Several weeks ago, Eric Lanke, who is the Executive Director of the National Fluid Power Association, reached out to me with an idea to start a dialogue. Like me, Eric is a Generation X leader who has noticed that most of the conversation about generations seems to be looking "down" the ladder: what do we do with these Millennials coming into the workforce?!

But what about up? What about the large number of Boomers who are slated to resign from the very top of the organizational chart (note I said "slated to retire"; I'm not yet convinced they actually WILL retire!)? How will generational tendencies of the X generation change the way leadership is executed at the top? How will the hourglass shape of the three main generations in the workforce today (large number of Boomers, small number of Xers, large number of Millennials) impact how organizations most effectively shape the future?

Eric and I like talking about topics like this, and we're looking for others who want to talk about it too. We're not exactly sure of the best way to promote and facilitate this dialogue, but at the very least we felt it was worthy of a blog! So we created the "Hourglass Blog." It's just getting started, but I hope you'll get the feed and follow along because I think the conversation will be interesting.