Four Key Roles ‘Elders’ Offer Their Organizations

Imagine a world where organizations don’t just ask, “How do we attract young talent?” but also, “What do people who’ve managed multiple economic cycles think?”

What if we thought of older workers as being in a distinct career stage, where their perspectives and continuity were recognized as especially valuable?

Organizations that embrace this mindset not only tap into intergenerational wisdom but also realize the benefits of employees who are living longer than previous generations. According to the World Health Organization, the proportion of the world’s population over the age of 60 is on course to grow from 12% to 22% between 2015 and 2050. Many of those people are choosing to stay involved in their fields beyond retirement age.

Leaders who have older workers on their teams have been offered advice on issues such as bringing long-tenured employees up to speed on new technologies and navigating generational differences in preferred management styles. While this guidance is valuable, it presents a limited view of older workers that’s largely focused on mitigating the downsides of an aging workforce. It does not explain how organizations can capitalize on these employees’ unique skill sets.

We encourage leaders to focus on the upsides instead. Our work has explored the organizational dynamics of older workers, with a particular emphasis on a subset who can be regarded with the honorific of “elder” because of their learned wisdom and continued high capacity to contribute. To understand the nuances of their impact, we began reviewing research on how older individuals contribute to human social groups and devised some preliminary categories of contributions. We then identified contemporary organizational elders and refined our categories based on this evidence of real-life eldership. These analyses revealed four distinct roles that elders take on: steward, ambassador, futurist, and catalyst.

What Makes an Elder?

Elder is a term with a rich history. In indigenous cultures, elders have historical knowledge of the culture and practices of their communities. In religious settings, elders are experts in the understanding and application of theological doctrines. Within business organizations and the leadership world more broadly, elders are individuals who have accumulated industry know-how, familiarity with change, and experience in making value judgments. They have achieved mastery of certain knowledge and skills.

A compelling example is the global organization The Elders, founded in 2007 by Nelson Mandela. This group brings together experienced executives, including former heads of state, such as Mary Robinson of Ireland and Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway; previous members include U.S. President Jimmy Carter and United Nations leader Kofi Annan. The group uses its collective influence to address global challenges, such as conflict resolution, climate change, and human rights abuses.

In each community — whether an indigenous culture, a religious group, or a business — age is one marker, but age alone does not make one an elder. Elders are recognized, formally or informally, for extensive accumulated knowledge, experience, and wisdom born of long-term perspective and a commitment to integrative thinking. They interpret new information through the lens of accumulated experiences and tend to be patient and willing to share their understanding of the key elements of a situation.

In his 2007 book, How Doctors Think, author Jerome Groopman describes an older physician with many years of experience training new residents. One of this physician’s key pieces of advice to those younger residents is the adage “Don’t just do something — stand there.” A critical part of the wisdom of elders is the ability to “stand there,” and to encourage others to do the same.

Perhaps obviously, elders must possess the capacity — the mental and physical resources necessary — to make meaningful contributions. In academic institutions, for example, emeritus faculty members often continue to serve universities or colleges after their formal retirement. They may not have the capacity to take on the same level of research or teaching responsibilities that they had previously, but they often help with research, teaching, or mentorship and play important roles on teams addressing special projects.

A final characteristic is more subtle. Mandela, when first introducing The Elders group, described its members in the following terms: “They do not have careers to build, elections to win, constituencies to please. They can talk to anyone they please and are free to follow paths they deem right, even if hugely unpopular.” Elders are less beholden to any agenda other than serving the communities they are part of. This does not mean elders should do whatever they want to do; as we will discuss later, organizations are well advised to place some constraints on the privileges and responsibilities that elders within their own communities have.

The Four Eldership Roles

There are four distinct roles elders can fulfill both within individual organizations and in the world at large: steward, ambassador, futurist, and catalyst. These roles highlight the distinct capabilities of elders across the critical dimensions of strategic focus and scope of impact. (See “The Four Types of Elders in the Business World.”) Below, we share details on each role.

Steward: Preserving Organizational Continuity

Elders are uniquely positioned to foster organizational continuity through the role of steward. Individuals who have spent much of their career in the same industry and even the same organization are positioned to safeguard institutional memory, uphold cultural identity, and pass on lessons that transcend leadership cycles. This protects against organizational amnesia, a common failure mode when older workers are let go without structured knowledge transfer.

Stewards ensure that core practices and values are not just remembered but actively upheld. They can explain how and why certain systems or decisions evolved. Their deep experience enables them to uniquely weigh in as organizations move through change.

For example, almost a decade ago, David was the president of an academic organization called the Western Academy of Management, where for years he spearheaded decisions about where to hold its annual meetings. Since stepping down, he has worked with the executive team to develop formal protocols for site selection and to help new leaders understand lessons learned from previous decisions.

Ambassador: Extending Influence Beyond the Walls

Ambassadors use their connections to bring valuable resources to organizations and to causes their industries champion.

At Epic, the electronic health record provider, an emeritus program links seasoned former CIOs and IT vice presidents as advisers to help customers navigate complex IT transformations. Robert Slepin, one of Epic’s emeritus CIO advisers, told Healthcare IT News that when his engagement is with a provider organization under the umbrella of the emeritus program, “I coordinate closely with Epic’s senior leaders responsible for the implementation at the site.” His work has included playing several roles in Alberta Health Services’ Connect Care clinical information system project — a more than $1 billion multiyear program that included the rollout of Epic software.

