Reading time 2 minutes.
Can a leader improve with age?
The answers are:
- Definitely yes!” as long as we stay in the cycle of learning, unlearning, and relearning.
- “Nope.” if we succumb to psychosclerosis, hardening of the mind.
Zoomers and Super Zoomers: Warren Buffet, Oprah, Herb Kelleher, Hillary Clinton, Richard Branson, Bill Gates senior, Bill Gates junior, and Peter Legge are examples of people who seem to get better with age.
The symptoms of psychosclerosis are: (a) constantly feeling overwhelmed by work; (b) think that the paper is too much; and (c) inability and unwillingness to use the experience to find the way out. Every leader/manager has these feelings at one time or another, but psychosclerosis keeps us stuck in a rut.
An aging and spirited leader/manager sees new challenges as bigger than the individual, and therefore worth taking on. He uses the experience to gather all the resources, both human and material, necessary to meet the challenge. Recognize that failure is always a risk but that it matters less because, again, experience tells Zoomer and Super Zoomer that something different, if not better, comes out of failure.
This adaptability of aging emotionally intelligent leaders/managers is a key attribute in determining who will thrive and who will not. It’s also the defining trait of the toughest of Super Zoomers – think Clint Eastwood here.
Taking on roles that are not “age appropriate” brings back the juice that rejuvenates the body, mind, and spirit. Empathy for self and others gives an aging leader the ability to see opportunity where younger ones see only failure.
My favorite story of the old cowboy and the rookie illustrates the difference.
The old cowboy and the rookie were riding up a hill looking for support horses. The rookie, who has better eyesight and energy, shouts excitedly, “Look, there’s a herd of horses down there. Let’s gallop and cut off the best stallion.” The old cowboy sighed and replied, “Let’s go trotting down and round them all up.”
Aging leaders/managers can gain greatness and respect in the eyes of others when we are thrust into a role that requires experience, perspective, and courage. Great aging leaders – Zoomers and Super Zoomers – envision and inspire others to an alternative and better vision of the world.
We do this by:
- learning from experience,
- Unlearn and drop what no longer works,
- Relearn the wisdom of the past.
- We are also learning to be a valued and respected part of a business 2.0 world.