Retirement age is not a number

The other day, as a board member of a company, I was consulted for my opinion on extending our executive retirement age from 60 to 65.

Here was my response:

Research upon research has shown that companies create their own headaches with rigid, one-size-fits-all mandatory retirement policies. An officer turns 60, the door closes and almost immediately, a leadership vacuum opens.

So what happens?

The company quietly rehires the very same officer as a “consultant.”

We show people the door, then let them back in through the service entrance.

I have plenty of opinions on this, but here is mine, plainly stated:

I am very much in favor of extending the retirement age to 65, provided three conditions are met.

The officer is willing.

The officer is capable.

The officer is healthy.

Meet those three, and I say yes.

And speaking as a person who is no longer young, my conviction on this only grows stronger with age.

Funny how that works.

Wisdom doesn’t retire.

Only chairs do.

I was recently reminded, through the work of executive coach Jerry Colonna of the leadership firm Reboot, of a client of his: a longtime, capable leader who had spent her last few years in an increasingly uncomfortable role.

She wasn’t worn down by the work itself.

She was worn down by what people were whispering about her age.

“I know what they’re saying about me,” she told him. “That I should retire, that I’m too old for the work I’ve always done.”

Nothing about her had changed except the number on her birth certificate, and yet that alone had her questioning her worth. (Jerry Colonna, writing in Inc.)

That story is worth sitting with because I’ve watched versions of it play out in my own boardrooms.
The moment a title starts wearing the person instead of the person wearing the title, everyone around the table seems to notice — except, often, the person himself.
But here’s the thing: That’s information, not an eviction notice.

The fact is that nobody has ever been fired for being competent past 60. People get shown the door for being irrelevant at 30.

So how does a leader who isn’t ready to go handle the whispers instead of being handled by them?
A few things I’ve learned from watching this play out — badly and well:

Name it before someone else does. Silence is an invitation for speculation.

Open the floor.

Let people bring their concerns directly to you instead of to the coffee machine.

Admit the obvious, then draw the line.

Yes, you will retire someday, and everyone does.

Say so plainly.

Then say just as plainly: That day is not today.
And here is why.

Separate the person from the pattern.

Ask your team, honestly, what they think has changed in how you lead.

Sometimes they’re reacting to your age.

More often, they’re reacting to a decision you made on purpose and mistaking intention for decline.

Perhaps there are people there waiting for you to leave the office so they can take your place.

All of which are not viable reasons why you, as a still efficient, experienced and mature executive, should.

Keep the door open, not the throne.

Let people raise the subject freely, again and again, if they need to.

Most critics go quiet once they’ve been heard.

It’s the ones who were never allowed to speak who keep whispering.

Retirement age is not a wall you hit.

It’s a door you get to choose to open — or not.

If you’re on the other side of this, quietly certain it might be time to go, the harder work isn’t convincing the board.

It’s convincing yourself.

Sit with a few honest questions:

Is the work you set out to do actually done?

Could someone else pick up where you left off without the company missing a step?

And the one that matters most:

Who are you when the title is gone? If the answer is, “I don’t know,” that’s not a reason to cling to the chair.

It’s a reason to find out, on your own terms, before the choice is made for you.

Mark Twain put it best: “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

There is no universal right age to step down. Not 60. Not 65. Not 71. Some leaders should have handed over the reins years ago. Others still have their best chapters ahead of them.

What matters isn’t the number. It’s the willingness, the capability, the health and the honesty to know—and say — which season you’re in.
So if someone asks me when I’m retiring, my answer remains the same as it’s always been: One day. But not now. Not yet!

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