Episode 47: Learning & Leading As We Age

Learning & Leading As We Age
Episode #47 of the Third Turn Podcast with Kristin & Mark

We’re all rather painfully aware of the realities of aging that threaten or very naturally diminish us--physically and also mentally.  And yet…there is much (often overlooked) evidence of forms of wisdom and intelligence that actually grow and manifest in us in the second half of life; types of wisdom and intelligence that aren’t available to us in the first half of life.

How can we better understand these realities and better integrate the forms of intelligence of our teams for the greater good of our organizations?

These are the questions and insights Mark and I unpack in today’s conversation.  Things like:

• • • The developmental IQ that can deepen in us as we age--giving us a new ability to synthesize disparate views, to observe things from a systems perspective, and to hold opposing views or options at bay until a more integrative and often more creative “third way” emerges.
    • The crystallized intelligence that peaks in our 40s and 50s and can stay strong well into our 80s.
    • The deepened resilience that results from dealing honestly with losses--often ambiguous but no less real--that we experience as we age.

And some important questions to ask ourselves--for the benefit of our own lives and those we lead:

• • • What does it mean to redefine ourselves and our goals and sense of accomplishment as we age?
    • How can we better bring the various forms of intelligence to bear on organizational challenges and opportunities?
    • Where am I in the three turns of leadership and what does that mean for what I feel accountable for and what I might feel called to dial back on?
    • What are some ambiguous losses that would benefit from recognition as a first step to my embracing a new reality for myself?

We hope you’ll enjoy this conversation and perhaps even see a new landscape as relates to ages and lifestages, that will benefit our leadership, our own lives, and the organizations we serve. 

Additional Resources:

Kristin Recommends:

• • • The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain by Gene D. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D.
    • From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in The Second Half of Life by Arthur C. Brooks
    • Aging Faithfully: The Holy Invitation of Growing Older by Alice Fryling
    • A related article Kristin wrote for Faith + Lead: Living & Leading with New Kinds of Intelligence as We Age loss to legacy

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- Kristin Evenson

About The Third Turn Podcast & Maestro-level leaders:

With each episode of the Third Turn Podcast we host a conversation among leaders who want the world to flourish for generations beyond their lifetimes.

Listening with others in some way and enjoying in-depth conversations of your own as you reflect and choose what you would do the same or differently is a plus!

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The Third Turn Podcast is part of the Maestro-level leaders initiative, a production of Design Group International. Strategically Connected's Jennifer Miller is the producer.