4-Quarter Lives explores the profound impact of longer lives and careers on… everything: countries, companies, couples, and careers. This week I’m doing a summary of Season 8, a series in two acts and ten voices.
The First Act looked at a how smart older women are working hard on understanding and strengthening the next generation, and also starting to explore the new roles that older women are taking on in Q3.
The Second Act featured some of the change agents waking the world up to this new era of longevity and what I call ‘generational balance’ in a myriad of ways, media and channels.
ACT 1 - What Older Women Know Now
Culture, socialisation, media and gender roles all shape what we can and can’t do with our lives. And these Q3 women are working to redefine the stories we hear and tell.
* CULTURE: That we’ve got a big cultural challenge that is getting worse in an age of warring autocrats. It’s impacting our kids – both girls and boys – and our relationships. Kids are getting depressed and disconnected. Niobe Way, a developmental psychologist and NYU professor, shared her 30 years of research on boys, friendship, and the emotional repression imposed by traditional masculinity – and capitalism. As she says “We live in a culture that privileges thinking over feeling. Any culture that does that is going to be deeply screwed up.”
* SOCIALISATION: This is especially true in some parts of the world more than others. Fast-changing and exploding India is still no easy place for young women with ambition, and Anuradha Das Mathur founder of the Vedica Scholars Programme for Women, a women-only MBA, is celebrating a decade of training a new generation of women leaders to navigate work, life, and leadership in ways that respect both ambition and care. “Dignity and dependence don’t go hand in hand. If you want dignity, you need independence. And independence requires financial freedom.” She’s ensuring they can claim it.
* MEDIA MESSAGING: Then we shifted from early gender roles to later ones. Katja Meier is an award-winning screen writer trying to produce a TV show featuring a 59-year old woman who inherits a lot of money from her capitalist oil baron father and wants to distribute it differently, based on role models like Mackenzie Scott or Melinda French Gates. The producers wanted her to shave 20 years off her leading lady. It’s a great commentary on the money that a lot of Q3 women around the world are likely to inherit over the coming decade, and how little understanding there is of their motivations or interests. “As women, we’ve learned to figure things out—whether it’s navigating careers, family, or life’s challenges. The world may doubt us, but we know what we’re doing.”
* GRANDPARENTING: Another lens into emerging Q3 women’s roles is Terri Apter’s new book, Grandparenting. She explores the complexity of modern parenting and grandparenting and how ageing feminists are redefining all the scripts. “We thought we’d finished the feminist fight. And then we became grandmothers. Suddenly, we’re back to renegotiating what’s selfish, what’s selfless—and what’s ours.”
Each of these women is working across generational lines, using knowledge, empathy, and strategy to help younger people thrive – while also claiming space for their own evolving roles in later life.
Act 2: Waking the World Up
The second half of the season looked outward – to the structural and business awakening needed around longevity. These guests are pioneering new ways to educate, communicate, and convene around one of the biggest shifts of our time: the reality that we’re living longer, and need new systems to match.
* EDUCATION: Céline Abecassis-Moedas, Dean at Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, is redesigning leadership education to prepare executives for multigenerational teams and 100-year lives. Our Longevity Leadership programme is part of that future-facing work. If you’re interested, check out our upcoming Longevity Leadership Programme in Lisbon this June 23-27th. “What we do in the Longevity Leadership program is simple yet powerful: we connect the dots between personal transitions, corporate strategies, and societal shifts—because ageing is everyone’s business.”
* MOVIES: Education takes different forms, and documentaries are a powerful way of sharing the multiple trends and advances on the scientific side. Ruben Figueres’ film Longevity Hackers, is a wonderfully global overview of the people and the debates swirling around making us live both longer and healthier. “90% of what we can do for longevity has nothing to do with expensive treatments—it’s about lifestyle. Diet, exercise, sleep, and mindset are the key. The best part? These things are available to everyone, not just the wealthy.”
* CONFERENCES: Michael and Nancy Hodin, through their Global Coalition on Aging and the International Longevity Summit, are bringing together global leaders, policymakers, and thinkers to elevate longevity as the defining issue of our era. “We’re living longer than ever before, but our systems weren’t built for it. Businesses and governments need to rethink everything—from healthcare to workforce strategies—to truly capitalize on the longevity economy.”
* ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger and Further, is using the power of content to tell richer, more resonant stories of midlife and beyond – stories that speak to meaning, reinvention, and legacy. “The longevity economy is the biggest market opportunity and the biggest societal problem you could tackle right now. And yet, businesses are still sleeping on it.”
* BOOKS & RESEARCH: Debra Whitman, head of thought leadership at AARP and author of The Next Fifty, is challenging outdated perceptions of ageing and urging institutions to reimagine how we live, work, and contribute across longer lives. “Aging isn't just an extension of the first half of life—it’s an entirely new chapter. We need to reframe it, rethink it, and embrace it.”
* LEGACY: James Hagerty, who writes the Wall Street Journal’s obituary column (and has done over 800 of them) recommends that we all write our own stories – early. It’s the only way of ensuring the whole narrative survives. “Most people don’t think their early life is worth sharing, but that’s where the real story begins—how and why you became who you are.”
These voices are loud, clear, and future-focused. They’re not just adapting to longer lives – they’re re-imagining them and designing for them.
Season 8 was a reminder that longevity is a lens – one that lets us see both the potential of our later decades and the urgent need to rethink how we adapt to the realities of our ageing societies and their consequences.
If you know someone who’s shaping the future of longer lives and careers, ageing societies and shifting demographics – or living their 4-Quarters in a way the world needs to hear – let me know. Season 9 is almost finished, but we’re in planning mode for Season 10 which will publish in the fall.
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