Eric Bohm, at 62, brings a lifetime of skills to bear in top job at the WWF
Like many people his age, 62-year-old Eric Bohm is full of energy and ideas, and has a wealth of practical work experience. So he finds it a crying shame that so many companies require employees to retire at 60 and give them no choice in the matter. If you look at the world of politics, he says, many government leaders do not reach the highest echelons until they are well beyond the traditional retirement age. Some may even be challenging for electoral office in their 70s.
In effect, that means companies and other organisations with a policy of showing older workers the door are depriving themselves of hard-won expertise, valuable know-how and potential mentors for the younger generation.
Reading the signs, yet keen to keep using his business experience, Mr Bohm found a new challenge. Having worked in investment banking in his native Canada and, for the past 25 years, on a variety of corporate investment portfolios in Hong Kong, he knew his strengths lay in turning around companies which were in difficulty. He was confident these skills could be put to good use in other areas.
'I'm not a political animal,' he said. 'But what did dawn on me was that I'm a real generalist.' Previously, he had also used his business and analytical skills to help put a church and a charity on a firmer financial footing.
'I'm the trustee of a church and my wife is involved with the Kely Support Group,' he said, referring to the local group which assists teenagers. Reflecting on how this involvement had helped him get through a tough time in his own life, he said it had also shown him the opportunities such work gave for personal growth.