Over-50

Rattled: COVID-19 Has Made Starbucks Change, So Should Our Businesses

The natural disaster of COVID-19 is creating more disruption for business than any man-made phenomenon such as digitalization. 

Symbolic of all that is Starbucks' shift from the hang-out, free WiFi in-store service model to take-out. 

Starbucks, of course, is big business. But those of us in small business have to also parachute into total openness about everything from strategic planning to just-in-time tactics such as discounting to close a sale. 

Templates for how that is being done are on LinkedIn Updates. Both the still-very-successful and those without work share what they are observing about business, what they are trying, and how to keep their spirits up.

From them I have gotten down cold that I have to become less rigid in how I develop new business. An example is the need to assess whether I want to invest the time in doing a detailed proposal or providing an unpaid sample of my work to land a deal. 

There's a learning curve, I have found. No, don't do a whole book proposal when the publishing firm is having a dozen auditioning. But, yes, consider how useful it will be to my experience to create innovative emails for a brandname digital agency to showcase what I can do.

Pre-coronavirus I wasn't thinking that way. But maybe I should have been. The major takeaway from the financial fallout of this virus is that we have to be ready to change - on a dime. The success formula of two-minutes ago could trigger a downward trajectory today.

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Incidentally, We Members of the Mickey Mouse Club Didn't Care About Who Walt Disney Really Was

M-i-c-k-e-y M-o-u-s-e. 

Poof. The iconic Disney logo can be eliminated from popular culture.

Deadline reports there is growing scrutiny of Disney's founder Walt Disney.

He was an obviously flawed human being. In fact, on speeches I had created on leadership for chief executive officers I leveraged his attitudes about his workforce as negatives. For example, he couldn't understand why employees would want higher compensation. After all, went his thinking, weren't they fortunate to be part of his team. In addition, he was in no way the kind of verbally polished leader of today. The undertow of his messaging signaled prejudice.

But that was then. A different time. Entrepreneurs, be they Disney or Henry Ford, could operate by their own rules. 

Today, Bob Iger, by so many current metrics, scores high on leadership. His memoir "The Ride of a Lifetime" captures his ethos of deep caring, especially of all the humans in the loop. They range from employees to consumers. 

On Glassdoor, the overall rating for working at Disney is "4" out of a possible "5."

After retiring from the job of chief executive officer, Iger parachuted back in when the business of Disney became troubled. 

Actually, as I argue in this article, Disney seems stuck. But that's a strategic matter, not a cultural one. Iger has a big job ahead of him.

That, unfortunately, will likely include the struggle to preserve the Disney logo. The founder's flaws have tainted the essence of what Mickey Mouse meant to generations. Part of that was the extreme power of creativity. 

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COVID-19: Blindsided by Forced Retirement

There is a confluences of forces.

One is that the aging, always targeted for the ax, are finding themselves shown the door more often during COVID-19. That's just the way it is. The route could be accepting a package, being on the list for a reduction in force, harassed into resigning, or a stealth layoff, that is being terminated for supposedly performance reasons. 

The other is the fear of returning to a communal work situation in which the risk of COVID-19 is high. 

The result, observes Alicia Munnell in MarketWatch, has been a significant increase in early retirements, that is, leaving a career or long-term work situation sooner than intended.

According to the findings on the Current Population Survey, in April 2020 - only one month into COVID-19 - there had been a 7% uptick in the number of those who had been employed and suddenly fell into the retirement category. For those between 55 and 64, the percentage was less but still significant enough to get on the radar.

Overall, the feeling about this development is: blindsided.

Because of the shock, there could be a rush into pessimism.

At the top of the list is assuming that the only way to continue to make ends meet is to apply for Social Security early. Usually, that's at age 62. Long term, that means a reduction in the monthly benefit.

The reality is that being knocked out of the career box doesn't mean the end of the ability to earn income from work per se. There is always work. Here, free to download, is my bible on that Download Outwitting ageism.

That stopgap can be the bridge to a new career path. For example, an in-house lawyer, who had been a communications client, had been forced into early retirement. He spotted an ad about being a residential leasing manager. Eventually he became licensed as a real estate agent. He made the contacts to sell at the high end. 

Another bit of pessimism is the mindset that relocation to where the cost of living is lower comes with shame. Those who thrive, despite the reversal of fortune, frame that as the unique opportunity to start over again. Also, many, to their surprise, discover it is a relief to leave their former life, embedded with careerism, behind.

