Five tips to make yourself expendable in the workplace, from the wisest man at Airbnb.

We’re all familiar with the back-to-work malaise that often accompanies a Monday morning, but that’s not the worst of it. There comes a point in everyone’s career where you’re suddenly struck by the feeling that your best working years may be behind you. In what seems like the blink of an eye, the office is bristling with new forms of tech with almost unfathomable powers and fresh-faced kids with barely enough bumfluff to have seen them through puberty who know how to use it all. You now feel like the office relic.

Still, in the age of youth-driven social media, is old-school experience a bad thing? As the post-war Polish poet Mr Stanisław Jerzy Lec once wrote, “Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art.” That is exactly what Mr Chip Conley, the 57-year-old former head of global hospitality and strategy at Airbnb, explores in his latest tome, Wisdom At Work, which comes with the subtitle “How To Reinvent The Second Half Of Your Career”. So to help you out, we’ve rounded up a few of Mr Conley’s key takeaways, which may prove useful for inspiring a second wind in the workplace.

In our often ageist society, Mr Conley makes the case that being senior in years – and the contacts that come with it – makes you a valuable asset to any business, but particularly new-age ones. “You may have industry connections that your colleagues don’t have due to the fact you’ve been on the planet a few more years,” he writes. “As the only senior executive at Airbnb, it was essential that I took the role of elder statesman… that meant inviting the CEOs and senior leaders of some of the largest hotel companies in the world to our headquarters for a deep immersion on Airbnb and why it appealed to millennial travellers. Why? It was harder for those who feared being disrupted by our entrance into the lodging marketplace to view us as villains if we were genuinely reaching out to them.” The lesson here? The little black book you’ve spent years curating remains one of your most valuable tools.

Collaboration is a word bandied around a great deal in the modern workplace, but it’s the cooperation between senior and junior team members that Mr Conley says is vital for getting the most out of the people around you. “The most neglectful fact in business is that we’re all human. Your capacity to collaborate will improve if you create team norms that help everyone feel that the group is there to support you,” he writes. His advice for arriving at this place includes encouraging everyone – of high and low rank – to participate in group discussions. He also says it’s worth developing the skill of reading body language to identify those who don’t seem engaged in meetings, and following up with a tailored one-to-one to address issues. A point Mr Conley is keen to stress is that just because someone is older, it doesn’t make them wiser by default – this knowledge exchange is a two-way street: “Many companies have senior execs with barely a half understanding making all the big decisions unilaterally, forgetting that the junior folks who are closest to the data can be a valuable resource.”

The old adage “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is debunked by Mr Conley, who states that new experiences are important for fiftysomethings to thrive professionally. “While it contradicts the stereotype that older people become more narrow-minded and set in their ways, there’s glorious evidence that post 50, many elders return to a childlike sense of wonder,” he says. “Explore learning and leadership development programmes, like StartingBloc, Camp Grounded and Summit Series and TEDx. Choose one that will give you the most interdisciplinary and intergenerational diversity. You’re likely to learn more from people who don’t look or act like you,” he adds.

An important function of seniors in the work place is to shepherd those with less experience and advise those in distress, and Mr Conley says there is an effective way to approach this. “Ask empathetic questions that help you understand what’s beyond the surface. At the same time, be careful with veering into therapist territory. A great counsellor describes, not prescribes, and is careful of using the words ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’,” says Mr Conley. He also says that making it personal can help make it more personable: “Assuming it feels appropriate, self-reveal something about your history that helps this person understand they’re not alone in what they’re experiencing, but don’t let your story dominate their story. Show some vulnerability but also help them see how you solved this problem and offer that wisdom to them.”

It might seem a step too far to expect a seasoned office veteran to take up an internship, but Mr Conley states that such a move – provided you’ve got the resources – could actually be an ideal opportunity to freshen up your approach to work. He writes that if you’re interested in learning more about a business outside of your usual remit, it’s a great way for you to evolve. “If this seems like too challenging a proposition, consider another way to try on a new identity. Volunteer at a local homeless centre. Live in a foreign land and learn and a new language. Do something that helps lose your balance.” This idea might be greeted with mirth by some, but mixing up your day-to-day by stepping out of your comfort zone is one of the best ways to acquire a new perspective.

Wisdom At Work: The Making Of A Modern Elder (Portfolio Penguin) by Mr Chip Conley is out 20 September