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Imagine a workplace united, empowered, and where people are helping one another to improve; to advance and make a difference. A workplace where happiness and opportunity are all around you; that inspires a culture to unite, empower and expand the ideas and ideals of different types of people - not just the few selected and elected. We must now operate in a workplace where people are accountable for the development and success of both their personal brand and the corporate brand they represent.

Your ability as an employee to both see and seize new types of opportunities during a time where we have recently experienced unexpected change without preparation is your single most important responsibility. We have no other option but to make opportunities matter this time around. As such, we must create a workplace culture that breeds community-minded leaders that serve to expand the influence of people (regardless of hierarchy or rank) for the betterment of a healthier whole. Today’s fiercely competitive global market landscape requires us to embrace this type of workplace culture in order to propel the most dynamic levels of creativity, collaboration, innovation and humanity.

This is the new workplace that we must all thrive in. Why do we know this to be true? First, it has been proven by 21st century corporations that reinvented their industries, helped change people’s lifestyles and created an entirely new commerce experience for consumers. These companies include the likes of Amazon, Costco, Google, and IKEA. There rapid rise to the top was driven by leadership that sought workplace innovation by empowering, trusting and measuring their employee’s performance across the following areas (not limited to):

1. Seek to continuously propel new types of innovations; embrace the entrepreneurial spirit
2. Lead change and proactively take calculated risks based on how the market is changing and how their competitors are not reacting to the changing market
3. Build relationships, engage and seek continuous improvement feedback from vendors, clients and consumers to become better across the entire supply chain
4. Inspire employees to be their own brand; allow them to perform with passion and contribute in areas that propel their most natural strengths and capabilities,
5. Support an environment that embraces the power of multicultural talent and diversity in its people and that desire strong generational balance in its workforce,
6. Desire to be successful while always being significant to positively transform lives and leave a legacy for others to follow

Secondly, the marketplace is telling us. According to interviews conducted in May 2010 by the Center for Innovation and Humanity with 100 randomly selected Fortune 500 Human Resources and Talent Management Executives:

• Employees feel uncertain about their jobs and the future; they are in search for trust
• Generational differences and a more multicultural workforce are changing the ways we do business, yet we don’t have the talent or professional development programs to support it.
• There is a sense of urgency to recruit and retain top talent. We fear that our high potential talent will leave their existing employer if a better, more stable opportunity comes along
• Employees demand leaders that listen and have clarity of purpose
• Employees don’t know how to get noticed and make a difference for their employers. The uncertainty makes them feel unimportant and uninspired

We are transitioning from a knowledge-based to a wisdom based economy. It’s no longer just about what you know as an individual or organization, but what you do with what you know. In the wisdom based economy it’s about ethics, trust, empowerment and transparency.

It’s time for America’s Corporations to reset the workplace and renew the ways its employees think, act and innovate. People are ready to turnaround themselves around, and be more responsible. Employees want to be relevant and be more entrepreneurial. They desire a workplace that is more meaningful and purposeful. Wall Street is in search of more corporations that are innovation measured; where growth and profitability is sustainable to help revive our economy. Today’s new workplace requires a new enlightened form of leadership that seeks to make the business successful in order to make humanity significant.

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