The generational shift of the next seven years will be an unprecedented opportunity for those who are qualified to ascend to leadership. There simply aren’t enough Gen Xers to fill the vacuum that will be left by retiring Boomers. For every two people who retire, there’s just one Gen Xer to take their place.

FACT: There are 81 million Boomers in the U.S, 51 percent are women. Yet, in the Fortune 1000 companies, there are just 42 women CEO’s.

FACT: According to Catalyst, the average board of a Fortune 500 company in is just 16 percent female.

FACT: There are only 46 million Gen Xers in the U.S., 52 percent are women.

To survive, companies will need to cultivate the young leaders they have so the Boomer Brain Drain has as little impact as possible on their organizations and their stock options (which could dramatically affect their retirement plans).

For those organizations that don’t prepare, the leadership gap could cause a greater economic downturn than the current recession. That’s because people with little or no leadership experience will be catapulted to positions they’re not ready to fill. Companies could poach qualified people. But there won’t be enough experienced men to fill those positions. Organizations that don’t create effective succession plans will be at risk.

For GenXers and a significant number of Millenials who aspire higher, now is the time to prepare yourself for leadership and management roles no matter where you work. Think about the knowledge that will be lost when Boomers retire and how you can begin to acquire that knowledge now.

• Take advantage of knowledge transfer opportunities in your organization and professional associations.

• Get a mentor and be a mentor. Mentors advance more quickly and can earn up to $25,000 a year more than their colleagues who don’t. Mentees learn the ropes more quickly than experience alone can teach them.

• Earn that degree you’ve been putting off.

• Volunteer on a non-profit board so you can learn and practice collaborative decision-making. Choose a board where you’ll be able to work alongside high-level executives. This will increase your confidence and expand your network.

These next seven years will usher in opportunities for people from all backgrounds. More women and people of color than ever before will be able to rise and take their place among the leaders of U.S. corporations and non-profits. You could be one of them.

Susan Bender Phelps runs Odyssey Mentoring and Leadership. She is the author of the best-selling book,” Aspire Higher,” true career and business mentoring success stories that inspire readers to use mentoring to create breakthrough results.

According to Inc. writer, Maeghan Ouimet, a recent report found that bad bosses cost the economy $360 billion a year, that’s BILLION, in lost productivity. She adds that, “Terrible managers have a trickle-down effect: They bring down the quality of your employees work and your bottom line with them.

How pervasive is the problem? Well, three out of four employees report that their boss is the worst and most stressful part of their job. And 65% of employees said they’d take a new boss over a pay raise!

In addition to costing you in productivity, this can also cost you your best and brightest. 50% of employees who don’t feel valued plan to look for another job within the next year. Now that the recession seems to be loosening its grip, that timeline will likely speed up.

What’s the answer? Create a learning environment. Teach your leadership to educate employees. Give them the mentorship and leadership skills that will make it possible. These skills include: Listening powerfully, being a keen observer of patterns of behavior and results, asking thinking questions that lead to breakthroughs and giving actionable feedback. My new e-book, “Aspire Higher,” tells compelling true stories of how mentoring boosts engagement, success and career growth.

After all, good bosses are teachers and mentors. In fact, their teaching accounts for 67% of a boss’s effect on employee productivity,” says Katheryn L. Shaw, Stanford University Professor of Economics and author of “The Value of Bosses.”

Click here to read more.

Exciting NEWS!!!! My first book, “Aspire Higher” will be out this fall. You will be among the first to know as soon as it is released.

In the meantime, you can visit my new publisher, SlimBooks – where you could win a copy of every book they publish this year! – so if you win, mine’s included in the giveaway. I think you will be almost as excited as I am about how Slimbooks is going to change the way we read. It’s why I chose them. Please share widely AND let me know what you think.

What makes any mentoring program successful, no matter the size of your company, is this: “A mentorship program needs to have a path to leadership or advancement for the mentees.” That’s what I told writer Katie Morell of American Express Open Forum in a recent article.

Here I would add, the path to advancement needs to be just as clear for the mentors as well. Once you have built that into the design, and back it up with tangible results, your program will be highly regarded by your employees. They will compete to be involved.