There is also the predictable syndrome of regret - that is, replaying the past. It consists of the If-Onlys. When I lectured at the New York State Bar Association to displaced lawyers over-50, most were replaying their earlier decisions. The pattern was the magical thinking that if they hadn't done X, Y, that is, their termination, wouldn't have happened. Sure, it's important to learn from what could have been ineffective behavior.

However, nothing will change the past. What has helped some of my coaching clients in shaking off that preoccupation with the past is studying forms of Buddhism. Several schools recommend not perceiving the past - or any entity - as good or bad. It just is.

There are plenty of resources out there to navigate this new kind of rite of passage: early retirement.

Since the 1970s, for instance, "What Color Is Your Parachute?" has been a game-changer for those who need to market themselves to land work. Its tenet is that the person who is hired or gets the account is not necessarily the most qualified. Most often the winners are those who are best at presenting themselves in the labor market.

The search for income from work is a game. That game keeps mutating. Currently, my clients who are hired use the direct approach. In all their marketing materials, ranging from the cover letter/resume to the interview, they state and back up with data what they can accomplish for that employer or prospect for their business. Essentially, the pitch is: Here is what I can do for you.

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

For Ok, Boomers - COVID-19 Makes It Ok to Admit Feeling Blessed Not Having Children

A nation with few babies, that is, human ones.

According to the 2020 survey by the Guttmacher Institute, 45% of females 18 through 34 have concerns about conceiving during COVID-19. The angst includes both becoming infected with the virus when pregnant and the current financial uncertainty. 

The recent surge of the virus probably will escalate that angst. And, a second wave, which had been more severe than the first during the Spanish Flu, could trigger a baby bust. 

The Wall Street Journal viewed this as an important issue to feature. 

The implications are huge for businesses, professionals such as teachers, and government as with the Social Security Administration. 

All those industries associated with babies could contract. Think diapers and strollers.

Whole professions could be glutted with oversupply. How many pediatricians will be needed? As many know, a growing number of medical doctors had to close down their own practices because of a lack of actual business since COVID-19 kicked in. 

And there won't be enough in the workforce to shore up Social Security.

Already, severe ambivalence about reproduction is mainstream.

A Generation Zer practically apologized for his wife's pregnancy. He made clear that, because of extended-family resources, he could afford the child. His wife is due to deliver late in July. 

It's now socially acceptable for us Ok, Boomers who are childless to admit we found our decision was a blessing. There is no family constellation which I had envied over the years. And, believe me, holiday blues were a small price to pay for bypassing creating a human family. For 15 years, I had been in the front lines of animal rescue.

If COVID-19 hangs on long enough, there could be a national psychic shift about producing a human family.

During the shutdown many got to experience the extreme joy of having four-legged children. As I continually put it, my four-legged son LOV won't be matriculating at college, then moving on to graduate or professional schools. Also, he didn't have a difficult adolescence. 

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Career Interrupted - Shift Mindset to Earning a Living

Even before COVID-19, ProPublica documented two brutal realities.

One was that if you are 50 or older, the odds were not on your side that you would hold onto that good career job. You would be forced out. That could take the form of being presented with an early-retirement package, being laid off, or getting the ax through a termination with cause. 

And, two, there was only a 10% chance you would earn comparable compensation in your next job.

COVID-19, of course, has darkened that employment situation. 

Currently, 2.4 million between age 55 and 64 are out of work, primarily because of COVID-19. Among those 65 or older, beginning in March when the pandemic took over, the jobless rate surged from 3.7% to 15.6%.

Clearly, there is a phenomenon taking shape on a large scale: Career Interrupted. Losing a job, whatever way that occurs, could mean the end to that career for the aging.

However, that doesn't have to mean the end of being able to earn decent or even abundant income from work per se. AARP documents that twice as many of those 65 or older are working currently than had been in 1985. Their earning power can be good.

The ways they are bringing in income may not be through what had been their long-term career path. 

A replacement that is gaining traction, confirms the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, is entrepreneurship. During their former careers, the aging had developed the skills and confidence to operate their own business. That could be a franchise in which the structure is there. Or it could be an enterprise from scratch.

Also, there is the exploding-in-growth field of contract assignments. Those laid-off over-60 in-house lawyers can register for contract document review work. The compensation will not be peanuts. But it won't match the full-time former salary, plus benefits.

Another option is training, including online, to be certified in a line of work that is new to the professional. That could be an Google AdWord expert or a counselor for substance abusers.

