• Home
  • Why Attend
    • For Financial Institutions
    • For Fintech/Tech
    • For Talent
    • Our DNA
    • Contact
  • 2019 Highlights
    • Gallery
    • TOP 400+ FIs
    • Speakers
    • Festival Guide
      • 2019 Agenda
      • Download
      • Live Music
      • Craft Beer
      • Welcome Stage
      • Fintech Stories Stage
      • Strategy Stage
      • Build Stage
      • AITECHTalents – Discovery Day
      • RegTECHTalents – Discovery Day
    • Fintech Stories
    • Secret Shopper
  • Steer Co.
  • Partners
  • Prospectus
  • Insight
    • Awesome Stuff
    • FinTech Of The Week
    • Video Interviews
    • Video Testimonials
    • The Platform
    • Subscribe
  • Get Involved
  • Register

Fintech Talents

Fintech Talents

Kallyas is an ultra-premium, responsive theme built for today websites.

T (212) 555 55 00
Email: sales@yourwebsite.com

Your Company LTD
Street nr 100, 4536534, Chicago, US

  • Home
  • Why Attend
    • For Financial Institutions
    • For Fintech/Tech
    • For Talent
    • Our DNA
    • Contact
  • 2019 Highlights
    • Gallery
    • TOP 400+ FIs
    • Speakers
    • Festival Guide
      • 2019 Agenda
      • Download
      • Live Music
      • Craft Beer
      • Welcome Stage
      • Fintech Stories Stage
      • Strategy Stage
      • Build Stage
      • AITECHTalents – Discovery Day
      • RegTECHTalents – Discovery Day
    • Fintech Stories
    • Secret Shopper
  • Steer Co.
  • Partners
  • Prospectus
  • Insight
    • Awesome Stuff
    • FinTech Of The Week
    • Video Interviews
    • Video Testimonials
    • The Platform
    • Subscribe
  • Get Involved
  • Register

Content

STAY TUNED
  • Tweet
  • Share 0
  • LinkedIn 0

Embrace the grey!

by Liz Lumley / Wednesday 20 February 2019 / Published in Ageing, Diversity, Employment, Featured, FinTECH4Life, FinTECHTalents, Innovation, Talent

“Don’t worry, I won’t hold your age against you.”

This was said to me almost two years ago in the London office of a global bank for an internal comms role. I was 45 years old. <== Huh? It is quite some time before I qualify for a bus pass in the UK and I do try to keep the grey hair at bay with regular trips to Salon 167, but … wait a second … 45 years old is not *old*. And since when is looking back at a 25 year career – most of which was spent *dealing* with banks – be something that is *held against you* for a job that would entail *dealing with a bank*. (Anyway, I didn’t pursue the job – and for more reasons that the recruitment process seemed to be taking several months to complete).

As you can guess this post is about age – not just age but experience. In our quest for the new and innovative – are we risking ignoring valuable experience and deep sector knowledge just because it comes in a, slightly world worn, package?

Any good student of the Lean Startup knows that to Failing Fast doesn’t mean throwing an entire project out the window – it means taking small, incremental steps that allow you to fail small (and fast). Enabling you to pivot and change to a more successful direction. You fail fast, so you don’t fail big. The lessons you learn from this trial and error procedure used to be called experience. Whether it is with life, work or family – most of us travel through the passage of time racking up lessons learned, stories to embark and knowledge to rely on. That should be celebrated – not dismissed.

Yes, we all know there is a real threat of HiPPOs. The ‘Highest Paid Person’s Opinion’ tends to come from the person in the room who has the highest ranking job title, due to years of ‘not getting fired’. This person tends to block new ideas and hinder innovation. Trust me, I’m not defending *that* guy.

However, a recent study of US startup founders polled by venture-capital firm First Round Capital found that 37% said age is the strongest investor bias against founders, while 28% cited gender and 26% cited race.

This bias is even more odd as research suggests that age diversity promotes productivity and performance, and that older workers take fewer sick days, have better problem-solving skills, and are more likely than younger workers to be highly satisfied in their work.