In the beginning, though, you can follow some simple steps to start things off in the right direction. Read more here.

Recently, I had an a wonderful conversation with Audrey Shah of MO.com. We talked about how I started Odyssey Mentoring & Leadership, my take on the distinction between competent and great leadership and I shared one of the mentoring stories from my upcoming book, “Aspire to Go Higher: Get a Mentor, Be A Mentor,” due out at the end of August.

From the Interview:
“The best leaders should be expected to identify and cultivate leaders and peak performers to keep the organization growing and successful. When I interviewed Sarah Mensah, Chief Marketing Officer of the Portland Trail Blazers for my book, she could point to major turning points throughout her career where mentoring helped her to grow and develop. I live in Portland and often run into members of her staff, they all tell me that Sarah maintains a culture of mentoring that makes them feel honored to work with her. They know they have a future and that they are valued. That is the secret to high employee engagement and productivity.”

“I was lucky because Bob was a natural mentor and sponsor. He was a professional colleague who readily stepped up to become my mentor. This is clearly the ideal of informal mentoring. Bob and I had been working together on a project for the chamber for two years. We met through our jobs, but didn’t work for the same companies. Our relationship began as a situational acquaintance and over time warmed into a collegial friendship and then mentoring.”

To read more click here.

What makes a leader effective? Sound decision-making, knowing how to manage people, taking charge, and inspiring others to achieve goals are a few of the qualities. But helping others develop their full potential is also an integral part of successful leadership.

According to a new Catalyst report, mentoring pays off for both emerging talent and those who invest time in cultivating them. And high-potential talent who have been mentored, coached, or sponsored to advance in their careers are more likely to “pay it forward” by developing the next generation of leaders.

Paying it forward pays back: For both mentees and mentors, we see tangible career advancement. Most exciting is that for mentors and sponsors we see serious compensation growth — up to $25,075 in additional compensation between 2008 and 2010, say the report’s authors.

Why? It may just be that developing emerging talent creates more visibility and a following within the organization for the high-potentials who are doing the developing, and that leads to greater reward and recognition for the extra effort.

Women, the report finds, are even more likely than men to develop other talent. Sixty-five percent of women who received career development support are now developing new talent, compared to 56 percent of men. Seventy-three percent of the women developing new talent are developing women, compared to only 30 percent of men. This finding helps bust the often-cited “Queen Bee” myth that women are reluctant to provide career support to other women and may even actively undermine each other.

Overall, the report finds that high-potentials who are paying it forward today recognize that others once took a risk on them and gave them their chance—and now it’s their turn. The men and women who are more likely to be developing others:

• Received developmental support (59%) vs. those who did not (47%).
• Were sponsored (66%) as opposed to not receiving sponsorship (42%).
• Are in senior executive/CEO level positions (64%) vs. those at non-managerial levels (30%).
• Are more proactive when it comes to their own career advancement (63%) vs. those who are relatively inactive (42%) with regard to their own career advancement.

The report poses key questions for companies to consider. For instance: How is your organization creating a culture of learning and talent development? What will motivate your talent to “pay it forward” to the next generation of leaders? How can more men be encouraged to develop women at their organizations? How can organizations disarm stigmas about spending time with the opposite sex at work?

Mentorship and Leadership training can increase the numbers of high producers and potentials who can and will be effective mentors and sponsors in your organization.

Access the Study at Catalyst

“Women have been over-delivering for decades and watching men who do less consistently be given more opportunities for advancement,” is what I told writer Bob Calendra of Human Resource Executive On-line, when he asked me what I thought about Jack Welch’s comments at the Wall Street Journal Conference, Women in the Economy, held in May. I believe my statement is also true for people of color, regardless of their gender.

According to attendees and various reporters Welch created quite a stir when he called corporate mentoring programs for women “victim’s units.” He said women get ahead not because of mentorship programs and diversity initiatives aimed at females, but rather because they work hard and show how their skills can benefit the company.

“Over deliver,” he told the audience. “Performance is it!” But is it really the only thing?

