Juice

It's a mistake to think that moving fast is the same as actually going somewhere.” Steve Goodier 

I was chatting with a friend the other day who I had been in a start-up with once upon a time who was wanting to pick my brain (obviously a desperate man).  He most recently had been the CFO at a company that had been sold to an outside group.  A deal he had helped to orchestrate.

After taking the summer off and doing some traveling with his wife he was in the process of “getting back into it”. 

So he had fired up his network, quickly got some encouraging hits, had a few interviews and run directly into the “Juice” question.

What’s the “Juice” question, you ask?

Juice as in energy, gas left in the tank, hunger, ambition, willingness to engage, ability to work hard, desire to show up every day, etc.

It’s the question you get when you get of a certain age, where the number of years left to work are way less than the ones you already have.  It’s when you’re on the back nine of your professional career.

You see, employers get concerned that you’re all used up.  Even if your tires are good and engine is solid your odometer shows a lot of miles.  The old, “it’s not the age, it’s the miles” analogy.

It’s when you’ve had a long and somewhat illustrious career but you really, really want to keep working.  Not from need as much as ambition.  You've raised your kids and just don't have the "off field" drama you had in your 30's and 40's.  Frankly you have lots of free time and quite frankly like working.

My friend's problem is if he looks at CFO positions the company gets concerned with how many more years he’ll want to work.  If he looks a lower position’s (that he would be very happy doing) the company gets concerned that he’ll be unhappy and will only stay there until he scores a better position in another company.  But mainly it’s “do you have any Juice left?”

It’s a sticky one because the only way to prove it is to do it.  But you can’t do it if they won’t bring you in and see.  Essentially it comes down to the fact that they just don’t believe you when you tell them you have plenty left and want to use it for their benefit.

The other truth is, people like him DON’T have to work as hard to do the job.  With their vast experience they know how to get things done quicker and easier than some 30 year old.  They also don’t carry around the personal baggage of someone younger.  Work/life balance, blind ambition that can be destructive, learning how to navigate company politics, knowing what being a good employee means.

In fact, there’s a lot of gold in a many of these golden oldies.

If you need key talent it might be worth your time to test drive one of these higher-mileage beauties.  Bring them in on a consulting basis, see how much Juice they have left.  You may be pleasantly surprised.