If Kerry Hannon did not exist we would have to invent her. The recent massive changes in demographics and the working world have made the need for her firm guidance greater than ever. What separates her from many other writers in what is sometimes referred to as “the aging space” is that she is an experienced reporter who knows how to dig for the essence of the story and to present it clearly and concisely.
Kerry’s new book In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work has perfect timing. Whether you judge things to be a Great Resignation, Great Return, Great Firing, or some combination of all, the state of the workplace has never been as complicated as it is now. Her specialty is taking a 360 degree view of a situation, in this case for people age 50 and beyond, and then drilling down to the relevant details in clear, plain language.
As I wrote last year in “Navigating the New World of Work/Retirement/Personal Finance with Kerry Hannon,” and in 2020, “Astute Guidance From Kerry Hannon on Jobs/Careers/Personal Finance/Retirement Planning,” she is a passionate observer and participant in the complex setting of where and how people in the second half of life can find meaningful work. Unpacking the guidance, these options present themselves in various forms: changing jobs/careers; moving from full time to part time or vice versa; moving from for-profit companies to nonprofits or vice versa; returning to workforces after extended absence, fellowships, entrepreneurship; unretiring, and more.
In Control… is a handbook for the areas that feed into the above topics. She provides numerous resources (print and online), and pertinent quotes from experts, including interviews with mega-stars like John Tarnoff, Dorie Clark, and Simon Sinek. She also includes mini-case studies of people who’ve been successful in new endeavors.
In “Additional Resources,” there is a handy compilation of online sources mentioned throughout the book, e.g., The Occupational Outlook Handbook, from Chapter 3, “Where the Jobs Are And Where They’ll Be,” Encore.org, from Chapter 8, “Career Transition,” and Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative from Chapter 11, “Learning is Fundamental.” {Disclosure, Kerry includes my Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way, also published by her publisher, McGraw Hill, in the list of books in this section, and quotes me in the Afterword. She and I are friends and onetime colleagues at USA TODAY.}
As in her previous books, Kerry’s tone is upbeat, helpful, and practical. But she also stresses that her readers have lots of bases to cover if they truly want to succeed in this uncharted territory. There are many helpful hints about job searching, interviewing, self-presentation (in person and online), and acquiring new skills. Unsurprisingly, continuous learning is shown to be a major component of ongoing success. As the book unfolds, it’s clear that succeeding at this stage of life (and realistically at younger ages) is approaching it as a never-ending discovery process, including self-discovery.
Kerry also devotes a 16 page chapter near the end of the book to one particular demographic: “Career Advice for Women Over 50.” In the section on starting a business, she writes “My research has shown that women are successful entrepreneurs because they go slow—which interestingly is one of the same qualities that makes women outperform men as investors over time. We are deliberate. We think things through. No rash moves.”
Kerry remains highly visible both online (especially on social media and podcasts), and in person for workshops and keynotes. As she explains at the end of the book, after a long freelance career, at 61 she unexpectedly was offered and accepted a full-time position as a senior columnist and on-air expert for Yahoo Finance. Kerry will lead “Jumpstart: Crafting Your Next Chapter,” (November 27 — December 4), a Modern Elder Academy workshop in Baja, Mexico with MEA founder Chip Conley and co-founder Jeff Hamaoui.
That workshop will be based around Kerry’s HOVER method, which she writes about in pages 52-55 of In Control, in Chapter 4, “Taking Control of Your Future.” As she writes, “HOVER stands for hope, optimism, value, and resilience.” That chapter also outlines “Kerry’s Fitness Plan,” based on the elements of “financial fitness, physical fitness, and spiritual fitness.” For instance, she recommends: “Review your overall financial health including investments, assets, retirement plans, and debts. You might start by hiring a financial advisor if you don’t already have one on your team. He or she can help answer your questions and lend a sharp eye to your total financial picture.”
A major theme of Kerry’s book is that success is within reach and must be cultivated going forward. You need confidence to make the time and effort for due diligence and hard work, both inside and outside the workplace. (Whether the latter is at a traditional office, shop floor, warehouse, outdoors, home office, or at a remote space in a coffee shop, library, or elsewhere.) There are many options; you just have to find ones that fit you. And that is the never-ending work of a lifetime.