The new rules of career longevity: A conversation with Myechia Minter-Jordan

Hello, everyone. I'm Jessi Hempel. I'm host of LinkedIn's flagship career podcast, Hello Monday. Welcome in. It's good to see so many of you here. I'm seeing we have Mary here in Louisiana, Ian in North Wales, Abigail in Senegal, Georgiana in Romania, Clarence in Texas, and that's just a few of y'all. I want to start with something that I've been hearing a lot lately. I'll be in a coffee shop or on a plane or talking to someone after a panel, and at some point, they'll lean in and ask some version of of the same question, what I do, does it still matter? Am I still worth what I used to be in the market? Or sometimes it's just a flat, what am I supposed to do now? And listen, I get it because the rules really are changing. AI is rewriting job descriptions in real time. Careers that used to follow a tidy arc, you know, junior, senior, leadership, retirement, well, now they zigzag and double back and you restart in your 40s and then you do it again in your 60s. and the old map just does not work anymore. And nobody has handed me a new one yet. So here's what I keep coming back to. Maybe the people who are gonna do the best in the next stretch are not the ones with the freshest credentials. Maybe they're the ones who have already done the hard work of reinventing themselves once or twice, and they know how to do it again. Now, my guest today knows that work intimately. She is Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan, and she is the CEO of AARP. It's the largest nonprofit in the country dedicated to people 50 and over. But before Dr. Minter-Jordan ran AARP, she was a practicing physician. Then she went back to school for an MBA, mid-career with two young daughters at home. She moved from clinical medicine to community health leadership at the Dimock Center in Boston, and then to oral health and social impact investing at CareQuest. And now she's leading the national conversation about what it means to age, work, and live with purpose in 2026. Now, in today's conversation, we're gonna cover three things. How to position your experience as a competitive advantage, not a liability. How to stay relevant as AI reshapes jobs and skills and how to make career pivots that set you up for long-term success. I want you to drop your questions in the chat. We'll work on them as we go and get in there early because we are gonna have a lot today. And for those of you who wanna stick around and connect with the others who've joined, we will be leaving the chat open for an additional 10 minutes after the event. And now, Dr. Minter-Jordan, welcome. Thank you, thanks for having me. Thank you. So you have this line, if we're lucky, we're aging. Yes. That's kind of where I want to start because I think a lot of people listening would say, well, sure, in theory, but in practice, my LinkedIn inbox seems to have gone quiet after 50. What's the gap that you see between the story we tell about experience and what people actually feeling out there? So I would say the gap is, it's harder now. When you are in your fifties, and many of us are displaced out of our roles, we're looking for roles that have the same salary as the salary that we had before. And it is more challenging, but it's not impossible. And what I'm really excited about is that there's this new opportunity, particularly with the changing demographics of our country and of the world, that more and more people are aging into this 50 plus, right? And 50 plus individuals bring experience, they bring the soft skills that other generations don't necessarily have. And that opens up opportunity for new jobs, new applications of those soft skills in different ways. And there are different things that we can do to optimize that. But I think the biggest headline is that there is opportunity for us and we're living longer and we're staying in the workforce longer. And when we are displaced, there are ways to get back into the workforce that really leverage the soft skills that we've gained through our experience as well. I think that is really something that I want to dig into while we're together today. You know, you went back to business school in your 30s while practicing medicine. I want to ask you the question that I think a lot of people are asking themselves right now. How did you know at that moment in your career that it was worth it to make a big pivot and to put the time investment and economic investment into it? So for me, it was knowing that I didn't know something and knowing that I was a great physician and knew how to practice medicine, but I didn't know anything about the business of medicine. And so I went back in order to give myself additional skills and expertise. I also figured out that the decisions that were being made at the hospital that I worked at required other skills and expertise that I just didn't have. Being a great doctor wasn't going to help me understand how to create a medical consultation service, which is what I ultimately wound up doing. So I think it was an opportunity for me to look at my skills and to say, and most people would say, you're already a doctor, why do you need to go back and get more training? But it was understanding that there was a gap in my knowledge, and I needed to fill that gap. And it was really exciting for me to say, I can stretch myself in this way and learn about the business of medicine and apply that to becoming an even better doctor. And you articulated, you said you saw what you would love to do in the future, and you saw a path to get there. How much of what you saw in the future ended up being what you did in the future? Oh, it was very different. And what I think it reflects is that nothing is linear, and you sort of, you make these decisions about, I need to understand this, and then you try to figure out, how do I take these skills and this experience and apply it to something else? Some of that is opportunities, a lot of that is preparing, but it's also recognizing that skills from one area of your life and of your career journey can be used in another. And how do you start to understand what doors that opens up for you? And so I went back to understand the business of medicine, and then I realized that those skills that I gained through my MBA that allowed me to make more decisions and participate in healthcare administration, and that took me on a different path. But I never thought when I went to medical school that I would eventually stop practicing and move on to a different path. Yeah. And here we are. Here we are in a totally different space. I know. Okay. I want to bring in some questions from the audience. And some of y'all, some of y'all actually sent in questions in advance on video. Sure. I love it when you do this. Please always do it. Let's cut to our first video question from the audience. Here we go. Hi. My name is Heather. