Leadership

The workforce is evolving, with a noticeable demographic shift toward an aging population. Businesses must recognize the value of these experienced workers as life expectancy rises and people remain active in their careers longer.

Adapting company practices to support and retain older employees is a strategic move that enhances productivity and ensures valuable knowledge stays within the company. Fostering an inclusive environment where older workers feel valued enables businesses to reduce turnover, maintain a diverse and skilled workforce and thrive in a competitive market.

Tech businesses and employees should have retirement account options that fit their needs. While they could stick with the traditional 401(k) plan, many other types offer more significant tax benefits and fewer restrictions.

Why Does the Tech Industry Need Special Accounts?

Tech workers’ incomes hit a record high in 2021. The average salary reached over $104,500, with many jobs seeing more than 10%-20% growth in earnings from 2020. Even though this increase is fantastic, it made some of the most popular retirement plans inaccessible.

Social media is the perfect platform for turning important discussions into shallow memes. A place where we all live in echo chambers, the cliquiest of all cliques.

In November 2017 Sean Parker, co-founder of Facebook, admitted:

...we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every once in a while. It's a social-validation feedback loop...exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology

Ladies and gentlemen, let me paint a picture for you. The year is 1983 and you are a super fit, well geared, and highly trained ultra-marathon runner. You are getting ready for a 544 mile race from Sydney to Melbourne, Australia. You are mulling about with your peers, rubbing elbows with everybody who you know is at least as prepared as you are. You see an array of high end athletic brands on display. It is a stereotypical marathon.

But then you start to hear some murmuring. “He’s how old?” Your interest is piqued. “He’s wearing what?” Okay, now you have to see what the commotion is about.

What do shooting a gun, playing quarterback, golf and leadership all have in common? We will answer that at the end but you’ll likely figure it out pretty quickly. Here’s a hint, it has to do with fundamentals and properly applying them.

So, lets dive right in and get to the answer!

Being a good leader is tricky. There are a lot of things you need to do in order to successfully lead your team. There may be more things you shouldn’t do. Over the course of this post we will discuss five of those things you should not do and why they are killing your leadership and hurting your team.

You may be making one or more of these mistakes but you, and only you, can fix them. So, lets dive right in!