Wisdom @ Work, the Making of a Modern Elder

-Chip Conley

I’m thinking about retirement

Actually, I am really thinking about the next phase of my life.  This decade of the ’50s and ’60s is when most people begin to finalize their retirement plans or at least dream about what it will look like.  It usually involves leaving their work and career behind, doing some traveling, catching up on reading, hanging with grandkids.  You know - retirement.

I used to think that is what my life would look like, but alas, it seems God has other plans for me. Right at the time when I thought I was going to get to sit back and relax, He has me in hyper-growth mode.  I am being stretched and growing in lots of ways just at a time when I assumed I would be kicking back a little.

 The good news is that I kinda like it a lot! I enjoy adding value each day and knowing that I am doing something bigger than myself.   It is fun to be on a journey where it feels like God can still use me, even in my “older” age.  In fact, what has become clear to me is that my “older” age is what makes me so valuable.  I have something the younger crowd does not have: Wisdom and Experience.  Two things that only come from many years on this Earth.

 If you are transitioning into the next phase of life, read Wisdom at Work, the Making of a Modern Elder by Chip Conley.   After selling his own company in his mid-50s, Chip Conley thought retirement would be his calling.  However, he was asked to join a fledgling tech start-up company we now know as Air BnB.  The young guns who hired him needed him as a mentor and teacher, but he knew he would also need to have the attitude of student and intern in order to excel in that space.  

What evolved over time at Air BnB was a realization that experience and wisdom need to make a comeback in the workplace.  So many technology companies are founded and run by the 20’s and 30’s somethings who are struggling with social awareness due to growing up in the age of social media and with technology at their fingertips.  At a time when power is shifting to the young, companies are finally waking up to the value of the humility, emotional intelligence, and wisdom that come with age.

This book is part manifesto and part playbook igniting an urgent conversation about ageism in the workplace, calling us to treat age as we would other types of diversity.  Chip inspires us to embrace wisdom as a path to growing whole, not old.  So, if you are still in the workplace but feeling out of date, or if you are planning to retire soon but still want to add value by using your gifts, skills, wisdom, and experience, be sure to read this one.

Keep in mind the word “retirement” is not mentioned in the Bible.  Likely because God knows we have so much to offer, no matter where our feet fall.  So, if you choose to continue to do work that pays you or work that does not, please keep having influence and sharing your wisdom and experience.  You have so very much to offer.  The World needs you.