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have more than 10 years of experience in non-profits as well as higher education like colleges and universities. I have been on countless job interviews and haven't received callbacks. I'm concerned that potential employers view my experience as a risk rather than an advantage. How can I position myself so that my experience is seen as an asset rather than a liability? Thank you, Heather, for that question, and that sentiment that you raise, Heather, this I'm not getting callback sentiment, that's one we hear a lot. I'm curious what you might have as advice for Heather. Yeah, Heather, I'm so grateful that you asked the question, and I've seen this very experience that you're having play out with colleagues of mine. Part of what I think might be helpful, and there's no sort of one right answer, is Thinking about how you might reframe your experience to be applicable to the jobs that you're applying, you may or have already attempted to do that. But these soft skills, I call it sort of the rise of the soft skills, being able to give concrete examples of how some of the skills that you've gained throughout your career can apply to the new job that you're looking at. The other thing that I would say, which is always helpful, and I did a lot of when I was in between opportunities and looking for the ways in which I could apply my skill set to to my next job was intensifying my networking and really being able to talk to people in different spaces and fields to say, as I go out on this interview with this organization, tapping into someone who may be in that space and talking with them about what would strengthen my candidacy for this role and describing those soft skills and then really being creative as to how they then could complement the role that you're looking for. So it's a combination of elevating the soft skills and the ways in which older individuals can apply them, particularly now with AI distance to mediation, I think is critically important, and combining that with networking to make sure that as you're crafting your response in these job interviews, that you're really speaking to what the employer wants, leveraging those skills that you already have. I love that you land on the networking piece. It was the first thought that I had for Heather. Curious, have you learned anything about how to network well? You know, what I learned is moving out of your comfort zone, And when I was in between, I had left one opportunity and I was looking for my next, I really tapped into different parts of my network that I may not have thought about. And so I talked to people in education, I talked to people in philanthropy, I talked to people in non-profit, I talked to people in private equity, just to let them know that I was looking, to let them know about my skills. And what wound up happening is from one of those conversations, that's actually how I got the job that I have now. I love hearing that because I think so often we apply and we don't hear back. And when you step out of that approach and into an approach where you are just putting yourself into conversation after conversation, the mechanics of the relationships work differently, I think. They do, and you're top of mind for people. You obviously have to make sure that that networking interaction is reflective of your strengths, that you're really coming into that conversation with confidence. You're saying, I'm thinking about these things. Does that sound right? So framing your questions right is appropriate. and then you will be top of mind. So I was top of mind when the colleague that I spoke with heard about the role that I have now, CEO of AARP, and said, ah, I know someone who's interested in this type of role. She would be perfect. And he referred me and that's how I got the role. I love hearing that. Okay, I wanna bring y'all into this conversation here. So this is a question for you to answer. Answer it in the chat as succinctly as you can. What's one piece of your experience, a role, a skill, a season of your life that you think is undervalued by the market right now? I love this question. Even before Dr. Minter-Jordan was sitting with me, I thought, oh, I know immediately what the answer is for myself. It is my soft skills. That is the thing that is undervalued. I need to talk about it in a different way in order to value it myself. I wanna know what your answer is to this question, so get your thoughts into the chat. And while you do, I wanna bring another video conversation, video question into this conversation. So let's roll. I know you've spoken extensively on ageism. One of the places I see this backfiring on corporate America at the moment is this exodus of really seasoned, knowledgeable workers, particularly women who are opting out of corporate America and starting a second act career, whether it's consulting, coaching, entrepreneurship. I would love your perspective on the impact this is having to corporate America, whether this folks in the C-suite are identifying this as a key risk factor at this point. And three, what can corporate America or corporate leaders do to change this trajectory? Thank you. Thank you, Jenna. That's Jenna in Philadelphia bringing us a question frames such an important part of their lives. Ageism is something that we are combating every day in all that we do at AARP. And I do believe that this is a unique time for the 50-plus individuals in our country to leverage their soft skills, to leverage their experience, and to be able to continue to elevate the value that they bring to the workplace. This is the first time that we've ever had five generations in the