Ageism occurs in many different forms.  We brainstormed and came up with the following examples:

• Black balloon parties
• “You don’t look 40” (or any other age)
• Doctors not taking older patients
• Terms like “elderly,” “aged,” and “greedy geezers”
• Limited positive roles in TV and movies for older people
• People in their 20s being told they are too young to work with seniors
• The assumption that young people are computer whizzes and older people are computer-phobic
• Cosmetics focused on anti-aging
• The notion that mental ability declines with aging
• Old people are bored (not to mention boring)
• Lower ticket costs for older adults at the movies

If you have other examples, please share them with us by posting a comment.

 The EEOC receives 16,000 age-discrimination claims each year.  In corporate America, ageism can also take the form of:

• Underutilization of older or younger workers
• Not providing older workers training and development
• No longer promoting or selecting older workers for opportunities
• Providing internships for younger workers only
• Downsizing high earners regardless of performance
• Hiring younger workers at less than market pay
• Freezing salaries for older workers

If you have other examples, please add them to the list by posting a comment.  The more we are aware of ageism, the more prepared we can be to combat it.

 As a related resource, check out our September newsletter that looks at the cultural stereotypes that are visible in advertising and the effect that negative ads have on the older adult.  Also view the factual evidence that dispels the perception that mature workers lose value over time in the workplace.

 Posted by Margy:

 You can find me every evening watching the youth of the world twisting, jumping, running, diving, digging, hitting, rowing, spiking, leaping and bouncing as they compete in Beijing to wear the gold medal. Before the Olympics started, I didn’t plan on watching at all, but I’ve found myself immersed in the drama and stories. Mostly, however, I’m caught up in watching the amazing feats that these athletes perform.

 Before these games I thought beach volleyball was a game for people who didn’t have jobs and were waiting for the waves to get better.  I now know that these players have to work so hard to compete that beach volleyball has become their job, and they don’t have time for surfing. Over the countless practice hours they’ve become like husband and wife—so aware of each other, able to predict what move their partner will make, and ready for their own opportunity to finish the volley.  Some of the teams even have “spousal spats” when the volley does not go their way.

 I have been intrigued with water polo.  I don’t really understand the game, but I’m amazed that these swimmers’ feet never touch the ground for the entire game, even when they’re in the penalty box. What core strength they must have!

 As a young woman I did everything I could to avoid gym class. That wasn’t difficult because it was far more important then for girls to learn to cook, sew and attract a date for prom than it was to swim, run or throw a ball.  In fact, if you were athletic you better not ever let a guy know you were better than him or you would be staying home prom night.  So watching the men and especially the women perform at the Olympics makes me wish I would have not avoided gym but challenged my body to be the athlete that I could have been.

 I can still be the athlete I can be at this age, so it’s time to get off the couch, get out and move.

posted by Rick

 Coaching is about change and more importantly about courage. I have noticed that most of the clients I coach don’t see themselves as courageous or understand what courage really means. When I talk about courage with individuals pursuing change through the coaching process, I stress the following: 

• Courage is not defined as a lack of fear 
• Courage means doing something in spite of your fear 
• It is not courageous to do something that we are not afraid of doing. If we are afraid and still do it we are doing the hero’s task.

Author Susan McMahon in her book: The “Portable Therapist” makes the point that: “Being afraid is being human. Your fear is your feeling; your behavior determines your character”. Courage and change go hand in hand. Individuals facing change, even good change, are naturally, at times, afraid. What is critical to the individual pursuing any goal is to realize that your fear is your feeling; your behavior around your fear determines your character. Many times individuals pursuing change through coaching do not acknowledge or even realize their courageousness. It is one of the tasks of coaching to open client’s eyes to their courageousness. Individuals at times get stuck by the fact that they have feelings of fear or trepidation and equate this with weakness or powerlessness. The meditation I have above my desk from the aforementioned book by Susan McMahan states in part that: “Being afraid of being afraid can produce the exact outcome that one was trying to avoid in the beginning. The more we do when we are afraid the less fear we have. Acknowledge you fear, accept it without criticism, be gentle with yourself because you are afraid, and then do what you have to do anyway.” Know that going through the fear is the true act of courage the way of the hero.”

