Deborah Mackin, renowned team-building author, will be presenting on Building an Innovative, Multi-Generational Workplace in Tech Valley for the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) Breakfast Leadership series on Thursday, May 30th, 2013 at Empire State College from 7:30-9:00 am.

To register, visit The SEDC Website

Building an Innovative, Multi-Generational Workplace in Tech Valley will be the second out of four presentations. The topic to be discussed: how do we get all three generations of our workforce working together effectively? What does it take to lead Baby Boomers, to groom Gen X and to build the leadership skills of Gen Y or Millennials?

Since the professional world has become a mix of generational knowledge, few have stopped to try and understand what assets they have by having all these generations in one area. Many find that the differing generations butt heads; however Mackin will be presenting on how to get these generations to work together to create more organizational leaders. Joining Mackin this time around is newcomer and fellow leadership author, Matthew Harrington, who will add a Gen Y twist to the presentation. Harrington is seen as a subject matter expert in the field of Millennial workers having presented and written on the topic extensively.

Mackin states, "Managing a diverse workplace can be difficult at times. Finding the key to using every generation's strengths can make the workplace more productive and less tense. I find that in order to keep the harmony going among those of the Baby Boomer generation, Gen-X and that of Generation Y, you need to find the skills that are divergent and develop them for the benefit of the organization."

Date: Thursday, May 30, 2013
Time: 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Location: Empire State College's Center for Distance Learning
113 West Avenue
Saratoga Springs,
NY 12866

Cost Per Person: $20.00

In 2008, I was at a routine physical when a doctor gave me that look like you never want to see. Thankfully, it was treatable, more common than most people know, and was a great incentive to drink less, eat better and love life every minute.

Turns out eating cereal was killing me. Fortified iron had given me an iron level 6 times the normal. My doctor figured out I had hereditary hemachromotosis, or what some people call "the Irish flu". Untreated, could have had heart brain and liver issues later on in life. They don't usually catch it when you are young but thankfully OD'ing on "healthy" cereal with 100 percent daily allowance of iron brought out the diagnosis when I was 33.

I had to have a pint of blood removed every month for a year, and eat better. Each time, I noticed by energy levels and focus getting better and better than before. It was like having my body rebuilt from the inside out.

Today, I just get a pint of blood removed every three months and watch out for iron fortified foods. I have no high iron issues anymore and I feel even better than I ever did before being diagnosed (although I showed no health symptoms)

So today, be happy that you know that Tony Stark isn't the only Iron Man you know :0). Be sure to encourage your staff to get regular checkups. If that means working it into the work day, providing on site medical or wellness centers, or encouraging regular fitness routines, the health of your staff needs to be a top consideration for your HR strategies.

After seeing one of the greatest things ever filmed on Wednesday night, Star Trek Into Darkness, I looked back fondly at one of my other favorite Star Trek movies, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In 2008, I "forced" my class (well, that's what some of them felt) to watch The Wrath of Khan but with a catch - they had to answer questions related to the movie to learn Organizational Behavior strategies.

Here were a couple questions I asked of them:

4. Relate Valence, Expectancy and Instrumentality to how David Marcus handles the situation involving the Genesis Project.

5. Describe how Peter Preston (the young cadet who perishes after the battle scene) uses the Status motive to display his performance as a member of the crew

6. Describe how Saavik's interactions with Kirk display the difficulties of cross-culture communication

For the full list of questions, visit http://www.braatheenterprises.com to download a copy. Use it at work, in your classroom, or just watch along with the film and see if you can learn Organizational Behavior using Star Trek.

An initiative we are running this summer at Braathe Enterprises is to help 100 Business Launch in 100 Business Days.

What will make this initiative successful is the human capital involved. With a recruiting effort internationally to find college interns passionate about business and startups, we've been able to leverage over 50 college interns to join us to gain real world experience. In concert with our mentors and professionals who are interested in being part of this effort, we look to make a huge impact on the world through some innovative planning and execution.

Projects aren't daunting if you get the right people on board. Get the people, then create the projects!

Often the area in the Capital Region is called SmAlbany because of how everyone know's each other; in some cases, its called SmAlbany because of how some businesses act like it is smaller than it truly is.