workplace. And so as a worker, as an employee, making sure that you're stepping into those roles and spaces around mentorship in the workplace and really demonstrating how you're bringing that experience and wisdom to these multi-generational workforce teams, as an example. I do think that there's an opportunity now, particularly with AI disintermediation, for corporate America to step up and to understand that we need more flexible policies that would help key people in the workforce. One of the ways in which AARP is doing that is that we offer family caregiving policies. We offer family caregiving leave that allows for people to take the time that they need to balance family caregiving responsibilities with their work. And so we do need, as corporate America, we do need to make sure that we are creating the right policies to keep people within the workforce because often people leave, particularly women, because of family caregiving responsibilities. So understanding that, understanding your workforce and what your workforce needs and adapting policies. And we are beginning to see some traction. We work with companies around the country to help them guide them in terms of their, the way in which they think about policy and to be an example and role model to them as well. But they are seeing that this is happening. They are, I would say that there's a real opportunity for us as the 50-plus to step into this role and to make sure that we are demonstrating our value in the workplace as 50-plus individuals. Okay, you mentioned right at the beginning of your answer, this idea that mentoring was important. Yes. And that just jumped out to me because one thing that I just noticed around me is that as people sometimes feel less important in a workforce, they stop feeling like they even have something to offer. They step back from mentoring instead of stepping toward it. And I'm curious how we all should be thinking, regardless of our role, how we all should be thinking about mentoring. Well, I think mentoring is one of those ways in which you can actually solidify and strengthen your value as an employee. And being concrete about that and talking about that with your managers. I was working with, you know, X employee to help them do this project. Like we need to claim that space. We need to claim the value that we bring. Mentoring is certainly one way to do that. Hosting mentoring events, starting a mentoring employee resource group, hosting networking events, like really stepping into the wisdom and expertise that the 50 plus worker or employee has and leveraging that and making it seen within the workplace. When we step back from it, no one's going to ask us to do it. So we actually have to step into those roles and show that we are stepping into those roles through the work that we do and in those conversations with management. In some ways, when you step up as a mentor, you are branding that wisdom. You are branding yourself as a person with that wisdom. And so you are teaching the world how to see you. Exactly, and teaching the world how to value the expertise that the 50 plus worker brings to the workplace. There's so much that we have experienced throughout our career journey. Again, those soft skills are incredibly important. Being able to manage teams and speaking to that, even if you're looking for a job, speaking to all of that experience of team management, team culture, organizations now are really working on how do I strengthen the culture? How do I make sure that my teams are most effective? And I believe that the 50 plus employee can play a significant role in leading that. It is a wonderful transition point to our answers in the chat, because a bunch of people, when asked what experience they think is undervalued that they bring right now, start with saying people leadership. We've got Maureen, Cassandra, people leadership. We've got Deborah, systems thinking. We've got Haley with relationship building. We've got George with the ability to manage crisis situations. I love that. All of these are skills that you have likely built through practice over time. Yes, and these are all soft skills that we're talking about. So when we say soft skills, we're talking about the ability to form relationships, the ability to communicate effectively in person, the ability to represent the culture of an organization, the ability to defuse crises, like as was mentioned. So I do think that those are all different aspects that we need to talk more definitively about, whether we are looking for a job or whether or not we're in a job right now, and we want to make sure that we are in line for that next promotion. Yeah, okay. I'm gonna bring some of the audience questions in here. This one comes from Indira in Switzerland. How can we best encourage boards and executive teams to view veteran leadership as a necessary ethical operating system that ensures innovation remains both responsible and humane? I love that question. So I do think that there's an opportunity for us to bring the wisdom that we have gained throughout our years to these conversations. And I think it's important to marry that with the business case. So we have to be really diligent in understanding that businesses operate on a bottom line, for-profit or non-profit. And you have to make sure that as we are bringing our wisdom to the forefront, that we're marrying that with the business case that then becomes undeniable. So understanding what's the data that I need that speaks to my issues. I believe it's no longer enough to say this is an important issue just on its merits of itself, on the moral case. But it's really important, and I think one of the strengths that the 50-plus worker can bring is marrying that moral case with the business case. Yeah, and it's such a good call-out that it is not enough to simply say, this should be so. It is always a good idea to pair that with, and this is the business case for why this needs to be done. And there always is a business case if you look for it. That's right. Okay, this question comes from Jan in Denmark. Advice for non-linear careers, Jan asks, how can professionals with these nonlinear careers make adaptability and judgment and cross-functional pattern recognition visible so that they're seen as lower risk and high impact