What might be a surprise to some seniors is that in states such as Arizona which are aging-friendly it's possible to pick up full-time employment, which includes benefits. The examples range from call centers to sales. There are versions which are totally work-at-home.

Given the volatility of the labor market, it might not just be the aging who have to make the mindset shift from careerism to simply earning a living. I recommend to Gen Z and their parents that's how they assess educational majors, minors, internships, and part-time jobs.

The issue is: What combination will equip members of Gen Z to start and continue to make a good living?

Careers come and careers go. Just ask journalists. In the 2017 book "Disrupted," former reporter Dan Lyons tells his story of extreme hustle, after he was knocked out of the media box. 

Across generations, the scary reality is putting together what can ensure, at least for a while, financial survival. A useful guide is the book "What Color Is Your Parachute?" Each year an updated edition comes out. Public libraries stock multiple copies. And Amazon sells them used as well as new.

The timeframe has mutated into just-in-time for making a buck.

John Walters, who's in the creative niches, advised those in the difficult field of the arts to position and package work as a kind of hitchhiking. Stick out the thumb. The wait might be tedious. But eventually someone stops and says, "Hop in." For a while, yeah, it's okay. A good living is being earned. Walters' book is "Make Trouble." That attitude seems to apply to most lines of work, not just the creative arts. 

In my late 50s, I was an early adopter of blogging. A public relations agency said, "Hop in." I earned outstanding compensation for four year. Then, it was back on the road with my thumb out. Since then, that's been the ritual, over and over again.

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The Most Difficult Conversation: Aging Talking Real About Aging With Other Aging People

"I am getting older. I am not old."

That's what a 75-year-old said to me when I finally get real in talking about aging. He was in my support group for those over-50.

First I had brought up another issue. That was the struggle to see my four-legged son LOV through what will be his last months. In early June he had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure.

Then I dropped the bomb: For years and years I have been unable to get my head around the reality that I was no longer middle aged or even very young old. What was obvious to the world but not to me was that I was now in the senior citizen nitch.

Never before had I reached out about aging. Not in the kind of way that invited real conversation. You bet, talking about aging with other aging people is a very difficult conversation. 

The other group members got that I was being real. So they were real in their sharing about their own aging. 

The experience was the most liberating I had had since August 1981. That's when I admitted and accepted that I was an alcoholic. A million-ton boulder was lifted off my shoulders.

"I never had a childhood." 

That's what a man in his late 60s said. He shared that he was the oldest of seven siblings. You know the rest. Recently a therapist brought it to his consciousness that he had missed out on being young and carefree. Now, instead of a bucket list, he was focusing on how to learn to have fun. 

"I can't change that I'm this old." 

A 50-something who had recently been laid off managed to get that out. Wasn't easy. He knew that age bias was hindering his job hunt. I had a sense this was the first time he had accepted that reality. My hunch is now that he did his job search would be more effective.

Then they turned the floor back to me. The most difficult share was this: I was eaten alive with envy when I spotted on LinkedIn all the amazing things my colleagues in their late 30s were accomplishing. As we age the world of youth continues to gallop along, doesn't it.

No, I won't need to talk about aging again, at least not any time soon. I did my talk.

How did I manage to do that?

The pain of holding in all that conflict was growing. My sense of self was shrinking. And what I did accomplish in my professional life I derided.

So, I had to find other aging human beings to talk straight with. And that I did.

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The Future of Work: Pay to Play Could Become Standard (especially for over-50)

On its website, Rooftop Slushie describes itself as platform in which job searchers can anonymously ask questions about careers and seasoned professionals, who have been vetted, answer them.

One of the categories on the website does indicate that the latter can earn money doing this. Well, since career experts and executive coaches bill all the time for such help, the transaction seems benign.

However, Business Insider picks up on the possible undercurrent of lousy ethics. The media outlet portrays the platform as really about "selling" job referrals for $20 to $50 each. Those interested in applying for a job at the tech giants, especially Facebook and Google, present themselves anonymously to those employed at those corporations. The professional vets them, if appropriate makes a referral, and then makes a few bucks on the side.

Business Insider observes that some experts in the job-hunt niche have ethical concerns about this kind of transaction. 

In addition, some might wonder why do employees in major tech corporations, who likely earn better than average compensation, engage in this process? Doesn't that raise a red flag about how much clout they have in their sector? 

On the other hand, there are myriad digital sites oriented toward seeking work that are essentially pay to play.

