How to not age-out of your job

I just finished reading the latest in a series of posts by older folks who—much to their surprise—were abruptly laid off after decades of often exemplary employment. I’m not sure these events were really as surprising to the authors as described.

These days, anyone over 50 in just about any business finds themselves looking over their shoulder at the people coming up behind them and wondering if it’s time to think seriously about beating a timely exit. They wonder if they can compete any longer (or really want to) and they aren’t sure their painfully acquired skills still have value. They feel like the goalposts keep getting moved, the new metrics sound foreign and the teams, players, and decision makers keep getting younger. 

But whether the layoffs were shocks, surprises, or maybe even overdue, they are part of a much larger and more serious issue. Too many businesses in these very challenging times are discarding seasoned professionals and dumping (arguably) more expensive and older talent. 

If you’re in the hot seat, what specifically can you do to secure your spot, protect your position, show your strengths and value, and try to discreetly slow the steamroller before they toss out the wrong people with the bathwater? 

First, keep learning. Companies often lose sight of the need to invest in the future which means, in part, investing in their people. But, ultimately, the “keepers” in any business are the ones who keep learning and growing rather than standing still. 

Second, remember that computers and machines only really show us how powerful they are when they stop working. It doesn’t hurt to discreetly remind the boss who it was that fixed things the last time they broke. There’s no compression algorithm for experience. We learn and get better over time and through constant iteration as well as plenty of mistakes.

Third, the folks who are building future technologies are certainly important, but business today always depends on the teams that keep the lights on, the train on the tracks, and the clients and customers secure in the knowledge that there are responsible grownups in the room who they can depend on in a crunch. 

Vision and wisdom are two radically different skill sets and the best teams take advantage of their people’s relative strengths in each area. Rampant activity may be a cure for an entrepreneur’s anxiety, but busyness isn’t the same as business. Planning and prudence still have a great deal to do with building a business that will be around for generations. 

Howard Tullman is a Chicago Star board member and G2T3V general managing partner.