candidates rather than as hard to categorize or inexperienced? So I think it's really important to understand what the employer is looking for and to then crosswalk the soft skills, the adaptability and the other assets that were mentioned with those job requirements and giving clear examples as to how I was adaptable, I exhibited adaptability with my team on this project and we had these outcomes. So you're bringing in the adaptability as one of the measures of success and applying that to the skills that are being sought by the employer. And so I think there has to be a very careful sort of time that you take in preparing for these interviews, preparing for these opportunities, where you're doing that crosswalk and using specific examples, but I think leveraging those key words and highlighting them as measures of success or as the reasons for success is key in that as well. Yeah, listen, I wanna spend some time talking about how we stay relevant in this moment of AI reshaping. And I shy away from the term stay relevant because I think that it takes away from the gifts that we actually have to impart. but we need to figure out how to talk about them differently and how to identify the ones that matter most. You know, there's a narrative right now that says the young will adapt, the older workforce, they're gonna struggle. I want you to complicate that for me. What I would say is the older workforce, and we actually did a study with LinkedIn that shows that the older individuals, 50 plus, are actually upskilling at an incredibly fast rate. And so it's not enough, to your point, to sort of, I wanna stay relevant, is how do you make sure that you are moving at the pace that your colleagues of their generations or the workforce is moving? And we're showing that we can do that. We're showing an interest and we're using technology in every facet of our lives. And we're upskilling faster than other generations because we know that there's a gap. And so continuing to upskill, continuing to take that AI class, use AI in your daily life. I've created my own agent, like really working diligently to understand how is technology reshaping the workforce and staying abreast of that. We can't afford to just stay relevant, we actually need to move ahead. And we have the ability to do that. We're in the second phase of our lives where we have so much experience and wisdom and we can apply that to leveraging these tools to do what we need them to do to make us even stronger as candidates for jobs. Okay, that final point, that is what I think the 50 plus workforce brings, right? It's not enough to be able to be really great at using the tool. It is also imperative that we figure out where the tool belongs in our workflow. That's right. It comes back to understanding what the business case is for any work that you wanna do. And the more experience that you have, the more you are often, not always, able to step back and identify that. Exactly, and that's what employers are looking for is we're investing millions of dollars into leveraging these AI tools and resources. Understanding how best to make it effective in the workplace is something that only comes with wisdom and expertise because you knew the process before. And now as you're leveraging AI to make that process more effective and efficient, you as that worker, as that employee, can identify where it goes and demonstrate even greater value to your employer. Okay, so Dr. Minter-Jordan, I wanna talk a second about your own career path again when it comes to this topic. Because you stayed at the front edge of your own field, even as it's changed, and now for more than 30 years. And that was medicine, but then community health, and then innovation, and now longevity. Do you have a practice of staying relevant? I don't, I wouldn't say it's a practice, but I think there, I have an innate curiosity, and I have, you know, I was an athlete, so I'm a fierce competitor, and so I don't wanna be left behind. And I don't feel as if my age would allow me would be a barrier to me learning new skills, taking on new skills. I'm one that I don't want the tech person to come and help me. I want to figure it out myself. And I was one of the early adopters of AI in terms of the workplace on my team. I like to tease the younger folks on my team about that. But I do think like taking charge and feeling as if you are in control, because we are and we have at this stage in our lives, we have a different level of confidence, a different level of experience that allows us to say I can do this and put ourselves out there in a way where we've done that before. We've seen some things and we can now say, I can do this and get the skills and the talent that I need to take myself even further. So I've never sort of sat back. I've always been one to like, what else is out there for me? And how do I go and get it? And let me go and get it. I love that you point out your background experience as an athlete and shaping your practice. That's right, that's right. I think as an athlete and also as a physician, I think it, the way that I think, the way that I triage situations comes from my background as a physician. So even though I'm not practicing medicine anymore, I'm applying that way of thinking to the work that I do. So when I'm hearing an issue at work, I wanna understand what are the key points that I need to know in order to make a decision. And then I'm prioritizing that in my mind, I'm triaging in my mind about, or what are the things that we need to do and in making sure that I am coming up with a plan of action that's reflective and using the skills that I learned as a physician. Yeah, I love that. Okay, so AARP put out the report on the trillion-dollar caregiving economy. Yes. A huge chunk of that work is being done by people who are also trying to stay in the workforce, stay current, stay employable. How do we have an honest conversation about this? Yes, well, I think we start with facts. There are 63 million caregivers out there, the majority of whom are over the age of 50. To your point, that 63 million generates $1 trillion in care, unpaid care, that's being delivered to their loved ones, to people that they care for. And they're balancing work and this life of their own life as well as taking care of