It’s monsoon season in Iowa.  If you don’t know where Iowa is, this will confuse you even more since we remain in the heart of the U.S.  For Iowans, it has been the year of the natural disaster including tornados, explosions and fires from lightening strikes and flash and not-so-floods.  I wish I could say this was happening just in Iowa but I can’t.  While the Midwest is making Costner’s Waterworld a reality, California is the embodiment of Firestorm (think Howie Long as a forest fire fighter); Arkansas and Tennessee experienced Twister and Texas just opened a very Mean Season.  Tired of environmental issues?  Then look to the global economy, housing, energy, the pandemic threat and other healthcare issues or the pounding we take each day from marketers.  Like many who approach Baby Boomers even The Dark Knight  is only coming for our money.

 If you thought you knew where I was going, get ready ‘cuz I’m not going there.  I’m actually feeling hopeful.  Surprised?  Despite all we face, my hope is cautiously rising as I watch people take care of and act for other people and for ourselves.  Perhaps our years of waiting for a “government” that never came or from being thoroughly disappointed when they did show up has forced us to resurrect our once-admired American can-do spirit. 

 Do I hope that this resurgence of volunteerism and social activism is being lead by Baby Boomers coming out of their stupor of stuff?  I certainly do but regardless of who may be leading the charge, I watch a gen-mix step up more and more with each event.  Executives are stepping out of Corporate America to volunteer their expertise in non-profits and think tanks.  Ex-politicians and oil barons are proposing energy solutions.  All of us are finding alternatives to cut our expenses and save for retirement.  More importantly, we’re re-finding our courage to make our thoughts known, especially thrilling in an age where expressing a difference of opinion is labeled as unpatriotic. 

 Perhaps we finally realize that no one is coming to save us and to our credit, we may actually be looking to save ourselves.  Today, Boomers have added education and experience to our sheer numbers, an exciting combination to influence outcomes across the world.  My sense of empowerment grows each day and I hear in my head Network’s newsroom anchor yell “I’m mad as #@*% and I’m not going to take it anymore.” 

 Check out our article, Volunteerism and get started doing what you can today.

By Dennis

“Let me tell you where I’m at in life”. This was the opening comments from Bill who is ready to make important decisions in his life. After completing the initial survey, he decided that Family was one of the Eight Essential Elements in which to begin work.

 Bill stated he has been reflecting on his life and also stated that a particular song he grew up with has just recently impacted him all over again. Like many boomers, Bill both enjoyed music and identified with many of the lyrics.

 It was December 1974, Bill was in the middle of work, family and marriage. At the same time Billboard Chart topping song was “Cats in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin.

Cat’s In The Cradle

 “The song could have been written for me”, Bill exclaimed. He went on, “did you know that Harry was inspired to write this song from a poem that his wife Sandy wrote? Harry wrote this song when he became upset with himself for missing his own son’s birth while on tour. It’s a song that was written out of the heart of a man in touch with his own weaknesses and an awareness of how easy it is to go through life and miss the really important things”

 “I wish I had spent more time with my family, I can’t turn back the clock but I want to make changes from here on out”, Bill said firmly.

 “I heard a minister talk about the Tireless Thirties, The Fiery Forties, Fabulous Fifties, Serene Sixties and I thought that’s me, I was all about the tireless, fiery side of life!”, Bill mused.

 “I told my family I was doing it for them. I’m putting in the 60 or more hours a week to provide for you. I know I missed a lot of the sports and school activities, but after all it’s quality time, not quantity, right?” Bill decided it is about both!

 “I may not be in the sunset years of my life, but I’m aware that it’s on the horizon and I’d like to have those people that are the most important to me, here to share the view.”

 Action oriented questions we developed for Bill to work with are as follows:

• What do I want my primary relationship to look like when we have more time with each other?
• What must I do to mend relationships with those I have neglected?
• How can I strengthen the relationships with those on my inner most circle?
• How close do I want to live to my children, grandchildren? Bill first wrote out his response to each of the above questions. While it was not easy, it was very meaningful and gave Bill new insight for the next part of his action plan. He decided that he would immediately initiate communication with several people on his “needs improvement list”, and if the person was not receptive now find a way to leave the communication door open.

Yeah Summer!

 Some of us living in the Midwest thought summer was never going to arrive. But our patience has paid off as we celebrate the wonderfully long days of sunshine and blue sky (with an occasional thunderstorm rolling through).

 Now the only question is how do we use these summer days to benefit us through the next long winter??

 A recently completed longitudinal study (1993 through 2006) done by Cambridge University found that people who practiced four healthy lifestyle behaviors lived an average of 14 years longer than people with none of these behaviors. The valuable healthy lifestyles were: 1. not smoking, 2. moderate alcohol consumption 3. being physical active, and 4. eating five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Not a surprise but the key to this study is that when all four behaviors were incorporated into a person’s life there was a significant increase in longevity.

