Interview with Ken Dychtwald on Midlife Crisis
February 2009 - By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary

Ken Dychtwald
Ken Dychtwald, founding president and CEO of Age Wave

experiment, demand participative management, and value horizontal over hierarchical organizations. They also have greater ambitions to impact and shape the world around them. In middlescence many are asking themselves: Have I had the impact I expected to have? How can I make the next phase ofmy life as meaningful as possible? Many are willing to trade some of their current success for greater significance in their lives and work, even if that means doing something altogether different.

• Almost all of the middlescent employees get disenchanted and frustrated. What according to you are the sources of frustration and how to protect oneself fromall such frustrations?
  In our research we identified seven key risks sources of frustration that midcareer workers should anticipate and prepare for:

1. Career bottleneck.
   The baby boom generation is large, and too many people are competing for too few leadership positions in organizations that have been shedding layers of hierarchy. Midcareer workers need to recognize they may have to work harder for promotions than prior generations, and plan their career path smartly and creatively. Prior generations may have found their careers and promotions to progress more smoothly. Today’s midcareer workers may find it helpful to develop and pursue explicit two, five, and ten year plans describing their career priorities, goals, potential pitfalls, and strategies for their careers.

2. Work/life tension.
   Midcareer workers are sandwiched between commitments to children and parents, often at the same time that their work responsibilities are peaking. More than among prior generations, career management requires thoughtful coordination of family responsibilities with spouses and family members and sometimes the postponement of career ambitions to focus on family priorities.

3. Lengthening horizon.
   Those who are not accumulating sufficient wealth for retirement face the prospect of having to work many more years. Many of today’s midcareer employees have been lavish spenders and sparse savers. One of the most important questions in later life is whether we will work because we want to work or because we have to work. Will we have the freedomto take time off when we want or need it?Will we have the flexibility to “downsize” into a less lucrative career or position that we are more passionate about? Increasingly, financial planning is an important part of career planning. Adequate savings is the key to having the flexibility to pursue work that is fulfilling and engaging in our later years.

4. Skills obsolescence.
   Some struggle to adjust to new ways ofworking and managing in the information economy. In today’s fastpaced world, lifelong learning is a requirement for career advancement. Midcareer workers can explore continued learning opportunities both inside and outside their companies, including formal training programs, mentoring programs, evening classes, and new roles that expand your capabilities.

5. Disillusionment with employers.
   This includes insecurity and distrust following waves of downsizing, as well as resentment over the enormous compensation gaps between top executives and almost all other employees. In times of economic uncertainty, middlescent workers can be particularly prone to frustration and disillusionment. It is important to recognize that this is natural during this time in your career and to remain focused on your long-term goals and how to achieve them.

6. Burnout.
   People who have been career driven for 20 or more years are stretched and stressed, find their work unexciting or repetitive, and are running low on energy and the ability to cope. Midcareer workers may find they can avoid burnout by identifying and pursuing work activities that most motivate and excite them, and working with their employers to develop career paths that enable them to stay as productive as possible.

7. Career disappointment.
   For some, the roles they play and the impact of their work fail to measure up to their youthful ideals and ambitions. Volunteering and contributing to society outside work can often provide the fulfillment, some find, missing from their careers.

• You have argued that, “Companies are ill-prepared to manage middlescence because it is so pervasive, largely invisible, and culturally uncharted. Employers view these people as solid corporate citizens... That neglect is bad for business”. Why companies’ ill-preparedness to handle middlescents is bad for business?
  Everyday that an employee is less than fully engaged in the work and goals of the enterprise, energy and focus and contribution are left on the table – productivity is lost and never to be recovered. Relatively straightforward changes – a fresh and challenging assignment, rotation to a different part of the organization, extra or specialized training, an in-house career switch, or a sabbatical – can quickly turn an unfocused employee into a reenergized one. Such changes benefit more than the employees and their individual productivity. The organization also benefits because the employee is better positioned to share experience and innovate in the new role.

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