The Greatness of Gray
I recently thought about two concerts I attended many years ago in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The first in 1967 and the second in 1986, and both performances by one of the world’s greatest guitarists. A master who had spent a lifetime transcribing the works of the great composers for guitar and considered a master performer for over 75 years.
I will forever remember those concerts. A small, stout man walking out from the wings to a chair in the middle of the stage. He took a few moments to get comfortable in his chair and then, after a brief pause, he began to play. No microphones, no sound reinforcement system. Just him, his classical guitar and an audience of several hundred people. People so reverent of his stature in music that, as the saying goes, you could hear a pin drop. Astonishing performances by a world renown musician.
His impact on the world of classical guitar remains to this day. It lives on through his students and their students. It lives on in his astounding number of recordings. I am referring, of course, to the artistry that was, and is, Andres Segovia.
But I write this not about the life of Segovia or his artistry and legacy. I write this for the business community. For all the companies in search of their most valuable resource: people. I write this for the hiring managers and human resource departments of every company. For you are the frontline gatekeepers — the ones who hold people’s futures in your hands. Your jobs are to seek, hire and maintain the best of the best. You are the ones scanning hundreds of CV’s searching for candidates who hit all the keywords within their cover letters and résumés.
It is a formula that has been adopted to filter out undesirables. With those filters in place you hope to find individuals that fit the skill set and your corporate culture. A noble cause, but there is something rotten in the state of the hiring industry and it has been escalating for years. And that rottenness is the avoidance of hiring older people. People well qualified for open positions.
Here in Silicon Valley, the rumor, now considered truth, is at the age of forty, one crosses a bridge. On the pre-forty side of the bridge it is believed there is greater capability to drive the boundaries of business. On the post forty side are those that are believed to have old school thinking — not able to keep up with the times, the latest techniques or technology of the business.
Unless one is in a senior management position, by age fifty there is gentle exclusion — not being invited to after work social gatherings. Being left out of meetings. Not being copied on intra-company emails. By mid sixty there are overt techniques to point the way to the door. Time for the mandatory retirement party. A few congratulatory pats on the back, a couple of “way to go’s,” maybe a plaque and a fishing rod and off you go.
When I saw Segovia the first time, in 1967, he was 74 years old. He was 93 years old when I saw him again in 1986 the year before he died. He was astonishing both times. In my mind’s eyes and ears I can still see and hear him. An indelible impression of an artist compelled to perform out of passion. My question is this: if a person spends a lifetime working in a career and has mastered areas of expertise, why on earth are they considered ready for the rocking chair at 60 or 65? What is this penchant for hiring twenty something candidates with a degree but no life experience?
That experience is paramount. It is the experience of working within the company culture. It is the experience of building great relationships within the company departments. Or with vendors and customers.
In 2010, I found myself on the receiving end of a RIF (reduction in force). Needless to say, a number of us on the receiving end of the RIF were over 40. I was 58 at the time. So I found myself on the job hunt in a down economy. It was rough. It took over a year of job searching and all the angst and sleepless nights that goes along with it. During that time I sent hundreds of résumés. I sent hundreds of emails to people I knew as well as their managers and their coworkers. I spoke with people I had known for decades to get input during my search and to leverage their influence. I went on dozens of job interviews and industry conferences. There were rejection letters and unreturned phone calls and emails.
Even so, there is one job interview I will never forget.
I had focused on rejoining a company I had worked at from 2001 through 2008. I was as fond of that company then as I am now. I still have many friends there. After a few of one-on-one interviews and a few phone calls from the HR departments I realized the formula was in play. I was not going to be hired.
Not being one to give up, I thought maybe I could get a door opened to corporate by proving my value at one of their retail locations. I looked at the company’s online job list and, sure enough, many of their retail positions were open.
I was invited to attend a personnel screening at the company headquarters. Upon arrival I was one of a dozen or so others who were there for the same retail position. We were ushered into a conference room where we were given an overview of the company, the position and a bit about the culture. We then took part in some roll-playing and testing.
I won’t go into all the details of this but suffice it to say I killed it. I knew more than anyone in the room about the products. I knew more about listening to a customer and engaging them in conversation to help them make the right buying decision. I knew more about retail than any candidate in the room. And I believe everyone in the room knew this including the interviewers. I was, by far, the oldest one in the room.
I left feeling confident that I had landed the job. My strategy was to excel at the gig and search for a path back to corporate in a sales or marketing capacity. A few days later I received an email from the retail HR department.
This is verbatim: “Thank you for your interest in opportunities with (our company). As you can imagine we received a large number of qualified applicants for this role. At this time we have chosen to move forward with other candidates that meet the needs of today. I want to personally thank you for your interest and for investing the time to speak with us about this opportunity.”
The line that infuriated me was, “At this time we have chosen to move forward with other candidates that meet the needs of today.” Just to make sure I was not misinterpreting this, I read that email to friends, many of whom worked for that same company. Their interpretation was the same as mine: it was code for “you are too old.”
Segovia transcribed the works of the masters, performed, recorded and taught until his death in 1987 at the age of 94. The reality is this: creativity and contribution do not begin to fade at the age of forty. They are not shadows of a former self by fifty. They are not depleted by sixty. To ignore the creativity and continuing contributions of the mature workforce is to throw away valuable resources. Think of it this way, according to Forbes, the average employee stays with a company 4.4 years. Then they job hop to the next opportunity. This is the new reality for business, and replacing those individuals time after time is expensive. By comparison, it is a bargain to hire older, more experienced people. People with a depth of industry knowledge that stay in their roles longer. They contribute more over the long haul. There is mentorship. There is loyalty.
I will leave you with this. In this society we have a profound desire to elevate advancements achieved by youth. We see it in every aspect of our world; in the sciences, technology, engineering, arts and math. We see it in fields of entertainment. YouTube is full of videos of preteen musicians performing great feats of technique. With few exceptions, I find their performances lack depth and emotion. Those particular qualities that make any performance escalate from good to great. Yet, these videos are so often focused on technique for the sake of technique. These other qualities come from the heart are amassed by years of experience. I wonder about these YouTube sensations. As they mature into adulthood will they no longer be considered extraordinary when they cross over that age bridge?
A few years ago, Sebastian Smee, a journalist with the Boston Globe, wrote a wonderful article about an 82-year old artist by the name of Steven Trefonides. He summarized the article by stating, “For many people, there is nothing quite so moving or inspiring as the sight of youthful talent blazing away with total commitment. But in fact, there is something more moving and, in its way, more impressive. It’s the sight of creative talent at the other end of life. The painter or performer who has dedicated a whole life to his or her calling; the artist who has stamina, who has gone on creating, who, despite setbacks, has never given up, and keeps on finding more to discover, more to express.”
Remember Segovia and Trefonides as you recruit. You will find greatness.
