For leadership guru Warren Bennis, who at 83 teaches full time at the University of Southern California's business school, such ambivalence is a key issue facing the economy. "Organizations have to learn how to manage the people who keep growing and learning even as they get older," he says. Bennis still detects plenty of signs of ageism in corporate America.
In time, it's likely that prejudices toward older workers will be eroded less by the exploits of eternally youthful financiers, and more from a longstanding demographic trend. As they've moved through life, the baby boomers have altered societal attitudes on everything from smoking marijuana to Botox. As boomers coast into their golden years, it's likely the acceptance of older workers at every rung of the corporate ladder will grow. In the 1960s, the boomers' mantra was: don't trust anyone over 30. In the 2010s, it'll probably be: don't trust anyone under 70.
© 2008
This is a briliant article. For those 80 year olds up to the task I would love to work next to their wisdom and maturity. Comparing the 50 year old bank CEO to the internet twenty something is an apt comparison. It's just a different game at a different stage. To those 80 year olds it is more about giving back and creating some value and even legacy.
"Eighty Is the New Fifty" dumbest tag line I've ever read. At 50 you could trip on a rug and get brused, at 80 you'd likly break a hip, ribs or arm and never fully recover. Granted our senior members of society do contribute to our well being through thier knowlede and experience. But don't think for a minute that they (80 year olds) should still be in charge of mission critical, high stress positions. It probably would kill them from stress
Asking a 72 year old to run the company is one thing. Asking on to run the country is another. For one, it's not unheard of to have CEO for a year, or two. Second, the implications are far greater in running the country. It doesn't have the same implications it a ceo offends a foreign counterpart. And a CEO only affects the economy of their employees, not the whole country. I could go on and on....
MEDIA Just a year after buying The Wall Street Journal, the press rapscallion has revitalized the fusty paper.
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