Shownotes

So, age and ageism. Where do I start? Recognition of the issue comes I guess with lived experience and empathy. I truly believe that the intersectionality of my age and ethnicity were a barrier to my progress in the industry here in the UK. 6 years back when I was making my way back into the country after a longish stint abroad - I don't believe there were women who looked like me at leadership levels in the industry (feel free to disabuse me if this is just a notion and not a fact). 

In this episode of The Elephant in the Room podcast I talk 

👉🏾 About Serena Williams (go on have a listen to what I have to say about this legend)

👉🏾 Hitting a roadblock and finding my purpose @50 and why all women need to start giving more thought to their careers; 

👉🏾 Ageism in our industry; 

👉🏾 Negative perceptions and myths about people over 50; 

👉🏾 A global demographic megatrend and links to the SDGs; 

👉🏾 Why organisations should stop taking a siloed approach to engaging with current and potential talent from an inclusion perspective;  

👉🏾 The importance of challenging traditional representation of over 50s in the media that perpetuate harmful stereotypes and devalue their contribution

I believe that age is not just a number - it is about my backstory; my life experiences; failures and successes. We should not allow a number to define who we are or become a barrier to living life to its full potential.

And how brilliant is it that I have not mentioned the absence of 50's in Industry awards even once during the podcast? 

If you want to know more listen here👇🏾

Memorable passages from this episode of the podcast

👉🏾 Hey everyone, It's been a great week for me, for England fans and excellent news for bars and pubs. Not so much for Serena Williams though, who had to bow out of Wimbledon injured and frustrated at not having been able to win her 24th title. And before any one asks, I have not developed an all consuming interest in sports. What I am deeply interested in, however, is Serena Williams and her career where it is today. Along with billions of others I have always been a fan of this hugely talented, hard working sportswomen who has been almost invincible for the longest period in time. She has managed to maintain her ranking and status in the world through sheer perseverance shattering records..... until one day she could not....

👉🏾 Should she give up and fade away? With a personality and a drive like hers, it is very unlikely. I believe that the game is not as much fun, now it is more about besting herself and breaking a record. I am no tennis expert, nor am I her coach but what I can see is a women who is at the top of her game and has been great at what she does for the longest time ever.

👉🏾 As a woman and as a leader I feel we don't give ourselves the permission to stop being relentless in pursuit (PUH-SYOOT) of our goals - so that we are not seen as having failed. This mindset negates previous achievements and we begin to identify with that one failure. In the process we often can't see the wood for the trees. My advice (how brilliant would it be if she did actually listen) She should not allow herself to be defined by that one seemingly elusive record, and not get carried away by the narrative in the media about this invincible, all conquering person. 

👉🏾 Why am I talking about Serena Williams? It is because she is a legend and she is about to turn 40. In a sports where the average age of the top ten players is 25 she has defied experts by accepting and adapting to the challenges that come with age. And this episode of The Elephant in the Room podcast is about age and ageism. 

👉🏾 I am no font of wisdom, but a few setback in the last couple of years mean I am less naive about where we land in life - being good at what you do does not necessarily translate into success. The long and short of it is that I realised that my career does not have to follow a linear path, that there are different routes to leadership and that the definition of success is different for different people at different stages of their life. Have I said different too many times:) 

👉🏾 For me, Unfortunately, I hit a roadblock or should I say a wall at a time when I thought I would be doing some of my best work. What with two of the three kids happily settled in their careers and the third one on his way to completing uni. It was an unexpected curveball not being recognised for what you can do and of course, the empty nest didn't help. It is as if my raison d'etre had been taken away from me. Like most people faced with a difficult situation I was in denial for sometime and then very angry. But, this propelled me on a journey of learning and the launch of my podcast The Elephant in the Room and the my consultancy The Purpose Room. 

👉🏾 Incredibly, it freed me up to do things that I had been planning to do for years - volunteering my time for the charity sector; working with women to unlock their potential and best of all being in a position to choose who I wanted to work with and what I wanted to do. Not just thinking about these things but actually doing them. Not to say that I have suddenly cracked the code and become an insider. I am still an outsider, but I am fully in-charge of what I am doing and the choices I am making.

👉🏾 Unlike Sereena Williams most women tend to not have a plan about their careers. They work very hard to succeed, those with caring responsibilities struggle with it, until they have emerged on the other side where they find their own roadblock waiting for them. Can planning eliminate all their problems - No. But, what it can do is give you a good view of what is likely to come - and how you could overcome those hurdles or at least work around them. You wouldn't go on a trek without planning the route; you wouldn't go on a trip without thinking of the pros and cons - so why do we continue to disregard and not plan for our careers. 

