The Wisdom Years

In its May/June issue Exchange presented the first results of the Exchange Leadership Initiative when it unveiled Exceptional and Promising Emerging Leaders as selected by a distinguished Review Panel.  [At the same time Exchange also launched the next phase in this initiative — a search for Master Leaders in our field.]  And while it is true that these emerging leaders represent the future of our field, those of us who are in the latter stages of our careers, which Erik Erikson referred to as "The Wisdom Years," still have very much to contribute.  In his book Living Long and Living Well, John Rosenow, founder of the Arbor Day Foundation, shares case studies of famous individuals such as Nelson Mandella, Martha Graham, and Frederick Law Olmsted, who all made great contributions to society after the age of 65.

In summarizing these stories, Rosenow points out how we can create opportunities for our children and grandchildren to be champions in society...

"They had rich childhood experiences.  Their parents did not push them toward their life pursuits — their lives were seldom what might have been envisioned by their parents — but their early lives helped support the creation of a 'sense of wonder,' a sense of possibilities, that enflamed their spirits.  Georgia O'Keeffe's mother's attitude was the extreme, but not a bad model.  She made sure that Georgia and her sisters had music and art lessons, that they had things about the house that the girls could use to explore their passions — then she left them to make of them what they will.  Oh, and she hung Georgia's paintings around the house, her silent statement that she cared."

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