Welch went further by criticizing corporate mentoring initiatives as being “one of the worst ideas that ever came along,” adding that women “should see everyone as a mentor.” Welch advised women wanting to get ahead to grab the most difficult assignments and prove themselves. He also recommended women pay attention to what their bosses say about how they are doing at their jobs. Welch noted that “without a rigorous appraisal system, without you knowing where you stand” as well as “how you can improve, none of these ‘help’ programs that were up there are going to be worth much to you.”

His evidence came from his recollections of a GE forum for women, in which he described the reactions from some of the women who had been recommended for it: the “best” of the women involved, claims Welch, told him, “I don’t want to be in a special group. I’m not in the victim’s unit. I’m a star. I want to be compared with the best of your best.’” He then added, “Stop lying about it. It’s true. Great women get upset about getting into the victim’s unit.”

Where do I get off disagreeing with one of the most successful corporate leaders? Let’s start with a look at the Fortune 500 companies. Did you know that just 3% have a female CEO. Yet a recent survey of 60 major companies by McKinsey shows women occupy 53% of entry-level positions, 40% of manager positions, and only 19% of C-suite jobs.

Could it be possible that so few of these women are rising stars worthy of promotion? Or could it be that men in leadership still tend to choose men who look like them to promote and develop as leaders?

Let’s take a look at Welch’s own career. I actually studied it in graduate school. He joined General Electric in 1960 as a junior chemical engineer with a starting salary of $10,500 – which was pretty good pay at the time. While at GE he was a risk taker. In one project that didn’t go well, he blew off the roof of the factory, and was almost fired for doing it. But someone in management saw a possibility in him so they kept him on.

In 1961, Welch planned to quit his job as a junior engineer because he was dissatisfied with the raise offered to him and was unhappy with the bureaucracy he observed at GE. Welch was persuaded to remain by Reuben Gutoff, an executive at the company, who promised him that he would help create the small company atmosphere Welch desired and shield him from the bureaucracy he hated.

Welch was not in a formal leadership or mentoring program. At the time, GE and most other companies had career ladders that systematically groomed men for leadership. You just had to keep your job and do it well to rise to the top with the help of someone in senior management who could be your mentor or sponsor. Welch became one of the anointed.

He was named a vice president of GE in 1972. He became senior vice president in 1977 and vice chairman in 1979. He became GE’s youngest chairman and CEO in 198. He was smart, talented and effective. But, had it not been for Gutoff’s personal interest and sponsorship so early in his career, we might never have heard of Jack Welch and his accomplishments as the leader of GE.

As for mentoring programs being designed for the “victims,” I agree with Welch. Corporate mentoring programs, and I am willing to bet the program Welch was referring to was among them, were in fact, exercises to address diversity and leadership development for those who were not and never would become the anointed. In a corporate culture like that, I wouldn’t blame anyone for not wanting to participate.

Effective mentoring is not a remediation program for “victims” and the “disengaged.” When set up properly, mentoring programs are interactive, dynamic and empowering for both mentors and mentees. Everyone grows, develops and advances. Participants become fully accountable for the actions they take and learn from their mistakes, their triumphs and everything in-between. In successful mentoring programs mentors and mentees understand their roles, trust each other, are willing to listen and try new things.

Any time a person takes on a formidable challenge, the going will get tough. That’s when a mentor is there to ask the hard questions that provoke their mentee to think more deeply and clearly. They cheer the loudest when there’s a breakthrough, a step toward the seemingly impossible, or attainment of a goal so challenging there could be no certainty of accomplishment until it was achieved. They are also there to point out what could be done better, what contributed to the success that can be reliably repeated and built upon.

Welch asserts that women can get this kind of guidance and feedback from their bosses. In some cases, that is probably true. If we look at the ranks of leadership, we can see it is not translating into results for women in most corporations. Some of that can be attributed to women who are juggling family and work. I believe more of it is due to the flattened corporate structure invented and refined by Mt. Welch, himself. In many companies managers have 30 or more direct reports. They simply cannot spend the time it takes to mentor their stars. Not without help, anyway.

