At 42% of the workforce, Baby Boomers still make up the vast plurality of the workforce (not to mention a healthy majority of our readers). What is more, Boomers hold the lion's share of leadership positions in most organizations in most industries today. So maybe I should be careful what I say...

Boomers often tell me some variation of this story about the generational shift in the workplace: "These Generation Xers and Generation Yers think they invented youth!?! We're Baby Boomers. WE invented youth. And we'll be defining youth culture from geriatric wards. When I was growing up, my parents were real traditionalists. There were rules for everything. Heck, we had standard operating procedures for dinner. You followed the rules and respected your elders at home, in school, and in public... Of course, I came of age in the Sixties/Seventies. I had my period of youthful rebellion... you should have seen me." (That's when they get all wistful.)

Then they get serious again: "But I grew up and settled down. I hitched my wagon to the star of an established organization and started paying my dues. And MY boss was a real grown-up, like my parents, not some groovy Boomer who understood young people. I did as I was told, but most of the time it was 'sink or swim' so I had to figure out what to do and then do it. I kept my head down and worked hard. I didn't make demands. I waited for my boss to notice my hard work and reward me in due course. I figured the system would take care of me."

"Then, just as I started to earn some seniority, people started saying 'everything has changed; job security is dead.' Downsizing and restructuring became an every day thing. All of a sudden seniority doesn't matter and the only thing that counts is how much work you can do today, tomorrow and next week. Then along come these young upstarts---Generation X and now Generation Y---and they are not willing to pay their dues at all. They make demands on day one and every day thereafter: 'What's the deal around here? What do you want from me? What do you have to offer me today, tomorrow and next week?' The nerve of them!"

Remember this: There is not a trend in the western world worth its salt without the baby boomers. If most boomers had rejected the 'free agent' norms and values so often associated with Generation X and Generation Y, it would have dried up and blown away. But that's not what happened. It was when the Boomers embraced the new mindset that these trends became unstoppable.

Now for their next act, Boomers are set to expand upon and entrench the emerging trends in retirement. Many boomers (even those in their forties) tell us they are getting ready to retire. But most also tell us they will NEVER stop working. We fully expect boomers to reinvent retirement as a hodgepodge of part-time, flex-time, telecommuting, consulting, and entrepreneuring. The question you should be asking Boomer leaders is this: Are you doing the hard work of cultivating high potential employees so there will be enough bench strength to take over leadership roles? After all, you want to make sure there is someone there to facilitate your flexible work arrangements after you "retire."