And talks to us about rock stars, hockey, and generations in the workplace

Price Associates is pleased to announce that Dr. Jeremy Graves has joined the team at its Boise office.

Jeremy is a generational strategist, professor, author, speaker, and leadership coach. He believes that encouraging leaders to feel comfortable in their own skin is the first step in developing healthy, wholistic leaders and teams.

Jeremy has spent the last 25 years in leadership positions both in the business and not-for-profit communities.  His expertise around culture and generational synchronicity give him a unique perspective on leadership development.  Jeremy has developed leaders in many different industries but specializes in emerging and entrepreneurial organizations who are in the midst of growing pains and desire to improve organizational effectiveness.  He offers individual coaching, team development, generational strategies for healthy teams, and authentic leadership principles for those desiring to develop personally in their authenticity as a leader. Jeremy is also a facilitator and coach for The Complete Leader Program.

Jeremy is the author of Empower, Promote, Launch, Repeat: Create a Culture of Generational Leadership Using Four CORE Strategies. He teaches as adjunct faculty at Boise State University and Bakke Graduate University. He presents often on intergenerational leadership and has presented widely on leadership, culture, and team building, though his greatest passion is in working with multi-generational teams in today’s workplace.

Jeremy received a certificate in leadership development from The Vineyard Leadership Institute in Columbus, Ohio, his Masters and Doctorate of Transformational Leadership degrees from Bakke Graduate University in Seattle, Washington.

We sat down with Jeremy to talk about rock stars, generations in the workplace, family and hockey.

What spurred your interest in intergenerational leadership, and why did you decide to specialize in it? My research and interest in intergenerational leadership started out of desperation.  I was leading an organization as the executive director with multiple generations in the workplace, and they struggled getting along.  I needed to figure out how to help them work together.  This lead me to research why they tend to show up for work differently.  Then I started to look at which organizations in the business, non-profit, and religious communities where knocking it out of the park when it came to intergenerational leadership, and which ones where not—and why.  What I discovered as I studied these organizations was impactful, and I knew that I wanted to dive deeper. I was able to help my own team work better, and in the process ended up getting a doctorate.

What made you decide to write your book, and what has been the best thing about writing it? I completed my dissertation in June 2012, and then began to my research into practice as a leader.  After five years of putting my thesis into action, I felt ready to share my personal discovery about teams.  I took my dissertation research, coupled with the experience I had living my research, and wrote a book about it.  The purpose of the book was to explain succinctly what I had been learning since I stopped researching and started living it.

The best thing about writing the book has been hearing from people who have used the methods in their organizations.  The more we have healthy teams in the workplace, the better this world is to live in.

You’ve led a colorful life with a variety of experiences. You used to be in a punk band that toured professionally, you are a preacher, you’re a university professor, you’ve done missionary work in developing countries, the list goes on! How do your experiences help you advise leaders and coach others?  I think my background has given me the ability to see the world through a kaleidoscope. Seeing people as unique individuals has come from the interactions and experiences I have had throughout my life.

Being around “famous” rock stars helped me see that people are people, that we all have struggles. The reality that you can” have it all” (by human standards) and yet still be struggling gives me an empathetic ear as I engage leadership.

Realizing that people matter is vital to good leadership. Spending time with those who can make decisions is important, but so is spending time with those who are affected by the decisions leaders make. My mission work has allowed me to see the impact of systemic change from those who are most affected by the change—the impoverished, the broken, the down-and-out—and I think this gives me the ability to both be a voice for the voiceless and to help leaders see the big picture from the balcony while listening from the floor. Both are important. I feel blessed to have had these experiences that have made me the leader I am today.

When you’re not working, how do you like to spend your time?  I love spending time with my family. My wife of 25 years, Stephanie, is my best friend. Just being with her makes me content; it’s great being married to your best friend.  Watching our older son make music makes my heart sing, and watching my youngest play lacrosse is energizing.  I also love hockey, I play hockey in the rec league here in Boise, and I am a season ticket holder for the Idaho Steelheads.  My bucket list is to see a hockey game in all 31 NHL arenas. At this point I have seen hockey in 21 of the 31.  Almost there!