I had my annual business trip a few weeks ago, which by my prior travel standards is pretty lightweight stuff. I specifically mean that, over the course of about 39 or so years in the workforce, only having to travel once a year is actually a bit of a refreshing change. To digress for a moment, it's important to note the following from my personal perspective:
There is nothing good about business travel. It involves a lot of running around, sometimes last-minute changes to arrangements, being "on" almost all the time, navigating different (and too much) food and having to be the buzzkill that doesn't drink alcohol.
And I don't sleep well.
I could go on, but the point is made. Now I am exceptionally grateful for all of the opportunities I have had to travel on business. In fact, the very first time I was ever on an airplane was a work trip for Prudential back in 1989. Over the years I got to see places as diverse as San Diego CA, Salt Lake City UT, Jackson MS, Minneapolis MN, etc. I got to see a lot. And at this stage, that's enough.
This particular business trip was something of an annual review meeting and planning session for the next year, held in Fort Worth, Texas. I like Fort Worth, by the way, as it has a fairly laid-back feeling about it and the people have proven themselves to be exceptionally nice over the decades. Why they elect folks like Rafael "I don't want to seem Hispanic" Cruz to the U.S. Senate is beyond me. Side note, he doesn't need to learn Spanish for the Bad Bunny Superbowl halftime show because he already speaks it (just don't tell anyone, as it's a secret...I am kidding...he once got into a Spanish argument with Marco Rubio, which was very entertaining).
The meetings went well. In attendance was the leadership team for my work group, and I was glad to be a mere participant, although I ran a part of the meeting that focused on talent. My co-workers are good folks from across the country (coming into Fort Worth from Chicago, San Diego, Grand Rapids MI, Houston, and of course Northeastern PA). Things moved along rather nicely. Among my jobs during the meeting was to be what I'll call the "Slide Monkey", a.k.a. the person who got to show and navigate PowerPoint presentations for others.
Now to the "Listed by Age" part.
Between presentations, for whatever reason, we had a brief discussion about how old everyone was, as in "Who here thinks they are the oldest in the room?". Honestly, it was no contest. I was the oldest, by about 10 years. Thankfully, either by honest reaction or mere pity, one of my peers was surprised at my age. Now I get the fact that such things may make HR folks* cringe, but as I noted before, my co-workers are good folks, so I wasn't too bothered by it. Key word there being "too".
It was later that day when the whole age discussion became part of a nexus of things happening in my life related to career, next steps, purpose, etc. It was a kind of cosmic breadcrumb leading me down a path.
As the week continued, I felt even more aware of my age, in a way that has never really occurred to me before. And this isn't because of health challenges that I (and others who are getting up in years) face, but rather it really was more of an attitude/awareness kind of thing. For one of the first times in my life, I actually felt old.
I own the above, for the record. It doesn't make me sad. I have no thoughts of dirt napping. I don't feel washed-up, out of touch or some kind of technological Luddite. I felt differentiated in a way, and it was okay.
Finally, and only quasi-related to the above, during the offsite the team had a rather brisk discussion about the use of AI tools such as Chat GPT. Surprisingly, it was not the old people (*cough* me) that were the most adverse to it. I respected the opinions shared, although it's very, very clear that, at this juncture, if you are in the business world, you need to be comfortable using these kinds of tools. To end this post, I will share a few thoughts about AI...
- It's just another tool
- Unfortunately, it can be an excuse for people to effectively outsource sincerity when it comes to written interactions with others
- In creative endeavors, it is effectively intellectual property theft (see the "No AI Training" disclaimer of this site)
(*) By way of disclosure, I have a Master of Science degree in Human Resources from Villanova University and I am a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Senior Certified Professional.
2 comments:
I enjoy reading your posts. And could relate to some extent because I am usually the oldest person in old people groups. And I hate giving my age only because people make a big fuss out of the fact that I don’t look it. It almost makes me feel guilty. Many times I’ll say it’s from the charmed life that I’ve led. Or I’ll say it’s my Italian grandmother‘s GENES. So maybe what I should be doing is shaving 20 years off my age. And then no fuss.
Thank you for reading and for the compliment. For the record, after age 60 it is perfectly acceptable to lie about your age. Before age 21? No so much.
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