It's Out There: Positioning and Packaging of SilentGen/Boomers as "Gerontology Leaders"

 "American gerontocracy."

That's the headline today in the influential Axios.  

What goes on to be the article by Mike Allen is not postive about aging leadership in America. It points out that if Joe Biden runs again in 2024 he will be 81. Donald Trump, if he goes for it again, he will be 78.

Allen argues that with all the change going on in every facet of American life most of the Genontology Gen is out of touch.

My take: Just consider the rapid mutations in technology.

I have to admit my own growing gap in that. Last night, the financial firm hiring me for part-time contract communications work specified the need for a photocopy of the front and the back of my driver's license. When I mentioned that to a GenZ couple, they showed me how I could do that on their Android phone and transmit it w/o scanning. Yes, they formatted it as a PDF. 

So, how can geriatric government leaders make policy in technology? And how much do they really experience about the value of diversity?

Now that Axios has put the perils of aging leadership out there, expect more condemnations.

Yes, we have become targets. I am a boomer.

Maybe with good reason we are being attacked. About six months ago I got it: There are work assignments in which I cannot add value because I am not a digital native. However, as I point out in this award-winning podcast (MediaDimensions), there are many professional tasks we still perform quite well. Our ability to survive and thrive depends on our continuing to experiment with what aspects of work we can add value.

That's the message we have to transmit. Otherwise our piece of the economic action could become lunch, dinner, and breakfast for Millennials and Zers.

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com. She helps businesses conjure up magic in their storytelling. One client said, "She makes shipping containers ‘sexy.’"

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