An exercise of imagination

She typically wears a smile on her face, along with make-up that brings a bit of color to her eyes, cheeks, and lips - without them, her wrinkles and pale complexity will simply contrast too much with the tanned colleagues in their 20s - 30s.

Sarah has just celebrated 53 years this spring and after 20+ years of work, raising two kids and a husband (!) she does not necessarily enjoy the 45' commute to work on a daily basis - but she is too afraid to lose her job if she asks for 1-2 days of work from home.

Although she is a highly reliable accountant, adding value to the team - according to her manager -, the 4 months it took her to find this new job after being laid off made her weary of taking risks. She knows she needs to quickly learn how to use the new apps and integrations scheduled for this autumn. Yet during the new app training, people were giving her the eye for not catching up quickly enough; the trainer was nice but he kept asking her if she understood - well, that face she makes when focusing on a task might fool some folks into believing she is either stupid or unhappy, but she only needs new glasses!

No, Sarah is not your typical "older" colleague.

She is your mother.

Does that change anything?

Why?

What would you do to make sure your mother is unafraid to go to work and confidently contribute to the team?

How would you treat her when she gets tired? If she has a slow day due to her back pains?

What would you think if she were not able to go to the after-hours drink with the rest of the team because she simply does not have the energy to pull a 14 hrs day-at-work-and-bar Friday?

How would you benefit, personally, from her feeling confident she can share her experience about crises you've never met in business, types of people you've not encountered yet in your role, or tips on how to navigate a life-long balanced work-life existence?

Agism comes from fear. Well, if we're lucky, we all get old! The other option is way worse...

It also comes from ignorance. We don't know what we don't know. How can we, in our 20s or 30s, imagine how it is to be in our 50s or 60s? After all, did you, as a teenager, imagine how your life would feel in your 30s? We therefore need empathy, if not compassion. If we want to capitalize on the experience and wisdom of workers who have been around while we were toddlers, we need to create the psychological safety and work environment in which they can thrive.

After all, they are our mothers and fathers, our older cousins...they are us, just a couple of years from now.