Fair warning: The hard truths below may not be politically correct, and may even offend a few “mature” workers. But I am well into the final decade of my own career and count myself among the legions of old geezers who are fighting an uphill battle for continued career acceleration and relevance on the job. Like medicine and therapy, what’s best for us isn’t always pleasant.
* * * * * * * * * *
“I don’t want to spend my last ten years working as hard as I have for the previous thirty,” a friend recently admitted to me. “But I also don’t want my career to flat-line.”
And with those comments he neatly captured the dilemma facing many people in the final chapter of their careers. They are still ambitious in terms of wanting promotions, new opportunities to contribute, more status, more money, etc. And at the same time many of them don’t have the same internal “fire” for work they used to have. They have other priorities including time with family and friends, a personal “bucket list,” or other things that have become important to them. Plus there is the reality of aging. Our 50ish bodies and minds don’t have the same capacity as they did in our 20’s and 30’s.
Older workers also have to deal with the perceptions of others in the workplace, and the reality that they are competing with younger, often more aggressively ambitious colleagues, for every significant promotion and career opportunity.
Companies are much more willing to invest in a younger person who has perhaps a 30-year trajectory ahead of them. They are more willing to assign them to growth projects and “stretch” assignments. And the unspoken truth is that often people are simply waiting/hoping for the older worker to pack it in and retire.
So if you, like me, are an “old geezer” with a little kick left, what can you do to maximize the final years of your career? I can assure you that the tips below will help, and I can also assure you that your initial reaction may be resistance because these may not be easy or natural for you. Like I said before, the best medicine sometimes tastes the worst. So here we go…
1. Master the technology your younger colleagues are using. Do whatever it takes to get up to speed with the workplace technologies that others around you are using to boost productivity. Especially the basic everyday apps that your younger colleagues are using to boost productivity. In the minds of others at work, almost nothing more powerfully tags you as a “dinosaur” as being the one person who has to have help converting a Word document to .pdf format or editing your PowerPoint slide master. For internal systems and applications, you may need to find someone at work who can help you. But for all external/public applications I would go outside for tutoring. Take a class, live or online. Or buy a book. Get a smartphone. Buy a tablet. And use them.
2. Reject the idea that you are owed something for your years of service. This isn’t about what is right or moral or legal. It is about helping you adopt a mindset to accelerate your career path. If you hold on to even the slightest sense of entitlement, a feeling that something is owed to you, in subtle ways you give yourself permission to coast a bit. In business today, your contributions over the past decades aren’t relevant – it is the value you are creating for the business TODAY that matters.
3. Show your vitality. There is an element of theater in business, and you want to make sure you are putting on a daily show of vitality and energy. You are pushing against the perception that your age means less energy and less mental acuity. In reality of course, as we age there is a decline. We can minimize it with healthy habits, but we can’t avoid it completely. But to prevent this from impacting your career progress you’ve got to project the energy and vitality of someone at least a decade younger.
So stop talking to work colleagues about your age or health issues. Yeah, I have the aches and pains and twinges and spasms. And when you get together with your geezer friends it is natural to fall into a conversational comparison of hip replacement techniques. But at work, NO ONE should hear any of this. It just reminds people of your age and reinforces perceptions of decreased vitality.
4. Stop pointing out problems. Use your experience to create innovative solutions. Because you have so much experience, and because you have seen so many things tried in so many ways, you will OFTEN know that certain ideas or approaches are unlikely to work. And it is OK to OCCASIONALLY share the wisdom of your experience. But many of us fall into a pattern of ALWAYS being the one to point out why something won’t work. Even if you are right, eventually people start dismissing your comments because they don’t want someone who is always pointing out problems. Instead try using all of your experience to come up with unique and innovative solutions. And if those solutions can leverage technology (see first item above) that’s even better.
5. Be younger. Thinner. More energetic. I almost didn’t include this last point because it is so sensitive. Focusing on the cosmetic aspects of aging seems shallow, but this is a big part of the way others view us. If you’ve gained a few pounds each year and are now on the “heavy” side, if your hair has gone gray, if you walk more slowly, all of these things definitely impact the way others perceive you.
So don’t be shy about coloring your hair – yes, a little gray can look nice, but generally this is only true if you have a physically fit, trim physique. Pudgy men and women with gray hair just look…old. And seriously, it isn’t too late to get back in shape. Losing even twenty pounds tends to make you look at least five years younger. And the added energy you gain from being more physically fit will help as well.
I’ve had enough conversations with older workers to know that many of you are already thinking through why these suggestions won’t work for you. God bless you and your bad knees. For those of you who are willing to step up and push for a few more years of energetic relevance at work, I would be thrilled to hear about your experiences with these ideas.