At the recent Changing Times conference I attended in Europe, there were many conversations over lunch and in the evenings about careers. And, I heard a troubling concern among the young adult professionals from Europe, America and the Middle East – how to find a job of value where they can make a difference, work with a dedicated team, and actually bring passion to their workplace each day.

What they were saying is that their dreams are not permitted to match up with reality.

They, like so many others, read the job postings but they become disillusioned at the lack of distinction. What these young adults – with degrees from places like MIT and Oxford – see is not a description for a career but rather a boilerplate of human resources gobbledegook to simply find someone to fill a slot.

The problem seems endemic to the United States. Here’s an example of what they were talking about. It’s for a mid-level position in communications for Sodexo USA, but the oblique language has become standard, regardless of the position:

In this role, you will:

• Create strategy for internal (multi-directional – multi media) communications which serve as a key driver/enabler of corporate strategy
• Segment communication by targeted audience (including senior management to front line) through management of communication channels (i.e. intranet, face to face meetings, webinars, video conference, etc.)
• Create and implement a strategy to evolve the intranet into a knowledge management tool for all management
• Lead the design and development of creative publications/presentations for all levels of management
• Coach senior management and their teams on effective communications that will support their business objectives
• Manage communication projects and materials, e.g., articles, brochures, newsletters, collateral material
• Analyze thematic company-wide issues and create and implement communication strategies to address them
• Assure company-wide communications/messages are uniform and consistent with corporate brand strategy
• Direct and advise on the most appropriate media and strategies for various types of communication and business objectives

This isn’t a vision for a career; it’s an unattainable checklist, given the position level.

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Twitter, the popular online mini-blogging service, is in serious, deep PR trouble that has the potential of cratering the online company’s value. It is all self-inflicted, I believe, due to its own arrogance and lack of respect or understanding for transparency and openness.

I just returned home to D.C. after a series of lectures and consultations in Europe where I spoke of the value of using Twitter to, among other things, openly exchange news and information with people in countries that impose press restrictions. And, what do I find when the planes lands?!

Twitter users are being bombarded by malicious phishing messages enticing them to enter their @IDs so they can innocently be used to post more phony messages. I didn’t realize the magnitude of the problem until getting an email early today from David Meerman Scott, and reading his blog. Here’s an excerpt:

In my opinion, Twitter has not been communicating as well as it should be during this crisis. As I look at my friends feeds, nearly everyone is talking about this issue. Yet, Twitter has three feeble communications as of this writing.

1) Three tweets from the @twitter ID providing a bit of information.

2) A short post on the Twitter blog

3) A warning on the Twitter home page.

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(Hluboka, Czech Republic) Someone emailed me to ask who was behind … who was sponsoring … the truly outstanding Changing Times Conference – held at the Townshend International School in the southern Czech Republic. The organizers are seen in the photo at the right … five young adult professionals from Europe, America and the Middle East.

There is no corporate sponsor, no deep-pockets. Simply five visionary young adults – Ruha Reyhani, Clare O’Brien, Vahid Khamsi, Martin Kummel and Neysan Zölzer. They and the 230 young adult professionals from 40 nations who have attended this week-long conference on defining the future are, in my opinion, among the best and brightest of tomorrow’s leaders.

The five organizers all have “day jobs” yet have found the time to communicate and coordinate … mostly by email … a major conference that focuses on defining visionary leadership principles. In the process, they have attracted speakers from all over the world, ranging from actor Rainn Wilson, writer Holiday Reinhorn and Italian business leader Giuseppe Robiati to Dr. Moshe Sharon, a distinguished scholar from Hebrew University.

It’s intense – daily lectures and workshops for eight to 12 hours.

I have never before seen, known or participated in such a meaningful conference. My wife, Kit Bigelow, who is one of the speakers, has described the event simply as, “humorously soul uplifting.” I look at the faces of the young adults, and see the world’s future.

Check out this cool animated slideshow the Changing Times leaders created at the end of the conference, featuring the music of Andy Grammer.

Between now and the end of the year, I am attending and giving a series of lectures and workshops at the Changing Times European Young Adult Forum. It’s held at the Townshend International School in the southern Czech village of Hluboka nad Vitavou.

I have never before known of such an astonishing conference that brings together 230 young adult professionals from 40 countries to learn and share information. The best comparison, I believe, is to say that Changing Times, now in its 7th year, is approaching the caliber of the annual Davos Economic Forum … except Changing Times is for tomorrow’s world leaders. The young professionals at this conference are among the brightest people I have ever met. They come from academics, medicine, technology and business.

A few of the speakers include Dr. Moshe Sharon from Hebrew University in Jerusalem; Italian business leader Giuseppe Robiati; Mr. Ian Semple; Mr. Burhaniddin Afshin; actor Phillip Hinton; award-winning fiction writer Holiday Reinhorn; and, the popular American actor, Rainn Wilson.

I will be blogging about Changing Times over the next few days. In the meantime, here’s a short music video from the event …

(Prague, Czech Republic) I heard a lot about Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) during the Cold War. I was at CBS News at the time, and aware of the fine work done by RFE/RL journalists to inform the Russian people of what was really happening in their country, despite continuous attempts by the Soviet government to block RFE/RL’s broadcasts.

After the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, RFE/RL seemed to fall off my screen of awareness, mostly because I only knew of one facet of the news organization’s work. Yet, in the intervening years, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has quietly grown to become one of the world’s most important news services.

I recently toured RFE/RL’s headquarters in Prague with my wife, Kit Bigelow, as guests of Jeff Gedmin (right), the news organization’s President and CEO. RFE/RL’s news service into Iran, Radio Farda, was interested in interviewing Kit because of her role as Washington representative for the Baha’i Faith, a religion whose members in Iran are persecuted by the government.

We sat-in on the daily editorial meeting, attended by representatives from all of RFE/RL’s news teams. It was perhaps the highest level world news briefing I have ever witnessed.

Jeff and Abbas Djavadi, RFE/RL’s Associate Director of Broadcasting, gave us an eye-opening briefing on RFE/RL’s current and massive news operations around the world to deliver news to people in countries where a free flow of news and information is restricted, such as Iran and the countries of Central and South Asia, including Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. RFE/RL reaches into 21 countries in 28 languages, using short and medium-wave broadcasts, FM radio, and the Internet.

Unlike the Voice of America, which broadcasts news about the United States to countries around the world, RFE/RL’s role is more challenging … it is to cover the news in those frequently hostile places where governments work to suppress the media and free speech. Those governments sometimes take measures to stop RFE/RL’s news coverage by threat or murder. An RFE/RL journalist was gunned down just a block away from the news organization’s heavily guarded studios in downtown Prague. Other RFE/RL journalists have been detained or held for ransom in recent years.

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