others. And so understanding the facts first and foremost, and then as we think about employers, if you have, if these are the facts, you likely have a significant number of caregivers on your teams, as part of your staff. And so how do we as employers ensure that we have the right policies in place that provide support so that I can make sure that my employee can contribute effectively and still manage the work-life balance? And so there's a critical opportunity for employers to understand that, for healthcare systems to understand that we're fighting for legislation, whether or not that's tax credits, the integration of the caregiver in the care plan from the AARP policy standpoint. And I think it's a wake up call to employers at the same time. We shouldn't be afraid as caregivers to say, I need time to be able to take care of my loved one, or I have this responsibility and worry about whether or not we're going to keep our job. And that's what we're fighting up against. But the more and more voices we have, the more stories we can tell, the more we can talk about how important it is to have that balance, we will begin to see businesses shift because ultimately they want to be able to meet their bottom line. And you can't do that if you're not supporting and employees that will help you to get there. That is so true. Okay, I wanna bring our audience into this conversation again. Here is another question for you. Drop your answer into the comments. Where do you feel the AI shift most in your own work right now? Maybe it's changing the tasks you're doing. Maybe it's a whole new job or a whole different role, or I don't know, maybe you actually don't feel AI in your work right now, but we're very curious. So let us know, drop it in the chat. And I'm going to move on to some audience questions. This one comes from Sandeep in the United Arab Emirates. And this is about staying ahead. How can mid and late career professionals practically stay ahead of AI driven changes without feeling overwhelmed? I can't believe that this is the first time we've used the word overwhelm in this conversation. Yes, that's a great way to describe what can happen. And I think the way that I would approach it is starting small, starting to understand how can I leverage AI in my day-to-day tasks on Deep? How do I understand what are the most practical applications to my field in AI and start to take training courses? There are tons of courses out there that are free, that are available, even if you can ask AI to teach you how to use AI, I mean, which is really incredible. And you can leverage the prompt to say, this is my specific role, what should I be thinking about? So it's actually interesting that we can use the same tool to help teach us how to use it, which is very different than other technologies in the past. But I would say start small and be consistent, and continue to focus on the relevant use to the work that you're in. Because when you think about it in totality, it does and can be overwhelming, but it's really about understanding what are the most practical applications for me in my role in the work that I'm doing or that I would like to do. Okay, so this question comes from Yatish, also in the United Arab Emirates, and it's about how we gain a leadership role amid AI. What advice would you give to mid-career professionals who have strong technical expertise but are looking to reinvent themselves for leadership roles in an AI-driven world? You know, we've touched on this a little bit, and I think what I would say is, given that you have the technical expertise, it's now how do How do you apply the soft skills to that? And how do you demonstrate that to your manager? And so making sure that as you are, if your company does 360 evaluations, that you're paying attention to those results and understanding how you are perceived. Because we have one perception of ourselves, and we may be perceived very differently by others. So it's important to leverage the feedback that you get either through a 360 or through a performance evaluation to understand like where might there be gaps as to how I'm showing up as a people manager, how I'm communicating and whether or not that communication is effective, how I am incentivizing people to do their best work. And what I am realizing more and more that half of my job is obviously the technical pieces and understanding how to run the company. The other half is focusing on my communication and how I show up as a leader. And that is in how people perceive my role as a leader within the organization. I've got to be that motivator, I've got to be that inspiring leader that makes people, encourages people, inspires people to meet our mission and our objectives. And I think that inspiration is key. I love that you highlight the gap between how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us. No matter how effective you are at your role, there will always be a gap. Yes. And the more you can learn about that gap with curiosity, the more opportunity you will have to grow into a stronger leader. I completely agree. I just shared my 360 with my executive team and first they were surprised that I shared it. I was like, you did? Yeah. I did. I did. And it was so elucidating for me. It helped to sort of confirm some things and presented opportunity for me in other spaces. And it allowed me in sharing it to say, this is what I'm committed to do. And I'm also asking you to hold me to that. So it demonstrated my vulnerability as a leader, my commitment to listening to those voices and incorporating them in the way that I show up, and asking them to hold me accountable really is one of my values is accountability. So I wanted to role model what accountability looks like. And I think those are important skills that we as leaders need to continue to exhibit. Okay. So this question, whoa, this question is a popular question. A lot of people are asking different forms of it. It concerns resume advice. but I will ask it directly from Christian in New York. Thank you for sharing it. Should we make efforts to de-age our CV and job applications, even though it may sell ourselves short? So Christian, I think at first I'd wanna understand what we mean by de-age, and if you mean by sort of removing dates, I don't know, I