By: Tim Emlore How to Capitalize on the Younger Generations on Your Team Everyone has witnessed the culture wars. People in our society seem polarized over values and social issues. While I believe those battles are real, there’s a deeper issue at play that we have ignored. You might call it, “generational wars.” It’s happening every day in our workplaces. For years, our

By: Tim Elmore     How One Mom Kept Her Teen Off Social Media for Six Years If you watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix, you know firsthand the challenges of social media platforms today. The documentary allows viewers to hear tech experts sound the alarm on the dangerous impact of social networking which Silicon Valley tech companies manipulate and influence. The film explains

By: Tim Elmore I graduated from college with good grades, but not straight As. Part of the reason was, I worked two or three jobs every year of my college life. I worked as a cook in a country club, I worked part-time in the library, I worked as a part-time youth director, and I worked at a fast-food restaurant. While

By: Tim Elmore     Today’s kids were already facing mental health problems. Now they feel delayed by COVID-19, and it’s added to their anxiety levels. According to Barna’s research, 82 percent of Generation Z members believe they’ve been traumatized. While it sounds extreme, many of them feel: Postponed Pushed aside Penalized.   This group of teens believes part of the traditional American experience was lost

By: Tim Elmore A young girl went to her grandmother and complained about how hard life had become for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that, as one problem was solved, a new one arose.    Her grandmother took her to the kitchen. She

By: Tim Elmore A mother approached me recently after I spoke at a parents’ conference. She told me how much she cared for her 13-year-old son, yet many of his teachers referred to her, not as a “helicopter parent,” but as an “Apache Helicopter.” When she acknowledged how intrusive she was in her son’s life, I had to agree. She admitted to

By: Tim Elmore I lived in southern California for many years. Every year, it seemed we heard about another fire that broke out. The dry, warm weather coupled with a careless mistake can be deadly. Wildfires have been rampant, destroying miles of property as they spread. During the summer and fall of 2018, California experienced the deadliest wildfire season in its history. A

By: Tim Elmore An incredible discovery was just made beneath the ocean’s surface. Underwater drones were used to discover Ernest Shackleton’s famous ship, Endurance, the one that set out to reach the South Pole and establish a base on Antarctica’s Weddell Sea coast 100 years ago.   Both the century-old voyage and the discovery are wonders of technology.  Breaking Down the Story Most of us have

By: Tim Elmore     I read two recent news stories that left me stunned. One young man from India chose to sue his parents for giving birth to him. He argued that he never asked to be born into this crazy world, and he wants some cash for having to endure it. I am not kidding. Another news story reported that a set of

By: Tim Elmore Did you hear what just happened? Last week, Girl Scouts of the USA posthumously awarded ten-year-old Amerie Jo Garza of Uvalde, Texas, one of the highest honors bestowed in Girl Scouting: the “Bronze Cross.” Notice—the honor was given to Amerie Jo after she died.   The Bronze Cross is awarded for saving or attempting to save a life at the risk

By: Tim Elmore I just made a discovery. For the first time in my life, I realized I know people who are from seven sociological generations.  My aunt and uncle are from the Senior generation (1902-1928). My mother and father-in-law are from the Builders generation (1929-1945). My wife and I are both from the baby boomer generation (1946-1964). My teammates Shawn and

By: Tim Elmore Even if you’re not a big Kentucky Derby fan, you’ve probably heard what just happened in the last race at Churchill Downs. To say the winner was a long shot is an understatement. A horse named Rich Strike won the derby, a race in which he did not even belong. It all took place on May 8th (less than

By: Tim Elmore   It’s been over 50 years since the term generation gap was first coined by Life magazine editor John Poppy. During the 1960s, he noticed a gap between the young baby boomers and their parent’s generation, the Builders. Those boomers used new language the adults did not recognize. I am one of those baby boomers and, believe it or not,

By: Tim Elmore       As I spot “Help Wanted” signs on the windows of many establishments today, I often consider the qualities young job seekers should learn. Too often, young adults don’t take entry-level positions because they feel those jobs are beneath them. I recently reflected on the early experiences I had in my career that taught me lessons I may not have

By: Tim Elmore   “My students enter the classroom as if they’re customers. They expect me to serve them curriculum, make it fun, and work hard to ensure they make good grades. It’s like they’re consumers,” bemoaned one teacher I met in Missouri.   Then, she had an epiphany.   “I guess they are consumers in one sense,” she concluded. “They digest a subject each day for

By: Tim Elmore   Last month, a Chicago Metra train conductor was robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight. Not long after, photos of the robbery suspect were released, and that’s when the armed thief was apprehended. Even though he was wearing a mask, it all happened so quickly.    You’ll never guess how the thief was captured so fast.   When the security camera’s photos were published,

By: Tim Elmore     Last month, I asked a group of educators a question, and the answer was revealing. A group of 21 teachers who use our Habitudes for Social and Emotional Learning all said they enjoyed the classroom conversation our images sparked but admitted:  “Whenever I teach social and emotional skills, it inevitably brings up emotional issues like conflict resolution or anger management.

