CEO & CLO of Age Brilliantly, Jerry KanPh.D., JD, empowers people and businesses to create boundless leadership, lives and legacies.
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Thanks to the gifts of longevity, science and technology, people are living longer. As the Stanford Center for Longevity notes: “The 100-year life is here.”
Unfortunately, some people are afraid of the long-lived economy. Those who ask, “Who wants to live forever?” ignore the advancements in health and technology that enable adults to live long, fulfilling lives, inclusive centenarians running marathons. Furthermore, some have a negative view of career opportunities: “If we are expected to live longer, then we will will have to adjust some life goals and also work longer.” Thinking that the current 40-year career is a Career of 60 years (registration required) can be daunting.
Pioneers, however, are already moving from one job to the next as they sew together a series of adjacent and non-linear careers that allow them to pursue income, passion, and/or purpose at different times. Instead of climbing a corporate ladder, they change direction, with stops and starts as they go to school for greater expertise and/or take sabbaticals to reassess goals and enjoy the wonders of the world. The focus is on continuously developing yourself and contributing to society as long as it lasts you want to.
It’s time we celebrated the opportunities a 100-year life brings to ourselves and our teams. That starts with developing the right mindset and upgrading our businesses.
Update your mindset.
In my experience, professional longevity benefits from three key growth mindsets.
1. Practice intentional planning.
We can’t develop concrete plans for everything that might happen during our adult lives, but we can develop a general path for navigating the near-infinite options before us based on experiences and interests. Identify your passions (e.g. engineering, healthcare, education) and goals (e.g. social justice, climate control). Always keep learning so that you have the necessary skills and experiential intelligence to find new career opportunities that excite you. Take a holistic life perspective: don’t neglect your need for good health, financial security, and strong relationships.
2. Learn from role models.
Look for role models in industries besides your own who have experience taking on new roles. For example, Tom Mihaljevic (MD) joined the Cleveland Clinic in 2004 as a cardiac surgeon. When the company decided in 2015 to expand Cleveland Clinic’s DNA to a new facility in Abu Dhabi, he took on the task. While there, he learned how to use digital tools and restructure health care models, and beyond became the CEO of the company.
Other role models to consider include leaders who lost their jobs and chose to start or return successful businesses through education and social causes. They can provide valuable insight into what obstacles to expect and how to overcome them while maximizing life.
3. Help others recognize the pioneers.
Young adults have grown up learning about the three-stage 65+ life model: early education, focus on work and family, and retirement for a few “golden years of leisure.” 100 years of life. Inspire them with stories of pioneers who continued their careers as long as they wanted (e.g., Justice Ginsberg, 87; Henry Kissinger, 99; and Iris Apfel, 101), engaged in sports and art passions (e.g., Fauja Singh, 100; Tony Bennett, 95) and dedicated to a cause through teaching and philanthropy (e.g. Ray Dalio, 73). Even better, be a role model and share with your family and friends why your choice is life-fulfilling!
Upgrade your business model.
The pandemic fueled people’s desire to live holistic, integrated lives that meet their needs for personal and professional fulfillment. Today, business leaders are responding with a variety of hybrid office options designed to increasingly meet these needs. Here are several ways you can transition your business from the work-to-retirement-around-65 model to the 100-year integrated life model.
• Look for business pioneers.
Some companies are addressing talent acquisition challenges by offering training programs for older workers. Other companies are rethinking how best to empower their entire workforce to maximize opportunities for work, learning, leisure, family, passion, and purpose throughout their 100-year life.
Unilever is an excellent example. They are committed to changing the Future of work in the company by recognizing that employees “want more than the traditional 40-hour/40 weeks/40 years of work. Older and more experienced employees are increasingly choosing to work longer hours.” They implement different programs and evaluate the impact for themselves and share insights with other companies.
• Leverage the expertise employees have developed over their long careers.
Many companies recognize the value of DEI for employees and better performance. A special area of focus is encouraging employees who have developed experience and expertise over many years to share it as mentors and advisors. Look for the skills your employees have acquired outside the company (for example, taking computer, law, or writing classes). To remind, Ray Croc was a salesman for a salesman when he discovered the business opportunity that would become today’s McDonald’s.
Also, eliminate restrictive “retirement-focused” policies. When an occupational pension plan puts employees at a financial disadvantage for any reason (e.g. phasing out full-time employment), encourage employees with expertise to leave when they otherwise could have stayed.
• Encourage lifelong learning by all employees.
With age and experience, people develop new interests, including a desire to adapt new tools and skills that allow them to grow personally and professionally. For example, people involve me almost daily in conversations to explore the possibilities of artificial intelligence. Does your learning team capture employee curiosity and cultivate their contributions to achieve your company mission?
• Use flexible models that facilitate collaboration and customer loyalty
Use a flexible and flexible organizational model, such as the team-of-teams approach, to facilitate collaboration and learning about other careers. Unlike traditional silos, this makes it easier for employees to collaborate and support each other in hybrid situations. This can generate more customer trust and loyalty.
In short, the true gift of longevity isn’t more years – it’s the quality of those years that counts. We can achieve that quality through deliberate planning and strategic execution. As individuals and business leaders, let’s embrace these opportunities.
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Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.