mean, I don't know that that's gonna be as effective as focusing on what are your strengths and highlighting those strengths. We've talked a lot about soft skills, highlighting those soft skills, highlighting the data, the things that you've been able to deliver, and what we should do, I would say, for any job that we are evaluating is ensure that our resume reflects the job description. Many of us will go with the same resume to every job, and we actually need to modify that resume so that it really speaks to what this job is looking for. And I think that goes beyond de-aging. It's really about, do I see as an employer, do I see that what this candidate represents is a match with what I'm looking for. And if you can highlight that, if you can have a better understanding of that and make sure that it's reflective in your resume, in your interest letter, those are the things that I think will go a lot further than de-aging. That is a wonderful point. Okay, I just wanna call out some of our comments from our question because they actually tell us a lot about who you all are today. We asked, I asked, where do you feel the AI shift most in your work right now? Kristen says, I was laid off because of AI. Sharon and Kim say, I'm using AI to help me find my new career. Brian, embedding AI into the day-to-day workflow. Adriana and Lone, it's helping me with routine tasks. And Kate says, it's helping me set up my company as I transition to consulting. Here's what I hear through all of that, that AI is a very strong force, one of the strongest forces that we use in our careers, and that is reshaping the future of how we think about navigating our jobs. Yes. I wanna ask this question, this question comes from Magdolna in Germany. Thank you, Magdolna. And it's about handling generational divides. As a Gen. X, how can we make Gen. Z recruiters realize and notice our worth during a pre-screening interview? I think a lot of folks have been in this situation where you get on for the interview when someone looks, visibly looks to you like they're a fraction of your age. And you worry. Yeah, yeah, I think it's about making sure that you're finding those relevant spaces to speak about your experience. I think it's about showing who you are and your personality, obviously in a way that highlights the skills and expertise that the employer is looking for. I think it's about talking about how you've worked on teams that were intergenerational, and some of the ways in which you've either mentored or networked, some of the ways in which you've added to the culture of the organization, also talking about how you have upskilled. What are the ways in which you have taken on new technology and shown the impact of that in your work? And so there's always going to be this presumption that older individuals don't have the skills, and we have to continue to disprove that. We have to continue to demonstrate the incredible value that we bring, and the ways in which it's shown up in our past, and the way in which we can apply that to the future. And we will continue to mitigate some of the age discrimination. And often, we also, I would just end by saying, we have to make sure that we're not coming in with a notion and projecting, and that there is a sort of generational divide before we even get into the conversation. And so while we have to sort of get past that momentary surprise of there perhaps appearing to be a gap in our ages, we have to find the common ground that allows us to move into these spaces where we can talk more about our experience and about what we bring to the job and make sure that those preconceived notions aren't tripping us up actually. We shouldn't reject ourselves before we have the opportunity to have the interview. That's right. Yeah. Okay. So I want to talk some about pivots. When you look back at the move from practicing medicine to going back for the MBA, what do you wish someone had told you right at the front of that? And I reference that only because it appears to be your first big pivot in your career. You know, I think I wish, I'm trying to think about if I wish someone had told me something or like if I were to give advice to someone else. If I were to give advice to someone else, what I would say is, don't be afraid to see See where your gaps are and try to fill them. And often we don't, and don't be complacent. Often we sort of sit back and say, I finished medical school, what else do I need to do? But if you know that you can't do the work that you'd like to do, or that you see a knowledge gap, it's on us to fill it. And so I would say that, and that's what I did. I saw that I didn't understand the business of medicine, and that's why I went back to business school. It wasn't because it was recommended, it was because I was like, I need to understand this better. effective as a physician in running the programs that the hospital wanted me to run at the time, I need to have a different skill set and a different understanding of how to read a balance sheet, how to create a business case. And I learned that from my business school experience. And so I would give the advice of, really critically look at where you need to fill those gaps and figure out how to do that. And you can only do that for yourself. You can't expect your employer to do that for you. You actually have to do that for yourself. Yeah, okay, so a lot of people listening are trying to read the signals right now. Jobs are changing, our industries are often changing, and we're trying to figure out, like, is this the moment to make a move? Should I dig in and wait and watch? When you have been at points like that yourself, how have you made decisions around timing? I think you have to be incredibly strategic. I think you have to weigh what are the responsibilities that you have. If you are someone who has children, small children, taking care of a loved one, you may think differently about the risk that you're willing to take. It shouldn't make you risk-averse, but it should make you think about the risk. And rather than, there may be instances where you say this job is just not right for me, I need to step out and do something different. There may be times where you say, it's not right for me, so now I need to network, and I need to set a plan about how I