Old Men | No BS Coaching Advice
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
“Old man, look at my life
I’m a lot like you were
Old man look at my life
I’m a lot like you were
Old man, look at my life
Twenty four and there’s so much more
Live alone in a paradise
That makes me think of two”
~Neil Young, “Old Men”
That’s it for songs about old men. It’s a song about a young man who wants to be seen by an old man. It isn’t a song about old men.
Go to Amazon and search the term, “old men.” There are 16 items for sale and only three of them use the term. There is the movie, “No Country for Old Men,” “Grumpy Old Men,” “How Not to Be a Crotchety Old Man,” and eventually, you get to a story about a retired espionage agent. It takes until page 2 for you to find an audio version of, “The Old Man and The Sea.”
If you think the term, “old man,” is any better. It isn’t.
That’s because older men are dismissed and invisible in our culture. They are “out to pasture.” They are retired. They are forgotten. This even though many older men are not out to pasture or retired.
They are ignored as being irrelevant.
Many older men are still doing vital work, mentally acute more than willing to help.
We are trained to believe that older men are grumpy or crotchety or worthy of dismissal. It makes us feel superior as though it is our time to take over.
Male or female, you’re missing an opportunity to receive advice from someone who’s been through many of the things that you have and may not be involved with them actively right now.
It doesn’t mean that you have to accept everything they say is being right for you anymore than you do from your peers, managers, wife, husband, or partner.
It’s another person with another perspective who may be able to see your blind spots because they had been through it a lot longer than you.
Besides, many of them have wisdom that comes from the fact that they don’t want to compete with you. They are through with that and have gotten off the treadmill that you’re still on.
Why wouldn’t you approach one of them and ask for 15 minutes of their time for their advice? Pride? Ego? Stupidity?
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2020, 2022
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a career and leadership coach who worked as a recruiter for more than 40 years. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 2300 episodes, 
and is a former member of The Forbes Coaches Council.
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