ABSTRACT

The essence of age is intellect. Wherever that appears, we call it old.

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

Agent Dale Gibson’s Story I was on a promotion board to fill a senior management position, and at first it was pretty routine except for the unusually high number of applicants. All the voting members on the board were senior managers. The chair was a senior executive with no vote absent a dispute that could not be settled otherwise. The secretary of the board, also a nonvoting member, was the lowest in rank as well as the minority representative required by policy.