As pioneers of the virtual work environment, ROI has been a leader in what it takes to build a collaborative culture of consultants. In a similar way, Salesforce.com has been pioneering the tools to make collaboration happen.

I had the opportunity to hear Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, at a recent conference in San Francisco and was inspired by his comments on the “future of work”. During the course of an all-too-short 20 minutes at Giga OM’s first Net:work event, he shared an unexpected point-of-view. The agenda was packed with discussions about collaboration products, cloud computing and IT solutions. As one of the hottest software products and services around, what was surprising was that his vision – and in this venue – was not about technology. It was about people.

Today, it’s getting far too easy for leaders to hide behind technology and ignore the importance of engaging their employees on a personal, human level.  More than ever we need agile leaders who can build a culture of trust in virtual environments, are curious about their employees at all levels of the organization, and are open to learning from them. Benioff shared an example of how Salesforce engaged their employees in the annual strategic planning session for the company by using a host of collaboration tools and face-to-face interaction. The ideas were plentiful from across the organization and the result was a robust plan. And, it sounded like they had a lot of fun doing it.

Businesses today need leaders who are willing to experiment with flatter organizational structures and push forward new ways of working. We need leaders who can connect and inspire their employees. When done right, that inspiration can result in higher retention, better work product and bottom line benefits. By nature, Benioff is a risk taker and an innovator, he’s transparent – what you see is what you get – and he’s a leader, whether you like his style or not. We need more leaders like Marc Benioff.

(Note: ROI Communication uses Salesforce.com products)

In addition to being an incredible World Series to watch and be part of here in the Bay Area, the 2010 San Francisco Giants provided some invaluable lessons in teamwork and communication.  Manager Bruce Bochy did what we need all effective CEO’s and business leaders to do – he brought out the best in his people.  How he did it should be the subject of management training for decades to come.

Like a strategic chess player, Bochy is credited with making all the right moves to lead the Giants to their first World Series victory in more than 50 years.  His deep knowledge of each player’s skills and talent was obvious but it was his unique 1:1 approach that got each individual to rise to the challenges he needed them to meet. Take his request to Aubrey Huff back in early September to practice his bunting on the off chance that he may need him for that role in the playoffs. Here’s a guy who had no sacrifice bunts in ten years in the Major Leagues.  Sure enough he did just that two months later – he laid down an extraordinary bunt which helped the Giants win game 5 of the Series.

And although it was a risky move, he did the same thing when he went to his ace, Tim Lincecum, in the playoffs and asked  if he could ‘get him a few outs’ if he needed him as a relief pitcher.  When Tim came into Game 6 of the NLCS against Philadelphia, it was obvious what was on the line and the adrenalin rush was palpable.  What was even more important than the results was the chain of communication and trust between coach and player.

In an era where professional teams and athletes have let us down as role models repeatedly, the Bochy-led Giants have more than made up for where others have failed.  A lot will be written about the ‘knuckleheads and misfits’ in the storybook ending of the Giants 2010 season, but the lessons of leadership, communication and teamwork should not be overlooked.

Imagine this workplace scenario. You work for a company run by a member of the Silent Generation – those born between 1925 and 1944. Let’s say he or she is in their late 60s or early 70s.  You are in your late 30s, which makes you a member of Generation X, and you are managed by a member of the baby boomer set; let’s say someone in their late 40s.  You manage several staff who are in their early to mid-20s or Gen Y-ers.  That may sound typical, following what would normally have occurred in a fairly traditional company.

In fact, according to a Career Builder Survey, this scenario, as typical as it may sound, is actually far from typical.  That survey found 43 percent of workers ages 35 and older currently work for younger bosses, as do 53 percent of workers ages 45 and up, and 69 percent of workers who are 55 or older. That means not only are Baby Boomers being managed by Gen X or Gen Y, but sometimes the age gap can even result in a Gen X-er reporting to a Millennial manager.

What this has done has created some very unique management challenges. In particular, the survey also found that a significant percentage of workers (16 percent) who were 25 to 34 said they found it difficult to take direction from a younger boss, but only five percent of workers age 55 and up had problems with it.

Complaints about younger managers run the gamut and include micromanagement, a sense of entitlement, favoritism with younger colleagues, and not giving enough direction. Sound familiar?

These are age old and ageless management problems that people with advanced degrees, colleges with massive research budgets, and consultants with $500/hour billing rates have been trying to solve since some guy managing the fire told another guy to go get more wood.

It should be no surprise that you could be managing people who may not like you or you could be managed by a boss you believe doesn’t deserve his or her position. Most of us have or will be in one of these situations at some point in our career. Rather than fight either situation, imagine an alternative one where the tables could be turned—you’re the younger boss managing an employee either close to your age or much older, or you’re the one being managed. Then do everything you can to be the manager who’d get you to do your best work and the employee who’d do the best work for you. That isn’t a multi-step process, but it’s one many people of all ages have trouble taking the first step toward.

Last November, Jossey-Bass publishers released my latest book entitled “The Credible Company: Communicating with Today’s Skeptical Workforce .” Shortly after it was published, the bottom dropped out of the global economy and made that workforce both increasingly skeptical and increasingly unemployed.

The book had been fermenting in my mind and soul for some time—partly as a result of the vast amount of change the workforce had endured since my last book, “Communicating for Change,” was published in 1996, and partly because I believed that our profession has taken a wrong turn and preoccupied itself with technology and ‘conversations’ as the cure for today’s daunting internal communication challenges.

Those challenges loom larger than ever as the workplace undergoes revolutionary transformation, with more and more insecurity and greater reliance imposed on individual’s resources and responsibility for their economic well-being. An estimated 40% of company work will soon be done by outside contractors, according to Time Magazine. Free agency will more and more be the fate of today’s worker, a not altogether negative trend if people are prepared for that kind of independence and self-reliance.

In a recent webinar, I outlined my personal view of these developments and what I believe they mean for our profession. I invite you to take some time to watch the webinar replay and to reflect on its message. We at ROI Communication would be equally interested in your views of the coming challenges. How about giving us your online comments in response to this blog?