focus on our similarities?
143 weeks ago
143 weeks ago
Jim Taggart
Regarding the photo for this group, it's of Campobello Island (Canada)in the Bay of Fundy (beside Maine). Summer home of FDR.
Jim Taggart
Guess I'm old fashioned, pulling my hair out with Powerpoint Vista. But I'm interested in Captivate and other software.
143 weeks ago from E-Learning
Ian Selvarajah
Anyone from Montreal here yet? :)
143 weeks ago from Canada
Jim Taggart:
I grew up in Montreal, but moved to New Brunswick. Now in the Big Owe.
PS - Just created a group called Blazing Boomers. Check it out.
142 weeks ago
142 weeks ago
Jim Taggart
Question: was hitting age 40 or 50 more traumatic for you? For me it was when I reached 40. I got into adventure stuff for a while.
GenerationXpert Suzanne Kart:
I'm not a Boomer, but some of my best friends are :) I'll be 40 in 1.5 years. I just want to get it over with. I hear it's great.
142 weeks ago
142 weeks ago
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