Mentorship programs for the winners those who could become the anointed for future leadership can be designed and delivered. The most successful mentoring occurs when the mentor has the basic skills to be an effective mentor. And when the mentee has the drive to succeed plus the willingness to take coaching, try new things, and strive to master the skills that ensure success. Programs like that can and do work. The most effective mentoring programs occur when there is buy-in from top, investment in design and staffing of the program and a clear path of advancement for program participants. Without that clear path, the program will be perceived as a “victim’s unit” rather than the pathway for the anointed.

Check out my latest interview at MO.com http://www.mo.com/Susan-Bender-Phelps-Odyssey-Mentoring – It will give you great insight into what really lights us up about what our business can do to help your business be more successful.

Recently I was asked if sponsorship was the new mentoring. My answer is an emphatic NO!

In my experience mentorship and sponsorship are very distinct. And I believe the most powerful mentoring includes sponsorship. While sponsorship can be a very successful stand alone strategy, it cannot and will never replace mentoring.

Effective mentoring is an interactive, dynamic and empowering relationship that improves the thinking of both partners. This allows them to grow, develop and advance together. They become fully accountable for the actions they take and learn from their mistakes, their triumphs and everything in-between. In successful partnerships both people understand their roles, trust each other, are willing to listen and try new things.

An effective mentor always remembers who you are when the going gets tough. They ask the hard questions that make you think more deeply and clearly. They cheer the loudest when you experience a breakthrough, take a step that seems impossible, or reach a goal so challenging there could be no certainty of accomplishment until it was achieved. Mentoring is all about helping you develop the skills and the kind of strategic thinking that experience teaches.

Sponsorship is all about opening doors to new opportunities. It is one of the greatest gifts a mentor can give. Mentors who sponsor their mentees share access to their own network, to people at different levels in the organization and to resources. Sponsorship when done well can lead to bigger assignments, honors and recognition, and at times, promotions. It lets your mentee know they are growing and learning, and just as importantly that you recognize their progress and value.

You may be more familiar with sponsorship as an on-boarding strategy for new hires. This is a very successful way of acculturating people into the organization so they become productive more quickly. Successful sponsorship relationships can also blossom to become life-long professional friendships. Casey Powell, former President and CEO Sequent, shared with me about how effective sponsorship for on-boarding new hires can be. It helped build a workforce of team players who genuinely cared about each other and the organization. Though Sequent was acquired by IBM in 1999, more than 1500 former Sequent employees have maintained professional relationships that were nurtured by their sponsorship program. They stay in touch via a LinkedIn Group.

When we provide staff training in the essential skills you need to succeed as an effective mentor and leader, we include sponsorship strategies and how to appropriately share your network.

Higher Ups Get Coaching on New Trends, Technology & Social Media From Young Workers

In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, reporter Leslie Kwoh, notes an exciting new trend taking off in a wide range of companies. Instead of workplace mentors who are older and higher up in the ranks than their mentees – younger employees are being tapped to help senior executives learn new skills.

The idea is to give senior managers an opportunity to learn about life outside the corner office. If that isn’t enough of a reason, companies are seeing reduced turnover among younger employees because mentoring this way gives them a sense of purpose, along with an enlightening glimpse into the world of management and access to top tier leaders.

According to Kwoh, reverse mentoring was championed by Jack Welch when he was chief executive of General Electric Co. He had 500 top-level executives pair up with people below them to learn to use the Internet. Welch took his own advice to heart and was matched with an employee in her 20s who taught him how to surf the Web. Today young mentors are teaching their senior mentees about Facebook and Twitter.

Technology and global thinking are changing so rapidly, older executives don’t want to be left behind. Reverse mentoring also helps acculturate the younger employees more quickly. They begin to see a promising future for themselves in the organization. This boosts loyalty, employee engagement and overall productivity.

There can be pitfalls. Many older workers resist the idea of being mentored by someone younger, especially when they have so many more years of experience. This is where a solid launch event featuring the people skills that make for more effective mentoring partnerships can make all the difference in the success of the program.