Another example is Indra Nooyi, formerly CEO of PepsiCo. She has continued advocating for the company’s sustainability efforts since stepping down from her role in 2018. She still serves as a public voice highlighting the company’s long-term vision and values.

Futurist: Bridging Experience and Innovation

Older people are often stereotyped as being resistant to change, but many have successfully led change in the past and bring crucial perspectives on how change unfolds over time. As futurists, they can help organizations look forward while remaining anchored in history, ethics, and learned experience.

The futurist is particularly valuable in organizations undergoing transformation, because they can help ensure that new initiatives are informed by past lessons. In Indigenous communities, elders are often regarded as long-term thinkers who counsel on decisions that affect later generations.

A striking example is Mi’kmaw elder Albert Marshall, a Canadian First Nations environmentalist. He advises and lectures on “two-eyed seeing,” a principle that holds Indigenous and Western knowledge systems as distinct strengths. His perspective has been incorporated into IBM’s work with the nonprofit group Net Zero Atlantic to explore how a clean-energy transition could be designed and governed for Indigenous communities in coastal areas. IBM and partners helped translate an open-source energy model (the Atlantic Canada Energy System Model) into a simpler tool for community engagement, allowing for interactive testing with Mi’kmaq users.

Catalyst: Enabling Change Across External Boundaries

Finally, some elders transcend internal roles and act as catalysts — change agents who use their authority, networks, and experience to reshape systems beyond their own organizations. These individuals bring credibility and influence to industry movements, policy reform, and cross-sector collaborations.

Catalysts include leaders like former Unilever CEO Paul Polman, who, post-tenure, has become a global advocate for sustainable capitalism (and is ranked No. 1 on the 2025 Thinkers50 list of management minds). Similarly, Mary Robinson, the first woman president of Ireland and a cofounder of The Elders, went on to serve as the UN high commissioner for human rights and has continued to be a passionate global advocate for civil rights.

Moving Forward: How to Embrace Eldership

Many influential elders, like Robinson and Polman, act outside of their former companies and organizations. But company leaders have an opportunity to craft ways to utilize the best of their own experienced team members late in their careers and after their formal retirements. Instead of treating eldership as a transition out of professional life, organizations can establish structured roles that allow the most valuable older employees to continue contributing in meaningful ways. Here are concrete ways to do that.

Consider what kinds of eldership roles are needed. Some organizations may have a greater need for a steward to uphold and communicate the company’s core values and history, ensuring continuity as new generations join. Others may find an ambassador role more valuable, to build trust both inside and outside the organization and facilitate smoother client and partner relations — or a futurist who can envisage and enact positive change, or a catalyst who will strive to change external systems in ways that align with organizational priorities.

Formalize pathways for older workers’ transitions within the organization. Just as businesses offer managerial and specialist career tracks, organizations can develop eldership tracks, for one or more of the four roles. Structured roles, like emeritus positions in academia, are models. Clearly defined roles not only help ensure that elders’ experience continues to benefit the organization but also communicate to the broader organization that cross-generational collaboration is the norm, not an exception.

Involve elders in areas of strategic importance. Building a structure to embrace eldership is not about creating symbolic figures but, rather, utilizing contributors who have defined responsibility and influence. This begins with identifying individuals — often seasoned executives, retiring leaders, or highly respected long-term employees — who possess deep institutional knowledge, extensive external networks, and strong personal alignment with the organization’s values. If, for instance, an individual is going to take on an ambassador role, leaders should articulate specific expectations, such as attending external events on behalf of the company or maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, and provide support to effectively represent the company’s interests.

Establish councils that join seasoned professionals with younger leaders. Councils can provide perspective on strategic initiatives, culture, ethics, and long-range risks. They can complement boards of directors and harness elders’ experience as stewards and futurists. Councils broadcast that elders are not “yesterday’s contributors” but essential parts of the future direction of the organization.

Design mentorship programs to pair elders with emerging leaders. Structured mentorship relationships facilitate knowledge transfer, cultural continuity, and leadership development.

Be prepared to navigate tensions. While the four roles can be beneficial for organizations, each also comes with risks. For example, Chip Wilson, founder of apparel company Lululemon, stayed on the company’s board after stepping down as CEO and continued to serve in an ambassador role for years afterward. He helped to reinforce the company’s reputation, both within the organization and with external stakeholders, but he had a misstep: When the company was dealing with a controversy over its yoga pants being see-through, Wilson quipped that “some women’s bodies just actually don’t work” for the clothing. His assertion inflamed the situation, and soon afterward, Lululemon cut ties with him. (As a major shareholder, however, he continues to exert his influence, most recently through the nomination of new board members.)

Conflicts can arise with other elder roles as well. A steward may have a different conception of core organizational values than an organizational leader, while a catalyst may insert the company into controversy it doesn’t want to be in the middle of. Leaders should establish clear expectations, maintain open communication channels, and ensure that all parties understand the boundaries of their influence.

Periodically evaluate the effectiveness of eldership roles. Regular reviews can ensure that contributions remain aligned with evolving organizational goals. By assessing eldership roles, leaders can address any emerging tensions proactively and refine roles as necessary. Such reviews can also let both sides explore any issues of capacity that arise.

Leaders who create roles for veteran employees and manage them effectively can help their organizations capitalize on the upsides of an aging workforce. Reimagining eldership is not just about honoring experience; it is about integrating seasoned professionals into an organization’s future in a structured, strategic way.