When you live in a small community, it is important to get to know as many people as possible in the community and find ways to collaborate. The best way to do this is to "bebig".

bebig - V. to speak highly of your coworkers, competitors and colleagues and share ideas with them

Bebigging is a practice that can also be called practicing "co-opeitition". Even though you may be in the same business as a competitor, sharing best practices with one another leads to more abundance, and there is often plenty to go around for everyone. Very often, even though maybe 80-90 % of what you do is similar, the 10 % that each of you do differently can be combined into a stellar package for potential clients.

In my own business, I collaborate with 50 other independent consultants and several public speakers as part of The Consulting Alliance. As an entrepreneurship professor, I meet with other entrepreneur teachers, trainers and professors through LinkedIn groups, entrepreneur breakfasts at RPI and through face to face coffee chats. With fellow marketers and HR professionals, I invite guest blog entries, talk best practices, and share resources.

When you practice bebigging, you find far greater opportunities than you would on your own. In the world of HR and Careers, bebigging a past employer, colleague or competitor will show the world that you are confident in your own skin and able to recognize talent.

Who will you bebig today?

I invented a game the other day with my nephews called 2 on 2 to 22. Rather than the usual shoot around and 2 on 2 that we usually play, I invented a new way of playing basketball to keep it interesting and to play a game in a short period of time.

Two teams of two shoot at the same hoop until one team scores 22 points. However, the wrinkles are as follows:

1. Each team has a ball at the same time
2. One person from each team has to score before he can pass the ball to his other teammate to shoot. The other teammate must wait at half court until his teammate successfully makes a shot.
3. Teammates alternate until they score 22 points between them (so one player makes six shots and the other 5)
4. No three pointers.
5. The other team can't hit the other teams ball out of the way when shooting.

My nephews and I played three rounds of this and got a great workout. We were able to do this in under 15 minutes.

What can you do at work to get a quick burst of exercise in 15 minutes?

Nicknames are often used to create or show a sense of comfort in the presence of another. When you give someone a nickname (or use the name they prefer), it creates a feeling of camaraderie and a greater sense of belonging.

It's important, however, to ask the person what they prefer to be called rather than just assigning a nickname to them.

I always am amazed when people just assume that they can call me Bob or Rob when they meet me. When I lived in Boston, I was given the name Bert Sterling because I didn't want to be called Rob and I had an overly excited reaction to the Yankees getting Sterling Hitchcock in a trade.

To this day, people closest to me call me Bert or Robbie or Bobby. But don't even think about calling me Rob or Bob!

Starting a new job can be scary; the people are new, the place is new, the environment is new. However, you don't have to go through this experience alone. Finding a mentor during the first week of your new job is essential, and can lead to immense success down the road.

Mentors know how to handle situations that might be new to you as you enter a different job. If you come across a sticky situation, chances are your mentor has been through them before. They're always willing to share their experience and give advice to alleviate the situation. Mentors can do more than give advice. They can broaden your network. What a mentor says to you is equally as important as what a mentor says about you to other people. Having a mentor is so important because they not only want you to succeed, but they will help you do so.

I have been writing for Albany.com since 2008, and recently found out that there are over 35,000 page views of Robert Braathe's HR and Career Guide each month. It astounded me to discover today that we have managed to draw that many people to my three times a week posts about careers, jobs, and human resources.

To attract this many visitors, I'd attribute it to some of the following best practices:

1. Regular content - posting three times a week, 200 words or less with a back link, photo or video that engages the audience.

2. Catchy headlines. Google "How Urinal Walls Predict The Future of Your Business" or "NFL Injury Report - Peyton Manning Chafing" and see what comes up. A catchy, timely headline will attract an audience.

3. Real language, real results. I try to share relevant content and best practices, and often will engage others to write guest blogs for me to share a different voice.

4. Topics that people are concerned about. Finding jobs, improving your resume, getting trained all have been hot topics. The more you post about things people need and want, the more visitors you will get.

I love to blog, and I think any HR professional would be wise to spend more time blogging about what they know and sharing some of the things they have experienced, and spin in some intentional (or unintentional) humor from time to time.

Blogging has enabled me to make new relationships in the Capital Region and beyond, meet new clients, and create more general awareness of what I do and who I am.

For more information (and to see some other blogs I have written) visit http://www.braatheenterprises.com/