Feeling a Subtle Sting
About four years ago in San Francisco, James Lansing first notice a shift in how people looked at him — someone got up and offered him their seat on the bus. Later this shift was felt again at a job interview at a local university. It wasn’t something he could pin point, and yet he knew it was there, it was ageism. James, a management consultant, has always been a very active man, he was a runner, he still goes hiking, and while he admits he can’t do everything he could do at 30, he can still do more than some 30 year olds. While his outer appearance has changed, his knowledge has grown, and yet, people make negative judgments on his mental capabilities based on his physical appearance.
What he finds interesting is how subtle people try to be about discriminating. No matter how hard they try to mask it, Lansing says “It shows in their actions, in their face, in their eyes.”
“The tragedy of ageism is that it prevents people from seeing what would be good for them in the workplace,” relays James. “By excluding a whole class, you are excluding people based on assumptions that you don’t even know are valid. That doesn’t sound very professional to me,” he adds.
Watch why Lansing believes it would behoove all companies to follow the example of the mega retail stores, who benefit from hiring seasoned employees.
Take notice of some of his suggestions about intergenerational work groups, about letting go of assumptions and how to dissolve the myths about age.
