She Didn't Become Invisible. They Stopped Looking.

Invisibility can mean being quietly left out of conversations and meetings, spoken over and assumed to be less ambitious or simply someone who is “past it”. Perhaps we need to start with a little humanity and kindness, not with age, appearance or assumptions.

Have you seen Matlock? Well, I came across a short reel on Instagram (@Businessfounders_) that left me chuckling. Madeline Matlock (Kathy Bates) walks into a management meeting and claims a job without applying for the position. She said, “a funny thing that happens when women age ....we  become d^*n near invisible”...*

And that's what grabbed my attention.

Let’s consider what invisibility actually looks like. It can mean being left out of conversations, or meetings, spoken over and assumed to be less ambitious or simply someone who is “past it”.  Humiliation can be creative - it isn't always dramatic. 

The reality is that older workers do get pushed out of the workforce. Probably because of  a combination of false stereotypes, shifting technology and assumptions about what they can or cannot do. But, we cannot blame “organisations” because, essentially, people curate those decisions. Somehow age diminishes everything that came before. But here's the thing - older people do not suddenly become less interesting or less capable. Why do people think that older people need to be overlooked, and yet they turn to elders for sound advice or guidance?

Age discrimination is real. A field experiment involving more than 40,000 job applications found that older applicants were less likely to receive callbacks than younger applicants. And guess what - older women were particularly disadvantaged. For heaven's sake - as if women don't have enough to contend with…..!!

Have people been affected by social media and the monologues by self-appointed gurus? Has it changed the workforce perspective? Afterall, judgement is based on appearance, face, hair, clothes, shoes, handbags, sunglasses….… even social connections and professional networks can take a hit. Is it possible that triviality has become a reliable measure of capability? 

For decades, women in particular have been presented with remarkably narrow ideals about what they should look like, dress like and how they should behave. Older women are often portrayed either as invisible background characters or as extraordinary exceptions! You know what I mean…..the woman who is “still” beautiful, “still” successful, “still” working, “still” doing something at “her age”! But older women can “still” be ambitious, funny, curious, opinionated, vulnerable, adventurous – or not – by choice. The point is, it is totally unnecessary to frame everything around age. Afterall, they say wrinkles and grey hair are a privilege - proof of a life well lived.

Many older people look for opportunities where they can apply the skills they did not learn overnight. They can bring a breath of fresh air, experience, a new perspective, sprinkled with light-hearted patience and a sense of humour. Some want to just retire. That's fine too.

Older men and women have navigated life before technology transformed the environment. We have balanced work, education, families and crises that younger generations may never encounter. We have survived excruciatingly painful experiences when everyone around us was too young to care. We’ve climbed over scaffolding at musical concerts and exhausted ourselves on adventures without a phone or lipstick in sight - and somehow lived to tell the tale. We are now at a point where we understand that not every disagreement is a battle to be won. Naturally, being older does not necessarily equate to being wise, just as being younger does not guarantee capability.

Ahhhhh, but those wonderful years of youth…..

Young adults bring their own extraordinary qualities: energy, creativity, vitality, fresh thinking and the willingness to challenge assumptions. And perhaps the arrogance of youth is what keeps them motivated. After all, every 30-year-old knows more than they actually understand. An effective environment would be one where mature experience and new thinking can work side-by-side for the betterment of all. Academia and theory can never replace or erase lived experiences. 

The irony is that we are all heading in the same direction. No serum or mega aesthetic clinic can change that one fundamental fact. Perhaps people need to become more comfortable working with experienced or seasoned colleagues. Sadly, as women are increasingly scrutinised, their accomplishments can get whittled down to insignificance when they reach “that age”?

So ask yourself a simple question:

What if someone did that to you? How would you feel? What would you do?

Before banishing someone to that lonely desk, stop for a moment. Think about what they have lived through, what they have learned, the battles fought, the problems solved, the people they helped and what might be left on their bucket list. Perhaps that is where we need to start. Not with age, appearance or assumptions, but with a little humanity and kindness.

Because behind every “older employee” is a person with a story, experience, skills, mistakes, achievements, disappointments, humour and, very often, a great deal more to give.

Madeline Matlock became invisible because people stopped looking.

The lesson: never stop looking…..

Nivs D

(Wednesday 2nd September 2026)