Can you hear the shift change whistle? Because today the whistle is blowing for the accounting profession. The shift change is the transfer of the retiring baby boomers to the next generation of leaders that will be taking the helm in the next few years. Except this time it is not the same as the shipyard. This time the incoming shift will require a new set of skills and tools to continue the work of the prior shift. This time it is different. The shift change is different in five fundamental areas that are radically changing: 1. Technology - hyper-connected, mobile, social, cloud, and big data. 2. Generations - Generation gap, generation lap, and 2 for 1 (Boomers to Xers). 3. Workplace - Work is no longer a place we go, but what we do - open, collaborative, and flexible. 4. Leadership - A recent Harvard Business Publishing study found only 32% of business leaders believe that their organizations have the right leadership to achieve their strategic goals and cope with the current business environment. 5. Learning - L>C, flipped classrooms, participation and engagement are the new normal. The cause of the shift change is the rapidly changing and complex hyper-competitive environment which has become the new normal. The key to managing this shift change is a very simple, but very big idea - develop your talent and Keep your L>C. The winners of this shift change will be those who can keep their rate of learning greater than the rate of change and greater than their competition. This is true for the organizations as well as individuals. The secret to talent development and L>C is in the 4 C's - Competencies, Career Path, Curriculum, and Cloud Learning.