network, and I need to push myself to network. And so there are different approaches, but I do think the advice that I would give is be strategic and don't make rash decisions when you're thinking about your career and your career choices. Really be strategic and think through what your plan will be of understanding where you want to go next. And as we talked about and you led with, careers are no longer linear and it's okay to take risks, but I would say just be strategic as you think about how much risk you're willing to take. Yeah. Okay, so you have been, you have talked about building a fulfilling aging experience. Yes. Across the whole arc of a life, not just starting at 50. So if we have a 35-year-old in the audience listening, which I know at least one who is, what advice might you give them to set them up at that point for a career of longevity? The great news is that we're living longer and we're working longer. Many of us because we want to, some of us because we have to. And so work doesn't end for many of us when you hit 50 or 55. It actually is just the second phase of life. And so every chapter has meaning and should teach you lessons about what you'd like to apply to the next chapter. So really taking stock, no matter what age you are, of what job you're in now, what you'd like to do next, understanding where you can fill in your skills and fill in those knowledge gaps and really imagining what you want to be and knowing that there's no linear path to get there or what you want to do ultimately. But I think there's so much excitement in thinking about each chapter. People aren't staying in jobs for the same period. My parents were career that I'm in this job for 30, 40 years. That's not the case today. And so each step, and I've asked this in interviews of candidates before, what was the decision that you, or what were the decisions or some of the factors that made you move from one job to another, and really taking stock of what those are, because you get smarter every time you make a decision, and every time you make a career move, you should, hopefully. And sometimes we can backslide, and that's okay, but learning from each of those to say, okay, now how do I take this to the next step, and how do I take this to the next step, and really thinking about how you're building your portfolio. It's your own personal portfolio that you're building at the end of the day. What do you want it to look like? Look, you mentioned backsliding. I just think, like, sometimes it's not going to work out. Yeah. It's not gonna work out. Yeah, and that's fine. But if you're doing this right, it's okay if it doesn't work out. You then pivot again. You pivot and you learn. And then you say, okay, what's next for my portfolio? I learned this from this opportunity. I learned what type of environment isn't conducive to my being my best self in the workplace. Now I'm going to take that learning and move it to, this one really is, and this is what I'm now going to look for when I look for the next opportunity. Totally okay. Okay, we have so many great questions in the feed. This one comes from Sandeep in the United Arab Emirates, once again, and it's about positioning a pivot. What's the best way to position a career pivot later in life so employers see it as strategic, the word that you use, and not questionably risky? The best way to talk about it is to frame it positively for yourself. You have to have the right narrative around that. You have to have the right narrative to, and so if you're walking in cold and you don't have the narrative of why you made the pivot, you've made a mistake. You really need to take the time to say, as I'm creating this narrative, which should feel true and authentic to you as to why I made this change, how do I frame that in a way that conveys strength and confidence and experience to the next employer? And so it's taking, like I was able to accomplish these things and therefore I wanted to move on to the next opportunity, being able to speak definitively to your accomplishments, being able to speak definitively to the success metrics, what you've learned and why you think you're ready for this next opportunity. So having that narrative ready and making it feel authentic to you so that you can convey it in a way that is positive and inspiring and exciting for the next employer is key. Yeah, okay. Ooh, I love this question from Sophie in North Carolina. And she's interested in your personal take on purpose. She asks, how do you preserve your career purpose? Do you have a special ritual or methods that you do? I love that question, Sophie. So for me, I start with my values. My values are transparency, respect, accountability, and communication. And so my purpose comes from being able to take those values and apply them to the mission. So I am very much, I choose a job because of the mission of the organization. The mission has to align with those values. And so for me, it's around centering myself in the mission every day. I meditate in the morning, which also helps. For 10 minutes, it's not a long meditation, but if I can focus on one breath. I've been doing it now for about two years, and it's been terrific. It centers me for the day as well as exercise, but I think sort of trying to make sure that I settle my mind, I focus on the why, why am I doing this work, and that that why aligns with my values is how I stay aligned with my purpose. I love that. Okay, this question comes from Soraya. It's about addressing age bias. I often encounter unspoken assumptions but I don't understand the needs or perspectives of Gen. Y and Gen. Z employees. Since these perceptions are rarely voiced outright, what's the best way to address them tactfully?" You know, I wonder about whether or not it would be helpful, Soraya, to sort of head-on try to address it versus really thinking through, like, what are some of the messages that are being conveyed to you, and is there a different way to position it that's not like I think about this in Gen. Y, I'm taking into consideration Gen. Y, but really looking behind what's being said. Like, what are the messages, or is there some underlying theme that when I present it, I'm not addressing? And so, one example might be, you know, there may be a need for collaboration or a greater