According to a year long study conducted by McKinsey & Co. involving 77 companies and almost 6,000 managers and executives -- the most important corporate resource over the next 20 years will be talent: smart, sophisticated business people who are technologically literate, globally astute, and operationally agile.

 Over the past decade, the study says, talent has become more important than capital, strategy, or R&D. In the new economy, competition is global, capital is abundant, ideas are developed quickly and cheaply, and people are willing to change jobs often. For many companies, people are the prime source of competitive advantage. Talented people, in the right kind of culture, have better ideas, execute those ideas better, and are able to help other people develop.

 A lot of this trend has to do with demographics. In 15 years, there will be 15% fewer Americans in the 35 - 45 year old range. During that same time, the US economy is estimated to grow at a rate of 3% to 4% per year. Over that period, the demand for bright, talented 35 - 45 year olds will increase by approximately 25%, and the supply will go down by 15%.

How are you training your people today? What are you doing to keep yourself abreast of all that is new?

Transforming Tomorrow

Gina Hogan from Floral Retailing Magazine shares this nurturing fable:

    A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the unfortunate frogs they would never get out.

     The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and simply gave up. He fell down and died. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and suffering and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out.

    When he got out, the other frogs asked him, "Why did you continue jumping? Didn't you hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was hard of hearing. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

What’s the lesson?  There are two:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.
2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them. Choose your words carefully.

The power of words ... an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that rob the spirit. It takes a special person to encourage even if it looks like it is hopeless. It’s never over . . . till it’s over.

Are the words you share with others encouraging or discouraging? I bet if we had a way to measure it scientifically we would find that it takes less energy to share encouraging words, and, that encouraging words help lift your own spirit as well as someone else’s.

Published: April 11, 2000

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Kathy Lamancusa is a trend strategis, professional speaker and author who tracks the forces that impact our lives. Over 1.6 million copies of Kathy's books are in print, and she has appeared on numerous television and radio shows including Oprah! She is a public speaker who can offer organizations entertaining and enlightening peeks into what is coming and what is shaping change so that they can better reach their own customer bases.