Charles Leikauf argues older workers have emotional intelligence, industry knowledge, and connections younger people lack. But they must stay three to four steps ahead of AI trends or risk obsolescence within a year. The strategies that worked six months ago won't work today.
So a lot of the older professionals have been around a little bit while. They should have higher emotional intelligence and they should have more tribal knowledge, right? They should have more knowledge in what they've already done, better connections here. The younger guys might have a leg up on technology. I think the people who are a little bit older should focus more on the technology and like they have the upper hand. They've got the emotional intelligence, they've got the tribal knowledge, they've got the connections. Technology is just changing so fast that they really need to stay up on it. Even for me, right? I've got tons of skills, very knowledgeable, very well connected. If I don't stay up on technology, I'm gonna be left behind a year from now. Luckily, I'm, you know, 3 or 4 steps ahead of the market, which is fantastic. But if I wasn't, man, things would be so hard a year from now. So I think regardless of your age, getting plugged into AI and being willing to change your business model is absolutely required. What you may be doing might be functionally correct for the reality that was true 6 months or a year ago. However, it is no longer true. And being able to change in your head what is the appropriate and rational thing to do based upon the times is something we all need to do, whether you're young or old.
