Cam Marston is the leading expert on the impact of generational change and its impact on the workplace and marketplace. As an author, columnist, blogger, and lecturer, he imparts a clear understanding of how generational demographics are changing the landscape of business. Marston and his firm, Generational Insights, have provided research and consultation on generational issues to hundreds of companies and professional groups, ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations, as well as major professional associations, for over 20 years.
Marston’s books, articles, columns, and blog describe and analyze the major generations of our time: Matures (born before 1946), Baby Boomers, (born 1946-64), Generation X (born 1965-79), Millennials (born 1980-2000), and iGen (born 2000+). He explains how their generational workplace and marketplace preferences affect every aspect of business, including recruiting and retention, management and motivation, and sales and marketing.
His first book, Motivating The “What’s In It For Me?” Workforce (2005), explores the characteristics and motivations that each generation brings to the workforce and suggests management tactics applicable to any business setting. His next book, Generational Insights (2010) is a guide to the best practices in managing generational issues. Generational Selling Tactics That Work (2011) is the first book-length study of generational approaches to sales and marketing. His short book The Gen-Savvy Financial Advisor (updated in 2017) is a must-read in the financial services industry.
Marston’s half-day training program, “Leading Multi-Generational Teams,” features the Gen-Flex® process which teaches leaders how to be flexible in their generational workplace preferences to get the best performance out of their teams. His short, online micro-videos for sales, recruiting, and management are designed to help managers and leaders understand the reason such generational disparities exist and how to overcome them through specific sales and workforce tactics.
In 2018 Marston launched a regional radio show (also available as a podcast) called What’s Working with Cam Marston with expert guests offering insights and opinions on the trends that are shaping today’s workplace and workforce.
Marston’s expertise has also been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the Chicago Tribune, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Money, FastCompany, and Forbes, as well as on Good Morning America, CNN International, and the BBC. He writes a column for Investment Advisor, and has been a featured columnist in many trade journals. His blog at GenerationalInsights.com tracks the latest changes and developments in generational issues and demographics.
As a consultant, Marston has provided insight and advice to leadership at the nation’s most prominent corporations as well as multinational corporations including American Express, Fidelity, BASF, Nestle, Schlumberger, Merrill Lynch, Coca-Cola, Macy’s, Warner Brothers, ESPN, Qualcomm, RE/MAX and Eli Lilly. He has also offered presentations and consultations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Army, as well as for major professional associations such as the American Bankers Association, the Financial Services Roundtable, and the Million Dollar Roundtable.
Marston’s presentations are informative, engaging, and humorous. He offers concrete demographic research that is tailored to his audience and he enlivens the data with anecdotes, tales from the real business world, attention-grabbing visuals, and quips that make the message memorable. Marston’s clients consistently report that his research makes his programs relevant and his presentation style makes them interesting and fun.
Marston’s insights and expertise are the products of over 20 years of research and consultation across a wide range of industries as well as his own early-career background in corporate sales and research. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University and is a native and resident of Mobile, Alabama.
For the first time in history, five distinct generations — Matures, Boomers, Xers, Millennials and iGen— are employed side by side in the workplace. With differing values and seemingly incompatible views on leadership, these generations have stirred up unprecedented conflict in the business world. Effective management of this generational divide is vital to longevity and success. In fact, it is the most important demand your company can make of its leaders. In this engaging presentation, Cam Marston teaches how each generation developed its core values, how that manifests in the workplace today, and why they can all not only operate alongside each other, but do so with extraordinary success. This program provides the generational insight, concrete examples and specific approaches to help frustrated managers build the individual connections needed to boost employee performance and retention. As you will learn, the only common ground is the intensity with which each generation holds fast to its value systems. Understanding and respecting those generational biases are critical to bringing out the best in every employee.
Cam Marston – “His content was “right on” for us and he was agreeable to answer questions at the end. The group loved is sense of humor to support his message.”
Cam is very knowledgeable and engaging. He presents in a very inviting and real style. Our audiences can’t get enough…they always want to have him back for more.
“As a featured speaker at 17 of our Sales Forums across the United States and Canada, Cam Marston provided our sales people with new insight as to how to best build relationships with customers of different generations. Our sales force has indicated that his discussion helped them understand their customers’ behaviors and gave them new ideas for enhancing new and ongoing relationships. Any time a sales person can walk away with a new approach to winning favor with customers, we know we have a winner!”
“Cam was one of the best keynotes we’ve had. He did a phenomenal job engaging the audience and offered a great balance of energy and content. Cam worked closely with our team in advance of the engagement to match his presentation to the needs of our audience and delivered his message in a way that truly resonated with the attendees.”
“Cam’s presentation was well-received by our workforce from the line-workers through management. His ability to connect with the audience and help them see themselves in the conversation is superb. Furthermore he was able to help our employees understand how generational differences impact the company, not only internally but also with our customers and business partners. The result is greater inclusiveness and communication throughout all facets of our business, which can only lead to a positive impact on our company’s success.”
“Your session on Selling to the Generations was one of the highest attended and one of the highest rated. Our audience just LOVED YOU. Your timely topic, delivered with your wit and style was thoroughly captivating. I’ve never received such an enormous outpouring of thanks.”
“We have found that Generational Insights has been an incredibly valuable tool in helping us understand how to create a more cohesive and productive workforce. I highly recommend Cam’s work for any organization looking to unlock the inevitable generational barriers that exist in today’s workplace.”
