Age does matter in the game of musical jobs

Job tenure for senior and middle managers continues to shorten. A study by Greg Welch of Spencer Stuart suggested that the average tenure of a CMO is now down to 23 months. Now I know some who have lasted no more than 3 months, and a few who have been in the job for years. The reality is that a newly appointed CMO is likely to be out of the job quite fast.

The other issue is that over 50, however talented and energetic someone might be, the chances of landing a new position in corporate life are slim. So in the game of musical chairs which is today's job market, a typical CMO who is perhaps in his or her late 40s, is quite likely to find that unemployment strikes just as they reach an age of diminished employability.

Therefore, trite though it may be, itis key that managers in their late 40s take great care to hang on to their jobs.

The decline in belief in all our institutions

In the past few generations we have seen much which makes us lose faith in our institutions. We see corporate chieftains found guilty of falsifying financials. Politicians seem to compete in taking bribes and we see others do every thing they can to protect colleagues. Doctors hide incompetence, the military engages in cover-ups of incompetence or illegal actions. Enron is not alone.

We wonder why voting turnout keeps dropping, yet we see that a political contribution is more valued than a vote. We are exposed to political ads which tell us that each candidate is corrupt or incompetent. Drug companies withhold evidence of dangerous side-effects. Tobacco companies denied that cigarettes caused lung cancer, energy companies that power generation or gasoline powered cars are causing global warming. Journalists fabricate stories. Perhaps this has always happened, but we now have a constant stream of evidence of it. Our faith in the good intentions and integrity of all the institutions which make our society work has been eroded.

We need to demand higher standards from all who lead us.

You can't make peace if you only talk to your friends

It has long surprised me that so many people who need to work with others will not talk to those whom they dislike or distrust. Whether it is two nations with common borders, or two managers who work on the same team, the only effective way to make the relationship work is to talk extensively with those whom we dislike and distrust. To refuse to talk to those whom we regard as enemies and competitors is self-destructive. This does not mean that we have to acquiesce when we do not want to, but simply talking and discussing the issues is the only way to resolve them.

The prime of your life

Today we heard about FDA approval of a new shingles vaccine for people over 60. Shingles is a devastating illness which hits older people. It causes intense pain, and often the nerve sheath damage is so great that it never goes away. There is no painkiller which works, so news of a vaccine is wonderful.

The phrase "the prime of your life" is applied so often, and it seems to mean whatever age you are now. Parents say it to children when they are twenty, spouses at thirty or forty. The reality is that these days, the prime of your life can easily be in your fifties, sixties or even seventies. People today can have remarkable physical fitness, mental acuity, energy, and a powerful knowledge base as they reach ages at which a hundred years ago they would have been regarded as old.

Yet, society does not make good use of these people. FOr each middle-aged person who is underused because of age perception, we are hurting ourselves and society.

The half life of credentials

There is a time for everything. The High school you go to, and the extra-curricular activities in which you indulge will help you to get into a great University. Graduating from a great University helps you get into an "academy" company or organization which is known for quality training. That first job will help you to get a wonderful second job. However, if you step off the ladder for any length of time, it is much more difficult to get back. The older your credentials, the less value they have. The homeless Harvard graduate may be rare, but it is possible. If you were to look at a cross-section of people in each age cohort, it would be clear that as the cohorts age, more members drop to a lower level, while only a few continue to rise all their careers.

Over the past few years, I have been quite involved in company and University alumni groups, and it is unfortunate to see that the percentage of members who have fallen off the ladder rises with age. In fact, the higher the 40 year old rises, the higher the proportion who fall off in their 50s. It is easier to maintain the respectable, but undistinguished career than the shooting star.

Loyalty is not for ever

Businesses confuse customer loyalty with the kind of loyalty which we mean in patriotism. Customer loyalty is not necessarily linked to emotional loyalty, but purely to behavior. When a customer switches, he or she is disloyal. Now this may be because he or she moved and has to change, say cable company, or airline most frequently flown. So when companies put a lot of emphasis into measuring satisfaction, they are only measuring one component. Customers are also loyal because of convenience, contracts, exit barriers, peer pressure, and they may outweigh dissatisfaction measures.

Behavioral measures in so many things are far more valuable than perceptions and attitides of mind. This is why such analytical tools as Dunn Humby are so much more valuable than attitudes. This is why anthropology can be more valuable than psychology in that it centers around observed behavior rather than claimed behavior.