👉🏾 When I spoke to Amanda Fone, the Founder of F1 Recruitment late last year she said something that resonated with me,' When you meet a woman that has got to the top, it is not coincidence, it is not. It is not luck. It is choices that they made'. And for most people with caring responsibilities these continue to be very hard choices. And often for women returning to work after a break The Elephant in the Room is not whether they have the skills or the ability to the do the job but that they want a flexible working options - can they work for three days/4days around their caring responsibilities. It is their ability to voice their needs, to feel they will not be penalised for asking. 

👉🏾 The one good thing that has come out of the pandemic is that organisations are more amenable to considering people's/individuals needs around flexibility and remote working. Will that make things easier for women.....! Since I am a glass half full kind of person - I will say that it is one down and a 100 other barriers to go. But, I am hopeful that in the next decade women will dismantle more barriers than they have in the past 100 years. There are incredible women and organisations working to pave the way and there is much to be hopeful about. 

👉🏾 When I launched my consultancy The Purpose Room www.thepurposeroom.org last year it was about finding my why? The idea of the consultancy took seed when I was on a quest to find my own North Star. It wasn't easy, I had to step back, take time to breathe and accept where I was. I hadn't given much thought to my career trajectory even though I loved what I did and continue to love what I do. My family and caring responsibilities always determined where I was on the journey. If I became a leader and lead an agency it was by chance and because I excelled at what I did and not because I planned for it. All the soul searching and learning led me to discover that in my 50s purpose has a very different meaning to what it was a decade ago. Now, it is about being intentional and authentic towards reaching a desired goal, and most importantly towards challenging the status quo.

👉🏾 Today, It means working towards making the world better for me as well as for others, now I am obsessed with finding ways to make a real difference. A big part of what I do is about giving back and positively impacting the lives of others, family, networks, community, society and the world at large. The 12 Weeks to Leadership programme that we run under the aegis of The Purpose Room is about helping all women understand the labyrinth of cultural and systemic issues that can impact women and empower them with a deeper understanding of the key blockers to career progression.

👉🏾 So, being over 50, in the end, turned out to be a liberating experience for me. Though I could have done without the heartache, the closed doors, the lack of support but I am not waiting for someone to lead the way anymore and enable change. I have build my own networks, launched my podcast - so people without a voice have a voice and I live a purposeful life every single day. I want to make everyday count. My role is now of an enabler and facilitator - not everyone needs to jump through the hoops, and suffer heartache or financially. 

👉🏾 Like I said earlier I embarked on my learning journey because I hit a roadblock. That roadblock had been building up for years - decisions I had made in my 20s/30s and choices in my 40s - they had all converged to be a barrier that was almost my undoing. The choices combined with my intersectionality - ethnic minority women in her late 40s, without the networks in the industry - that was my undoing, almost. I could not speak up or speak out - this is classic double bind most women face. Which brings us to the question of the make up of the PR industry - we work in an industry that is notoriously ageist and gravitates towards younger people not just because they are cheaper to hire but because leaders believe that older people are unlikely to have the skills or the flexibility to collaborate and engage. And hand on my heart I have nothing but respect for young people today. 

👉🏾 The need for agencies to be representative and reflect the societies in which they operate has gained ground in the last year. And agencies have stepped up to their efforts to be more inclusive and diverse. Ageism however continues to be a non-issue and is not on the agenda for most. Our working culture favours younger employees and most leaders actively enable the narrative of younger workers as the silver bullet to bridging the skills gap and business success.

👉🏾 Recently WPP CEO Mark Read stepped right into it when he declared at an investor call that, 'the average age of someone who works at WPP is less than 30. They don't hark to the 1980s luckily,' he said. He got panned for it on social media but did not lose his job - ageism and being ageist is still not a thing for which you lose your job. The reality is Mark Read said what most leaders believe and promote, he just got caught speaking about it. It is ironical that this came from a 54 year old white man. He is emblematic of the wider issue at the leadership level. Being older is not a problem for everyone, it is a problem for the disenfranchised, for those who are older and do not have either the power or the networks to make themselves heard or their voices count. 

👉🏾 Brands are constantly identifying new ways to reach younger audiences millennials, GenZ and younger demographics, often competing for their attention. Why do they continue to disregard the staggering 23 million people aged over 50 in the UK, people who have the money power - is it youth bias; bias towards what is new? As the PR industry we have to take some responsibility for this, we are complicit. 

