This week I and a number of other professionals had the opportunity to participate in a special IDEAS UNLIMITED LIVE presentation. My long-time friend, colleague and mentor Dr. Lew Bender offered his thoughts via a virtual webcast on the life and workplace impacts of change and trends. I didn’t totally know specifically the content of his planned message but as always I was more than overwhelmed and appreciative of his ability to help everyone see what changes have occurred and the evolving trends that have been right in front of us!

Dr. Bender started by asking world-of-work status questions of several attendees.  And as always no one felt like they could “hide” from being called on to participate… and that greater STRESS seemed to be a common element of everyone’s life.  Then he explained how life in the 1950’s and 1960’s was more simple and things (even gas) were very cheap.  But then changes happened:

​-​ The U.S. dominance in the world marketplace began to dissolve.

​-​ Other countries became commerce competitive.

​-​ The 1973 oil embargo spiked the cost of gas.

​-​ Product quality began to matter.

​-​ Women became more a part of the regular workforce.

​-​ Traditional family structures began to change.

​-​ Less babies were being born.

​-​ The “play” style of kids became more “menu-driven”.

​-​ Global-marketing became more regular.

​-​ Divorce rates grew to 50%of married couples.

​-​ Digital impacts began to become part of life and jobs.

​-​ People lost their traditional “natural islands” of escape and rest.

​-​ The employee-employer relationships became more about “what’s in it for ​​​me” on both sides of the situation.

​-​ So today… family stress… job stress… communication stress… and ​​​​commitment stress all have grown… a lot!

As you can tell the one-hour of discussion barely introduced the topic. However please know that MENTORING HAPPENS! whenever Dr. Bender is in the room. He did not directly offer corrective action options… but made sure we had realization and recognition of the changes and trends affecting us today!

Thanks Dr. Bender!!