I look at my own self as an example. At the later stages of 40s, I no longer have very young children at home who need constant care. (Although, I did launch two magazines, in a row, all before my child hit four years old – if you want to ‘Get shit done’ hire a parent who needs to get home to relieve the child minder.) At almost 47, if I wanted to take up so-called ‘hustle-culture’ and make work the main point of my existence, this would not impact my 14-year-old son’s Nintendo Switch and Domino’s pizza habit one bit.

The older you get, the more confidence you build. Office politics are irrelevant (because they are really not worth your time). And my Rolodex (look it up – Millennials) is so thick it is the main reason why I get cold called on LinkedIn.

The best organisations run with a culture where a wide variety of talents and voices are heard. Younger generations, bringing in fresh ideas and technology should mix and bounce off older workers who offer deep sector knowledge and a mature outlook on professional quandaries and dilemmas. In this week’s video, Claudia Coppenolle, Director in GTB’s Chief Digital Office at Deutsche Bank discusses the reverse mentoring programme at the bank – which pairs up older and younger workers for mutual benefits.

Good ideas can come from anywhere. Incorporating and attracting a more diverse and inclusive workforce shouldn’t stop at gender, socio-economic or racial parity. When you look around at your organisation and you only see people who would still be alive on Logan’s Run (Again, Millennials look it up) you are missing out on a wealth of knowledge, expertise and experience. #EmbraceTheGrey!

  • Tweet
  • Share 0
  • LinkedIn 0

Tagged under: Age, Ageing, fintech, FinTECH4Life, FinTECHTalents, innovation, Longevity, Splash, tech, Technology

Recent Posts

  • 10 Steps to GDPR Compliance: Part 1

    A warm welcome to the second blog post from Kee...
  • Carbon Footprints, Content Creators, and Credentials – FTT Bookmark Issue 12

    Your weekly resource for noteworthy news, fasci...
  • Digital Builder: The age of the digital builder has arrived

    Tweet Share 0 LinkedIn 0...
  • ikigai: where wealth management and digital banking merge – FTT Chats ep 53

    Edgar de Picciotto and Maurizio Kaiser, the Co-...
  • The MacGyvers of community banking

    Another highlight from Fintech Talents North Am...

Insights, interviews & interesting stuff

SIGN UP

Fintech Talents London. The festival is back!!!

GET INVOLVED
  • Tweet
  • Share 0
  • LinkedIn 0

  • Home
  • Virtual Experiences
    • FTT Digital Builder 2021
    • FTT Building Societies 2021
    • Fintech Talents Nordics 2021
    • FTT Open Finance 2021
    • FTT Identity 2021
    • FTT Lending 3.0 2022
    • Fintech Talents North America 2022
  • FTT Focus
    • Password protected: The door to digital life
    • The future of remote working
  • Hybrid Festivals
    • Fintech Talents London 2021
  • Fintech Engagement
    • FusionFabric.cloud
  • On-demand Content
    • Interviews
    • Opinion
    • Videos
    • Digital reports
  • VC INNOVATIONS – Accelerated Marketing
  • facebook
  • linkedin
  • youtube
  • twitter

GET IN TOUCH

T 0208 0045 517
Email: info@vcinnovations.co.uk

VC INNOVATIONS
21 Bloomsbury Square, London, WC1A 2NS

Open in Google Maps

QUICK LINKS

  • Home
  • Partners
  • About
  • Insight
  • Contact Us
  • Register

Connect with us

  • facebook
  • linkedin
  • youtube
  • twitter

RECENT POSTS

  • 10 Steps to GDPR Compliance: Part 1

    A warm welcome to the second blog post from Kee...
  • Carbon Footprints, Content Creators, and Credentials – FTT Bookmark Issue 12

    Your weekly resource for noteworthy news, fasci...
  • Digital Builder: The age of the digital builder has arrived

    Tweet Share 0 LinkedIn 0...
  • Privacy Policy
Fintech Talents

© FinTECHTalents 2021. All Rights Reserved.



TOP
Apply Now











This website uses cookies to give you the best experience. Agree by clicking the 'Accept' button. Read our Privacy Policy.