By: Tim Elmore       I just met a young woman on a podcast interview who helped me recapture my hope for the future. Her name is Shamma Al Mazrui, and she is from the United Arab Emirates. Shamma graduated from New York University, Abu Dhabi, as her nation’s first Rhodes Scholar. Shamma was then elected as the Minister of State for Youth in

By: Tim Elmore     When I spoke to Mr. Dunn, an English teacher of high school seniors, he told me he had one job: to teach language arts to teenagers. My first response was to agree. He had but one task each day, and he was doing a good job of it. When I reflected on the history of education in America, I recognized

By: Tim Elmore     Almost everywhere we go, people ask the questions: How do you read so many books? Where do you find the time? Just how do you read a book? Do you read it from cover to cover?  The fact is these questions stem from the belief that leaders are readers. By and large, if you plan to be a lasting

By: Tim Elmore    Seven Ideas to Overcoming the Cinderella Syndrome    In 1989, I first heard the term Cinderella Syndrome. This complex refers to a psychological condition in which a woman fears true independence and secretly expects a “knight in shining armor” (or Prince Charming) to come along and take care of her. The term Cinderella complex was coined by Agatha Christie in a

By: Tim Elmore   Like so many other districts, the Northwest School District in Missouri faced a shortage of employees. It’s actually happening all over the country in almost every industry. “Help Wanted” signs go unanswered as fewer Americans want to take on lower-paying jobs in light of a pandemic. In the NW school district, custodial, food service, and before and after school

By: Tim Elmore     I see a problem today more often than I’ve seen it in the past. It is a collision between mindsets, both of which are essential. They‘re illustrated in the following story. Several faculty and staff members were asked to participate in a special project at their school. They were to plan a celebration of the decrease in COVID-19 infections on

By: Tim Elmore   In the past, I’ve posted blogs on great leadership movies and the conversations they can start with colleagues and students. Below, I offer you my list of the top leadership movies of 2021. This past year, the theme of leadership was subtle but definitely present. My son, Jonathan, is a movie buff, so together, he and I, offer this

By: Tim Elmore     Brianna Rivera is an articulate high school student who wrapped her arms around a challenge that teens face today. Finding herself thrust back into society after quarantine, she said, “That’s a lot for me, after having been in isolation for 18 months. You want to get back into the swing of things, but there’s something kind of holding you

By: Tim Elmore     Last week, I posted a ritual I perform at the end of each year. A second ritual I do is a natural follow-up. It enables me to enter a new year on purpose.  After I invest a morning reviewing the previous year, I spend the second half of the day previewing the new year. I think, write, and reflect

By: Tim Elmore     For 36 years now, I have performed a ritual at the end of December. It’s the way I wrap up each year and gain some perspective on my life. I take half of a day to get completely alone. Usually, I get away from the house and find a quiet place to reflect. During this time, I think, pray, and

By: Tim Elmore       Several years ago, in a remote area of a country in Africa, local villagers discovered that some young elephants wandered from the herd. They were lost for some time. When those pachyderms were returned to their families, they were no longer babies. They’d changed over time. Researchers, called Mahouts, made some fascinating observations as they watched these stray

By: Tim Elmore       Jana Davidson teaches seventh-grade science and tenth-grade biology. Every day, she observes students entering her classroom feeling stressed out. Many of them feel overwhelmed. Anxiety has been normalized thanks to social media and a pandemic. When I asked Ms. Davidson how she helps her students manage their stress, she told me she assumes the best way is to take

By:  Andrew McPeak         A few months ago, I downloaded TikTok. Within minutes, I understood what all the fuss was about. I was laughing. I was surprised. I was angered. I was awed. Not only did I experience a wide range of emotions, but I also noticed that each emotional experience was short, beckoning me to keep swiping to the next video. “After

Generation Z, the youngest population social scientists are studying today, was born about the same time as Reality TV. You might remember the precursor to popular reality television was a 1998 Jim Carrey movie called, “The Truman Show.” It was a film about an unsuspecting man living in an average U.S. town whose entire life was monitored by television viewers,

By: Tim Elmore Anyone who cares about young people should see the data just revealed on Instagram and its parent company Facebook. Millions of teenagers, mostly girls, have spiraled into symptoms of depression and despair after spending time on these platforms. The data seems to indicate the connection between depression and Instagram is not just a coincidence. One teen, Anastasia Vlasova,

By: Tim Elmore I remember feeling tangible peer pressure in high school. Friends pushed me to smoke cigarettes and marijuana, drink beer, and be sexually active. This was not uncommon in the 1970s. Culture was morphing from traditional to rebellious as baby boomers and Gen Xers pushed boundaries and listened to their peers over their parents.  While I dabbled a bit in

By: Tim Elmore Bob Iger replaced Michael Eisner as the Chief Executive Officer of Walt Disney Enterprises in 2005. These two leaders are polar opposites and a picture of a leadership paradox. Over the years, Eisner grew increasingly isolated and overbearing, which ultimately led to a shareholder revolt and his own dismissal. His final years, many say, were marked by self-destructive