One is LinkedIn ProFinder. That platform operates like this. Freelancers, including those searching for public relations assignments, sign up for the version of Premium which offers access to ProFinder. The cost is $59.99 a month, with a discount for an annual subscription. Cancellation with full refund is possible for 60 days. Note that it's the freelancer, not those hiring, who ponies up the fee. This is very different from the executive search business. 

After signing up, what LinkedIn assesses as appropriate opportunities appear in the LinkedIn inbox. During that month, the freelancer can provide a proposal for 10. The prospect may or may not respond. Along with the ability to submit proposals the subscriber has other benefits such as contacting 15 LinkedIn members whose profile is behind the Premium wall. 

Another pay-to-play platform is Upwork. It also charges the freelance the fee. For billings under $500, that will be 20% of the revenue. But that goes down to 5% for a lifetime when billings reach $10,000.

The problem with Upwork is that it's a global platform. In bidding for assignments, the U.S. ghostwriter could be competing with a communications expert in India who is willing to accept considerably less. 

Ethics?

For those who are ambitious to land a good job in a brandname corporation and for those who need freelance work to keep a roof over their heads, the issue of ethics may seem irrelevant. To those analyzing that dynamic it could be assessed as exploitation.

Meanwhile, as The New York Times detailed, the second wave of COVID-19 layoffs hit white collar workers hard. Many have been unable to land comparable jobs or even freelance assignments. Their professional lives are in limbo. Given that the worst might not have kicked off in COVID-19, they may be in limbo for years. To them pay to play might not seem reprehensible. 

Actually, pay to play could be the salvation of the over-50. ProPublica research hammered that they are likely to be forced out of those good jobs. Also, if they are hired for another job, the odds are that only one in 10 of them will earn comparable income. 

A useful guide for the hunt for work is "What Color Is Your Parachute?" It points out that those who are hired are not necessarily the best at what they do. Their edge is that they become the best at marketing themselves. Each year a new version is published. Multiple copies are available at the public library. Amazon sells used ones. 

No surprise, more media outlets are chatting up Universal Basic Income (UBI). One way of describing that concept is this: Those opting out of work receive a monthly strings-fee stipend. They can apply those funds to paying the rent and/or financing their art. 

The Future of Work may be less and less work available. Pay to play may become standard, configured to pass ethical and legal muster.

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Traveling and Retirement - If It's Tuesday, It Probably Won't Be Belgium

The travel brand communicated extreme pleasure, at least for tourists who had retired. And, enough pain to complain about for business people whose work involved too much time on planes and hotels far from home.

That brand identity has fallen apart.

According to Airbnb head Brian Chesky, it might never be able to be put together again.

In an interview with influential Axios, Chesky fingered a permanent shift from travel which involved planes, border-crossing, city tourism, and primarily for business reasons. Instead, any form of wanderlust will consist of getting there by car, sticking within about 200 miles, heading for small cities, and sheltering in homes, not hotels or motels.

A big gainer will be open-air natural recreational areas such as National Parks. This weekend in the Midwest, parks were full. In addition to the cars that Chesky mentioned, there had been plenty of motorcycles, motor scooters, and bicycles (traditional and e-). 

Of course, the disruption has been put in play by COVID-19. 

And, again travel writers will have to return to the drawing board to focus on what people are interested in.

That upheaval in subject matter correlated with the coming of the Airbnb concept. Tourists wanted to experience the local scene, say in Barcelona, Spain, in an intimate way. Airbnb made it possible to stay where the natives lived and worked, not in a standalone hotel chain. And the travel media directed writers to ferret out where the insiders really went to eat, drink, flirt, and gawk. Out were the usual tourist traps.

In the COVID-19 era and afterward travel writers will be digging around for what's undiscovered fun in natural surroundings and in small whatever.

For example, there could be a story with lots of action-packed photos of how the Coast Guard rescued a small boat in a state park surrounding Lake Erie in Toledo, Ohio. Or, where the regulars contend fishing is best in that location. As for commercial tie-ins there will be plugs for where to rent a bicycle or motor scooter and what private homes host guests (including w/o a middleman such as Airbnb). Also, cover tenting. What facilities allow pets?

The old jingle about Seeing the USA in Your Chevrolet might mutate into Hop on a Honda 125 and Tent Your Way to Enlightenment. The new travel symbol could be couples, of all sexual configurations, motorcycling across the USA. Already, I am observing more three-wheeler cycles wherever. 

