Americans devalue age and experience. We crave vigor, good looks, innovation, newness and energy. Missing in our collective imagination is the elder statesman, the seasoned veteran and the battle scarred warrior. If we translate the foregoing proposition to political or corporate settings, we see that most of these folks have been either booted out of elected office or given an early retirement package. But right about now, their wise counsel would be invaluable.
Climbing the Corporate Ladder – Circa 1977
As a junior attorney in a large corporation, the presumption was that, like children, one should be seen and not heard. Prove oneself worthy, and maybe one would be mentored, as older senior managers were expected to impart their wisdom to their younger and more promising charges. A talented attorney or executive was “developed.” There were no instant promotions or large pay raises. The expectation was to slowly work one’s way up and “pay dues.” In my case, and I was typical, the dues were long nights of work, a constant schedule of unanticipated crises and resolutions, and travel away from home 75% of the time. If one demonstrated consistently good performance over an extended period, with luck one might be trusted to become a first level supervisor by age 40 or so. No one succeeded overnight.
Youth and Experience – Mays and DiMaggio
Continuing legal education is usually deadly boring. However, one of the best educators I ever came across was Irving Younger, who taught evidence and courtroom presentation. Younger loved to use sports analogies to enliven his lectures.
To demonstrate the errors of youth, Younger related a story from his time as an inexperienced sportswriter at the now defunct NY Herald Tribune. Returning from an afternoon game at the Polo Grounds he breathlessly described the Giants’ victory. The older reporters asked who was a better outfielder: Mays or DiMaggio? Younger replied that Mays had made the most amazing athletic catch, diving, tumbling head over heels, yet holding on to the ball. The older reporters said DiMaggio was the superior ballplayer. Younger was incredulous, again touting the superhuman athletic ability of Mays. Younger said he saw the older DiMaggio play the previous night and he looked like he was hardly moving. The reporters said, “kid, you don’t get it. DiMaggio made it look effortless because he knew exactly where the ball was going to be hit and was able to glide to the ball.” You can’t teach experience.
Youth has Outlived its Usefulness
In her Wall Street Journal article, Youth has Outlived its Usefulness, Peggy Noonan criticizes the Obama Administration for its failed economic policies and lack of bi-partisanship. Her criticism centers on the over emphasis on youth in politics:
…what I think people miss when they look at Washington and our political leadership? They miss old and august. They miss wise and weathered. They miss the presence of bruised and battered veterans of life who’ve absorbed its facts and lived to tell the tale.
And the lack of elder statesmen is not confined to our country:
Mr. Obama is young, 48, as is British Prime Minister David Cameron (43), with whom he meets next week, and as were Bill Clinton (46 on Inauguration Day) and the somewhat older but still distressingly young George W. Bush, sworn in at 54. Mr. Cameron’s partner in governance, Nicholas Clegg, is also 43. Stephen Harper of Canada is 51, Nicolas Sarkozy of France a youthful 55.
Ms. Noonan lays out the problem of youth and her vision of the remedy:
Youth is supposed to bring vigor and vision. In general, however, I think we find in our modern political figures that what it really brings is need—for greatness, to be transformative, to leave a legacy. Such clamorous needs! How very boring they are, how puny and small, but how huge in their consequences.
What Mr. Obama needed the past 18 months was a wise man…to offer counsel and perspective, a guy who just by walking into the room brings historical context. See Youth has Outlived its Usefulness
Perhaps President Obama’s lack of experience is finally catching up with him.
Send in the Old Guys
Alas, many of the elder statesmen of politics and industry have resigned, been voted out of office or packaged off to early retirement. When I was mid-career and actually designing some of these early out programs, I often wondered how much experience, perspective and corporate history were we letting walk out the door? And to what end? Would the corporation or government really run better without these older wiser voices?
At the highest levels of government, problem solving requires a blend of both youth and experience. The enthusiasm of youth needs to be tempered by caution and experience. Looking at the last several tumultuous years, we could have used more Winston Churchills, Harold McMillans, Konrad Adenauers and Charles DeGaulles to guide the current group of novice leaders.
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Tags: Charles De Gaulle, Harold McMillan, irving Younger, Joe Dimaggio, Konrad Adenauer, Peggy Noonan, Willie Mays, Winston Churchill