 The study looked at 20,000 men and women between the ages of 45 and 79, clearly statistically significant and warranting further investigation of the findings.

 Summer affords us a perfect practice arena to begin making these healthy life changes. The opportunity to increase physical activity is a given in the summer months. Golfing, tennis, running, hiking, swimming, and gardening are just a few of the activities that can be enjoyed during the summer months. The longer days make these activities even more doable. All the reruns on TV are just one more incentive to get outside instead of lazing around on the couch watching TV.

 Gone to a fresh outside market recently? The availability of fresh, beautiful fruits and vegetables is a real gift to us in the summer months. Treat your palate to new flavors of unusual fruits and vegetables. Build your meals around vegetables with the protein being a side dish rather than the main entrée. The web is full of recipes to inspire you in ways to use the harvest of summer to your enjoyment.

 Moderate alcohol consumption is another habit that summer can foster. The many cool drinks like lemonade, iced tea, limeaids, and fruit spritzers serve as refreshing substitutes for alcohol. No matter how thirsty you are and how good a cold beer sounds, the reality is that beer will do nothing to quench your thirst. If anything, it increases your thirst and can promote dehydration. Consider limiting your alcohol to just your evening meals and then limit it to 1 – 2 glasses.

 One of the big fears some smokers have in relation to quitting is that they will gain weight. Well once again summer provides the perfect time to quit the smoking habit. All the opportunities for exercise will help keep that waistline under control. Also think of all the extra energy and lung capacity you will have if you kick the smoking habit.

 By incorporating these changes to your lifestyle you are increasing the chance of a healthy, longer life that will have you looking forward to summer for many years to come.

Posted by Keitha:

 What does workplace flexibility really look like?  We don’t know yet because, as U.S. employers in the 21^st century, we are in the midst of transition.  We have one foot in the traditional business models, principles and constructs despite the fact that they aren’t working in a global economy with a multi-generational workforce.  The other foot?  It’s still in the air while we try to identify what this workplace flexibility might look like and the impact it will have on business policies and practices.

 Chai Feldblum, Director of Workplace Flexibility 2010 at the Georgetown University Law Center throws out a challenge to us all, “We need to open up our understanding of the issues and then create new messages so that people can start to talk about the need for flexibility in a fresh way.”

 So, how can we begin to reshape our organizations in anticipation of creating fresh ways to look at flexibility?  The British-North American Committee (BNAC) in 2001 published a report on “Aging Populations in the Workforce” that offered the rectangular business structure instead of the traditional hierarchical pyramid. 

 The pyramid business structure has a large base of employees who over time are funneled into staff workers or up the chain of command to become managers and finally senior administrators.  The funneling criterion is based on education, knowledge, skills, and years of experience with the business.  This structure made a great deal of sense in the early days of business when an entrepreneur or family owner was the controlling executive of the firm.  But as large numbers of highly educated Baby Boomers began entering the workforce in the 50’s, they fueled incredible business growth.  The pyramid swelled with education, knowledge, experience and successes at all levels.  We know that successful businesses do not shrink to greatness so what will employers do as Boomers begin to exit pyramids all across the dynasty? 

 The rectangular business structure acknowledges the trend in population growth as looking more like a rectangle.  There will be a consistent pool of employees coming into the workforce with fewer population surges like that of the baby boomer generation.  But under the more realistic rectangular structure, how will employers engage, provide learning opportunities and promote employees when one of the previously important factors for advancement was based on years of experience in the business?  I would urge employers to begin understanding the issues, just as Feldblum suggested:

• How do we change the workplace norm to accept different criteria for advancement and succession for all the generations?
• Do we promote from within or bring in experience from the outside?
• In order to bring in “new blood” to management, how can we keep the experienced workers who are primarily baby boomers but who aren’t ready to leave the workforce?  Can we create parallel career paths that assign them to teams as mentors and trainers instead of as managers?
• Can we reshape our hiring processes to match employees’ responsibilities with their life interests?

The answers to these questions demand a new perspective and workplace flexibility.  What policies and practices do you need to change to create fresh ways of talking about flexibility?