👉🏾 In April 2019 when Vogue and L'Oreal published a special edition of the magazine celebrating women over 50 it aimed to challenge stereotypes and positively shape perception of age through representation. And I am sure it was some smart PR practitioner somewhere or in their own team who gave them this brilliant idea. So, it is not as if people don't understand issues around ageism, it just that we choose not to act on them. 

👉🏾 Population ageing is one of the 4 global demographic 'megatrends'. By 2050 one in six people in the world will be over 65 years of age. A UN Report on World Population Ageing 2019 talks about how declining fertility and increasing longevity is going to lead to a continuously growing share of older persons in the population. It states that 'Preparing for the economic and social shifts associated with an ageing population is essential to ensure progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) included in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Trends in population ageing are particularly relevant for the Goals on eradicating poverty (SDG 1), ensuring healthy lives and well-being at all ages (SDG 3), promoting gender equality (SDG 5) and full and productive employment and decent work for all (SDG 8), reducing inequalities between and within countries (SDG 10), and making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (SDG 11). 

👉🏾 From where we are today I can see us not being able to make inroads on most of the SDGs. It was my father's life aspiration to retire at 50, he finally did at 55 years of age. Me, I have just found my calling, I don't see myself retiring anytime soon. This is also my second innings. The first half of my life I did what I had to - with The Purpose Room I am looking forward to living my purpose. I have also suddenly found my voice as an individual and the courage to stand up for my beliefs. I am sure this is not unique to me. Age and experience can free you up to speak your mind, say it as it is and be yourself. What could be better than knowing your job and having the ability to give clients advise without having to sugar coat any of it? 

👉🏾 Especially at a time when people are beating the drum for authenticity? 

👉🏾 Like racial inequality or any inequality ageism is not new. It has been around for aeons, why does it matter now. It matters when you think of how long we are likely to live, that the age for pensions is constantly being pushed back, that we need to work for longer to be able to lead a good life (by your definition) often through necessity rather than choice. But, it also because we still have a lot to contribute to society, working helps us remain socially connected and gives our lives a purpose. To make this a reality would mean dismantling biases embedded within the recruitment process including myths around 1) They are not good at collaborating 2) Are not savvy and don't understand the latest social and digital trends 3) Don't respond well to authority 4) They want a higher salary 5) May undermine their authority or lack of 6) It is a stop gap. 

👉🏾 When I was still in the job market, I continuously heard from various recruiters about the skills shortage in the industry. Things have not changed drastically since but recruiters continue to disregard a huge chunk of the talent pool because it does not comply with their idea of who would be a good fit. Organisations need to start thinking about how they can utilise the skills and vast experience of this demography. Much work needs to be done to create the enablers for an inclusive and equitable workforce - why don't organisations take a holistic view of the talent pool, rather than taking a siloed approach. The current approach by most organisations is not fit for purpose. They don't know how to engage with senior talent (and may lack the impetus for doing so) and neither do recruiters. If nothing else the Equality Act can serve to be a deterrent for discrimination based on age. In the past the TUC has called for measures that extend working lives without further widening inequalities.

👉🏾 We know that the number of people over 50 in employment has been steadily growing over the last two decades. However, the pandemic and subsequent disruption across industries has especially impacted older workers. More than a million workers over the age of 50 are still on furlough, raising fears of a new wave of redundancies for this age group. The biggest risk being that those who drop out of the workforce are twice as likely to remain long term unemployed. In a recent Centre for Ageing Better report, The State of Ageing Half of workers aged 50-69 say their job is excessively demanding and around one in three say they have a lack of control at work. It says low control and high demand roles are damaging in the short term and unsustainable over a working life. A McKinsey research shows that 25 per cent of an employee’s overall life satisfaction is determined by their job satisfaction. The most important factors in job satisfaction are having an interesting job and having good interpersonal relationships. 

👉🏾 What can organisations do to integrate senior talent, treat them as valued members of the team and enable job satisfaction? 

👉🏾 As practitioners we constantly work with clients to get their campaigns on the front page of newspapers and create a buzz on social media channels, so we are best placed to champion age inclusivity within the industry and with our clients. A potential starting point is challenging traditional representation of over 50's in the media that perpetuate harmful stereotypes and devalue the contribution that they make to business and society. It also means that people in general and women in particular should also take ownership of their future and not leave everything to chance; review it every five years; engage in continuous learning and leverage your strengths against future skills; be an active part of industry networks; become your own advocate and champion. 

👉🏾 Age is not just a number - it is your backstory; it is your life experiences; it is about your failures and successes. Don't allow a number to define who you are and become a barrier to living your life to its full potential. 

END

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