sense of, was this a project where people felt like they had an equal voice? And so, really just making sure that, you know, when I'm laying this out, I'm thinking through, what are the things that are most important to you, and you're asking for feedback and input. So it's not about sort of combating head on, it's about how do I recalibrate and understand, if people are saying this, what's the message that I should be receiving? And how do I better address what they're looking for for me as a leader or as a manager? I'm assuming that that's part of the role here in the way that I communicate. So there are nuances that I think are better said or left unsaid in how you balance the message. but I think just being really careful about that. And what we don't wanna come off as being combative or feeding into this idea that is one generation pitted against another. It's more so listening with curiosity, being open to feedback, taking in those nuances and really trying to respond in a way that enhances the way in which you communicate to all generations. I love that. This is our final question. It comes from Vieta in United Arab Emirates, who is interested in establishing the right relationships. What strategic relationships do I need to build now in order to stay visible and relevant for the next decade? So I'm gonna answer that probably a little differently than you might expect. I am one that I believe that every relationship is important and when we start to, and obviously there are some that you will put more time and resource in, but I think if we start from this place of this person doesn't have value, Therefore, I'm not going to expend any energy or time to get to know them. People see that. Yeah. And so I do think that there's a way in which you can show up as a leader, as an emerging leader, in which you are really looking at the organization across the enterprise and understanding that every relationship is important. People are watching the way in which you interact. And at the same time, as you think about networking, going back to networking, there's networking, is mentoring and there's coaching, right? So networking is everybody. You wanna make sure people know who you are. You wanna make sure people, you understand who people are, are there projects or the initiatives that you should be involved in. That's really making sure you have a good lay of the land. Mentoring is finding someone who's actually going to help you advance in your career and being very clear about that mentoring relationship. What are you asking for? When someone is coaching you or sponsoring you, or sponsors actually, the other word I was looking for, they are looking at you for a particular opportunity to help you get into that next space. It may not be an ongoing mentoring relationship, but sponsoring is I'm looking at you because I want to make sure that you can get to this next level and I'm gonna help you get there. And it may not be an ongoing, long-lasting relationship like mentoring may be. So I think identifying sponsors, identifying mentors, coaches, and networking, balancing all of that is a lot, but it's important because all of these relationships matter and we need to make sure we're putting time and energy into every relationship as we're trying to advance in an organization. Many CEOs that I've talked to have spent time skip levels, meeting with people at different levels within the organization, understanding that some of the richest information you get is not from the people that directly report to you, but from others across the organization. And so seeing value in everyone across the organization is really important. That's so key. This has been such a rich conversation. I just want to share a few of the comments that have come in while we've chatted today. Tons of support in the chat, which says a lot about you, our audience. Carol says, just change the direction of your sales. May feel powerless, but you are not helpless. Sanjay says, the era of the lifelong single career is definitely over, but this isn't a crisis, it's an evolution. If we anchor ourselves in deep domain expertise and embrace open sharing, the future is wide open. Brenda says, each chapter is a new adventure. Yes. True. So true. Love that. And one more from Isun. He says, in my opinion, everyone has a unique set of skills, experiences, and strengths. Career gaps and setbacks are just part of a person's journey, and they don't define their worth or potential. So important to embrace that thought. Amen. What matters is the ability to learn, to grow, and to contribute. That word, contribute. Everyone deserves a fair opportunity to be seen for who they are and what they can bring. I love that. All terrific. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you. This conversation has been so important today, Dr. Minter-Jordan. I wanna leave you with something that our esteemed guest said earlier, because it's the line that I'm taking with me. If we're lucky, we're aging. So sit with that for a second, because the conversation we just had wasn't really about being 50 or 60 or 35. It was about whether we're brave enough to treat the chapters ahead of us as more interesting than the chapters behind us. And if you're somewhere in the middle of a pivot right now yourself, or you're thinking about one or pretending you're not, I hope you heard something today that gives you a little more permission. Your experience is not a liability. It's the thing that you have been building this whole time. The work now is figuring out how to put it to use. Now, if you wanna keep this conversation going, we're gonna be leaving the chat open for another 10 minutes or so. So tell us what landed. Connect with someone new. And if you want to share what resonated with you publicly, post about it using the hashtag WatchWithPremium. In fact, I'd love you to tag me because I'd love to know what you're talking about and to jump in myself. Now, before we wrap, I want you to join us for June 18th's conversation. It is a live coaching session with Andrew Seaman and a job search coach, Ashley Watkins-Thomas. They're gonna share practical strategies to help you stand out and answer your career questions live. Thank you so much for being right here with us today and I'll see you next time.