Now that the Democratic nominee for U. S. President has been determined, as voters, we will be faced with an interesting psychological dilemma – how do we feel about age and competence?  I’m not talking about the overanalyzed question of who has the most “experience” but rather the always expressed but seldom analyzed perspective that younger workers are “better” than older ones.  If we hold this belief throughout our organizations to get our daily and perhaps mundane work done, why wouldn’t we potentially project this belief onto a role that has some of the most important and intense work in the world? 

 Given the very public example that is unfolding, this is the perfect time to examine our attitude about older workers no matter what position they hold in our organizations. 

 If we examine all the “CEOs” of the organization called the United States, the average age of all of our Presidents when they ascended to the position is 54.  And if you think our Founding Fathers would be the youngest, you’d be wrong.  Our Founding Fathers have been some of our oldest leaders.  The youngest to assume the role was Teddy Roosevelt at 42 and the oldest was Ronald Reagan at 69.

 If you want to consider how long our Presidents live beyond their service to our country, the average age is 70 with a range from 46 (he was assassinated) to 93 (he died in this decade of natural causes).  Again, our Founding Fathers had some of the longest lives of all Presidents.  Three of our past Presidents are still living today – Clinton (youngest still living), Carter and Poppa Bush (oldest still living). 

 But certainly, you wouldn’t use a candidate’s age, whether youth or maturity, as your sole criteria to promote a person to an executive position.  Certainly you’d consider their character and their ability to lead.  Well, no surprise, over the years psychologists have researched what makes a good president by comparing their personalities to historic results during their administrations.  Great presidents are extraverted, open to experience, achievement striving, excitement seeking and more open to fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions, ideas and values.  They have been poor on straightforwardness, vulnerability and order.  They are typically stubborn and disagreeable.  Historically, they were people of serious purpose, voracious readers, pushed by their parents and came from modest families in small towns.  I don’t know about you but this description of greatness appears to be ageless. 

 So when we “tease” any candidate for any position about their age, are we only disguising our belief that younger workers are better than older ones behind a thin veil of humor? 

Posted by Margy:

 I recently attended my son’s masters degree graduation. I was struck by the similarities and differences in our life stages, as all those “20-somethings” marched into the quadrangle to receive their degrees, proud of what they had accomplished, hopeful for the future and thrilled to be entering the work world. While awaiting the ceremony, I found myself thinking about my own 34-year career, what I had accomplished, and what my future would look like as I begin to leave that world of work, anxious to get on with the next stage of my life.

 In my personal experience, leaving the work world is as much of a challenge as is entering that same world. In both instances, people have to learn to survive and thrive. I will be reducing my work hours and responsibilities starting this month and the challenges I face, not unlike other retirees, is redefining my identity from a successful career woman to something else. I think the key to my successful disengagement from my history of work is in finding that “something else” that will create my personal, wonderful retirement.

 Recently, after reading the morning paper, I found myself skimming the want ads, something I’d not done in years. I asked myself what I was doing, and came to the realization that it was not that I wanted to find a job. I was looking for the comfort of doing something I knew how to do – work.

 Figuring out how one will spend their time and establish their identity in retirement is tough work. So the question is how does each of us find that “something” that will give us a reason to get up in the morning after we don’t have to. I think each of us needs to explore the possibilities for newness in our lives, and not get stuck doing what we know we can do or have already done. This is our opportunity to attend to those parts of ourselves that we have left dormant while trying to be successful in the world of work.

Not a summer goes by that I don’t think of that great old song:

“Summertime, and the living is easy.

Fish are jumping and the cotton is high.

Your daddy’s rich and your mama’s good looking.

So hush pretty baby, don’t you cry.”

Great lyrics and an appropriately laid back, lazy tune. Problem is, the lyrics no longer ring true. How about a 2008 version, something like: 

Summertime, and living’s not easy.

Gas is jumping and airfares are high.

Your ‘folio’s not rich, nor the markets good looking.

So go ahead baby, have a good cry. 

Done with that? OK, now to the essential point. As we age, the skills of resiliency and adaptability become all the more essential to our psychological, biological and social health and well being. Ironically, the present economic environment can be helpful in that regard. Not even the most died-in-the-wool control freak believes he can fight the near-daily rise in gas prices or make his case to the airlines. How do I know that? He’s me! And so, in the year I enter my 7^th decade, I’m being afforded (!) the opportunity once again to learn to let go of all that I can’t control, and make reasonable plans for things that might happen outside of my personal preferences..

 Perhaps, before summer’s end, I’ll have gotten closer to the benefits of living easy. I may even take up fishing!