INVITE RETIREES BACK

My oldest son created this poster for me for Christmas, showing how his son Dean is now our family's seventh-generation rider. I guess climbing on the back of a horse is in our blood. Indya Moore said, "Tradition is nothing but ancestral peer pressure." What a welcome direction for it to come from!

This week, Gordon, a friend and coach of a local high school basketball team, did something extraordinary. He invited the players from 25 years ago to return, meet with his current team, and inspire them. It worked. They won. He said, "It's so important to remember our roots and celebrate those who built a foundation for success that we now enjoy."

Sports teams do a great job of honoring their retirees, but not so with businesses. Retirees are out-of-sight, out-of-mind at most companies. Have you ever heard of a company inviting their retirees back to share the insights they gained from building the business with the next generation who are now running it? The only example of this I can remember seeing was PepsiCo's annual tradition of inviting Don Kendall, a former CEO and legendary salesperson, to speak to their top-performing sales executives. He continued this practice into his late 90s, and although his voice became frail, every participant left grounded and energized.