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04/29/2011

One Day I'll Be Your Boss

As much as association staff and board leaders like to provide a theme and structure for their conventions, sometimes those events take on a spin of their own. What was hard wired and concrete becomes fluid and dynamic. That phenomenon was definitely in play at the recent NAHAD convention in San Diego.

With a president and three members of the Board of Directors in the 40 and under age group, a special event was held during the conference for young and emerging leaders in the NAHAD membership. A large gathering was held in President, Alex McGill's suite to provide some social time, as well as some time to discuss how NAHAD can engage the younger segment of its membership.

Present was a mixture of more than 50 young professionals who are part of family businesses and who find themselves as part of the second or third generation of leaders in those companies; as well as several attendees who have been brought along and mentored, but who are not part of a family business.

In addition to networking and discussing generational issues at their companies, the younger attendees kicked around several ideas about a continuing role in NAHAD affairs. A committee or task force will be developed to be geared to benefits and services that NAHAD can offer to young and emerging leaders. Each person in attendance at the kick off event was invited to take a ribbon for their badge with the words, "One Day I'll Be Your Boss" - a compelling message to both young and older folks at the convention.

UID in a Day speaker, Robert Wendover, used one of his seminars at the conference in San Diego to address "Succession Planning and Emerging Generations". This session was devoted to providing guidance on how companies can ensure tomorrow's success by integrating the aspirations of young professionals with the wisdom of veteran managers.

In companies who were founded by leaders from the Baby Boomer generations, there may be a great difference in management style and expectations as Baby Boomers interact with the Generation Xers and the Millennium era employees. Family dynamics can add an additional complexity to the mixture. It is fair to say that the theme or message "One Day I'll Be Your Boss" was a welcomed topic of discussion among the approximately 900 attendees at the NAHAD Convention.

If you are 40 years of age or younger and interested in working with the young leaders committee in formation, please contact Molly Thompson at the NAHAD Office, by phone at 1-800-624-2227, email Molly Thompson or on the NAHAD Facebook page

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