“Make no mistake about why these babies are here—they are here to replace us,” comedian Jerry Seinfeld warned.

It seemed funny the first time I heard that—and highly improbable. After all, those of us in my generation are the adults, parents, senior leaders—and we are, after all, the irreplaceable Boomers. We run things, pay for things, and like to flex individual and generational muscle.

But it’s been a rough week for facing reality. It started a few days ago when my favorite TV news anchors, Dennis Bounds, Jean Enerson and Jeff Renner, “retired” from Seattle’s KING-TV. In one fell swoop, the familiar, distinguished and experienced local celebrities quite suddenly moved off stage. Seriously, Jeff Renner? We’ve listened to his expert meteorological reports for almost 40 years. I remember him running away from Mount St. Helens as it erupted! How can we possibly believe any other weatherman?

Last night there were new younger faces at the anchor desk and weather map. They point and smile, but they haven’t learned as many words for rain as Jeff knows.

I continued watching as the national news followed our local broadcast. The perky, smiley anchor reported that the Boomers are no longer the largest generation alive. The Millennials have replaced them and are now the demographic champions. Numbering 75.4 million, the Millennial generation (born between 1980-1995) now exceeds the Boomers at 74.9 million. Hmmm, that statistic used to be 76 million. What happened? Oh yeah, we’re also leaving the “big” stage.

Our kids are replacing us in many areas. It’s actually a very good thing—they are insightful, clever, creative, strategic, confident, and most important, they are technologically savvy. They aren’t afraid to take their rightful place as leaders in a new era. The bigger problem is their Boomer predecessors are often afraid of letting go.

We need abundant grace to release power and position to the next generation. At the same time, we aren’t dead yet, so we need to find new and meaningful ways to contribute to the world. (i.e. Re-Ignite)

In time, I’ll become acquainted with the latest youthful news anchors. They will learn their profession and excel in presenting the breaking news. First, however, they have to learn how to report on all those old Boomers who are running for President.

written by Leona Bergstrom, Director, Re-Ignite
Copyright 2016 Re-Ignite
Photo by CanStock