Staying Relevant After 50: The Fear, the Story, and the Shift
December 2025 | Helle Bundgaard | Relevance Beyond
Many leaders over the age of 50 carry a quiet fear of becoming irrelevant.
Not because they have stopped contributing, but because organisations increasingly over-focus on “young talent.” In that narrative, people over 50 are no longer seen as talent. They become overlooked, less visible — and in some cases, almost invisible.
As we grow older, the stories that carried us for years begin to weaken.
“When I was young and sharp…” slowly turns into “now I’m one of the old ones.”
Our physical capacity changes. The effortless energy we once took for granted isn’t the same. And without noticing it, we start building an identity around what we can no longer do.
At the same time, there is a deeper psychological layer to this fear.
For many senior leaders, relevance was built on what they did — not who they were.
A lifetime of recognition for performance, results, and roles makes it natural to tie your self-worth to your output. And if your closest relationships haven’t provided the same level of emotional grounding, your professional identity can quietly become the primary place where you feel seen, needed, and valued.
That’s why entering midlife can feel destabilising.
When the system around you stops viewing you as “the future,” you don’t just lose opportunities — you risk losing a narrative about yourself.
It doesn’t help that the labour market also shifts.
The seniority and status you spent decades building can suddenly feel like something that no longer counts. And if you expect that you “won’t be relevant after 50,” it easily becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You hold back. You doubt yourself. You lose confidence.
And eventually, you start fading in exactly the ways you feared.
But here is the truth:
Relevance isn’t lost. It shifts. And it can be reclaimed.
What many leaders over 50 experience is not an ending — but a transition.
Because relevance at this stage of life doesn’t come from the same places as before. It doesn’t come from speed, physical strength, or climbing ever higher. It comes from something deeper:
• a clearer understanding of yourself
• stronger, more meaningful relationships
• new ways of creating value professionally
• and the ability to support and elevate others
These emerging sources are not weaker.
They’re more sustainable — and far more powerful.
Relevance after 50 is not about holding on.
It’s about shifting into a new kind of strength. A strength rooted in wisdom, perspective, emotional maturity, and the unique contribution that only experience can give.
Most importantly, relevance becomes something you can shape deliberately — not something that happens to you.
Relevance isn’t a privilege of the young.
It’s a practice.
And it can be rebuilt at any age.