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Bob Dilenschneider, 76 - In the Era of The Social Brand as Everything (and when Google is your homepage)

How is your social media branding doing?

Likely if it's serving your professional needs well, it probably doesn't include a book you published recently.

In digital, "real" books are an anachronism, with some exceptions.

Sure, though, knock out some free e-ones as a download on your website. But, since Google is your new homepage, that website per se has less and less ROI.

Now and then, Google will pick up some content from your website. But the game is actually about what makes it onto search engines about you. Add onto that reality this: Google is currently a major part of your resume. Employers review your social branding. 

And, just as important, in the era of Amazon - as public relations player Bob Dilenschneider should have known - publishing a book is a risk. If it doesn't get traction in Amazon rankings, that book puts the author in what could be called The Amazon Corridor of Shame."

Here's an interesting tidbit in the annals of branding. There's a lesson here. 

On December 31, 2019, scheduled to help folks with their own decisions in 2020, Dilenschneider published the book "Decisions."

Since then, it never did catch fire.

Right now, at 6:00P.M. ET, its Amazon ranking is 700,749.

The number of customers who had reviewed: six.

No Big Brandname has given it gush. After all, both the long-time business celebrities on Dilenschneider's network - Roger Ailes and Jack Welch - have died.

The composite social brand is what counts, not being the author of a book, at least not one which isn't a best-seller or a juicy expose.

The elephant in the room is: Could "Decisions" or, by extension, any book had done okay had there been no coronavirus? A judge on the bench assessing who's in and who's out would rule that issue speculative and irrelevant. All that matters is what's getting attention for and enhancing the social brand in the now. 

Those in the trenches of executive communications in the Fortune 100 and in marketing for BigLaw, for instance, have to embrace that development. That is, if they want to generate results for their clients.

In addition, they are probably struggling to hold onto their jobs during the latest Stalin-like purge of white-collar workers. As The New York Times reports, once they are knocked out the 2020 sandbox, they wind up in suspended animation. Too many do not understand how to grab onto work in a very different phase of the American labor market. They may never land comparable jobs. 

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Early Retirement: The New Kind of Startup

Like so many corporations in the COVID-19 era, Ingevity had a drop in demand. 

Part of its resulting cost-cutting measures included an early retirement program.

As Law.com reports, its current general counsel Katherine Pryor Burgeson, 62, hopped aboard that version of the austerity train. She will stay on until there is a smooth transition for her successor Ryan Fisher. 

Early retirement differs from FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) in that it usually doesn't represent a planned goal.

Instead, the employers offer a package. At the time it seems financial, emotional, and professional common sense to accept it.

Essentially, early retirement is becoming a new rite of passage for professionals. Just like the challenge of transitioning from a life of formal education to the work world, it can either be wrenching - or the fun of starting off all over again. 

In the latter, the mindset is entrepreneurial.

One corporate lawyer I coached who had specialized in compliance explored buying a variety of franchises. He had had with law and wanted to do something else. At age 58, he knew he could be working for two more decades.

Finally, he decided on a we-bring-it-to-you tutoring service. In the privacy of their homes the students felt no stigma about needing extra help. The fun part came from having to learn social media to promote the business in his assigned territory. The tutor he himself hired was 25 years old. 

Another lawyer, whose expertise had been real estate, returned to his first love - music. His father, a prominent lawyer, refused to pay for his education if he had majored in music.

Long-term, he intended to establish some kind of online enterprise dealing with music. In the interim, he hustled up copywriting assignments for music whatevers. On the side, he studied Buddhism and adopted a minimalism mindset. Leaving behind the materialism of his former life was an adventure for him. He boasted that his rent, including utilities, was $565 monthly. 

A third lawyer had taken a package from the state. In her mid 50s, she was all set with healthcare coverage. The pension needed to be supplemented, though. Because she assumed the Next would be easy, it proved very difficult. In coaching, we decided that she couldn't and maybe shouldn't exit the law box. She retrained for bankruptcy and does that as a contract lawyer for a small firm. 

Here, free to download, is my guide on how to break free of a comfort zone. I myself learned those fundamentals when I had been a graduate assistant for the Dale Carnegie Systems.

Later I lectured on those basics of transition at the New York State Bar Association.

Aging professionals often get stuck when they stand in their own way. The number-one reason for that is their compulsion to replicate the past, especially their previous compensation. Yet, ProPublica documented that the Next for those over-50 will only match former earnings in 10% of the cases. For the other 90%, it's necessary to embrace financial downshifting. 

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.