London Business School is turning 60 at a moment when the very idea of a “business school” is under unprecedented scrutiny. Technological disruption, social fragmentation, environmental crises and the geopolitical reshaping of global markets are forcing institutions everywhere to rethink their purpose, their methods and their impact. As LBS enters its second six decades, the question is no longer just how to educate leaders for the world of business, but how to help shape the world in which business operates.
“The Second Sixty” is the School’s answer to that challenge: a long-term agenda designed to focus its research, teaching and community on the forces that will define the next era of management and leadership. Rather than offering a celebratory retrospective, it identifies six critical challenges – from the future of work and the role of AI, to sustainability, inclusion and the shifting balance of global economic power – that LBS believes will determine whether organisations thrive or falter.
This article introduces those six challenges and explores how London Business School intends to tackle them: not as abstract academic questions, but as urgent, practical issues for executives, entrepreneurs and policymakers navigating an age of conversion.
Preparing leaders for longevity and purpose in extended working lives
Career arcs no longer follow a neat ascent, plateau and retirement. Leaders arriving at 60 may still have decades of contribution ahead of them, yet many feel underprepared for a “second act” that demands renewed skills, energy and meaning. The program focuses on helping senior executives reframe their working identity, shifting from a narrow focus on positional power to a broader portfolio of roles – board advisor, entrepreneur, mentor, campaigner. Through reflective exercises and peer challenge, participants examine what they want their next 20 years to stand for, and how to align that vision with evolving market realities and personal wellbeing.
This work is highly practical as well as reflective. Participants explore how to sustain performance and relevance over time by integrating:
- Capability renewal – targeted upskilling in digital, stakeholder engagement and complex risk.
- Purpose-led navigation – clarifying non‑negotiables, values and impact priorities.
- Intergenerational leadership – building credibility with both younger and older colleagues.
- Health and resilience – evidence‑based routines for cognitive and emotional stamina.
- Portfolio design – structuring roles, commitments and boundaries for the long haul.
| Focus Area | Key Question |
|---|---|
| Identity | Who am I beyond my current title? |
| Impact | What problems do I now want to help solve? |
| Time | How do I pace a 20‑year horizon, not a 2‑year plan? |
| Networks | Which relationships will carry me into my next chapter? |
Redesigning midlife careers to bridge skills gaps and shifting labour markets
For professionals in their fifties and sixties, the question is no longer “when will you retire?” but “how will you reinvent?”. As sectors transform under the weight of automation, decarbonisation and demographic change, many experienced workers find that their deep expertise risks being stranded in legacy models. The Second Sixty aims to turn that risk into advantage by equipping participants to pivot into roles where their accumulated judgement is paired with new capabilities. This means targeted upskilling in areas such as data literacy and digital collaboration, but it also means reframing career narratives so that employers see midlife candidates not as a cost, but as a catalyst for innovation and stability.
Participants will be encouraged to audit their transferable strengths and map them onto emerging opportunity spaces, supported by faculty, peers and industry partners.The programme explores how to move from “job history” to “portfolio of value”, using tools such as:
- Skills diagnostics to identify gaps and hidden assets
- Short, intensive learning sprints focused on fast-changing domains
- Cross-generational project teams that simulate real labour-market dynamics
- Scenario planning to test new career pathways before making big moves
| Current Strength | New Market Need | Bridging Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Sector expertise | Green transition | Sustainability & regulation basics |
| Team leadership | Hybrid work models | Digital collaboration tools |
| Client relationships | Data-driven services | Data storytelling & analytics fluency |
Tackling financial insecurity through smarter planning and inclusive policy
As life expectancy extends, the margin for financial miscalculation widens. The programme explores how individuals can build robust buffers against income shocks, care costs and longevity risk, while policymakers rethink systems designed for shorter lives. Participants examine how taxation,pensions and housing wealth interact over a 60-year adult lifespan,and how behavioural biases – such as inertia and over-optimism – undermine even well-designed products. The focus is on practical levers: reshaping savings habits, diversifying income in later life and deploying data to personalise financial guidance, especially for those who have historically been excluded from mainstream advice.
Equally notable is who current systems leave behind. We investigate how to align public policy, workplace benefits and financial innovation so that security is not a privilege of the financially literate few. This includes advocating for:
- Automatic but flexible enrolment into retirement and emergency savings
- Inclusive product design that works for carers, part-time workers and the self-employed
- Fair access to credit using richer data than traditional scores
- Transparent protections against scams and predatory practices targeting older adults
| Focus Area | Main Question |
|---|---|
| Lifetime savings | How do we encourage small, steady contributions from age 25-75? |
| Housing & assets | How can home equity support secure later-life income? |
| Safety nets | What mix of public and private support prevents poverty in old age? |
Building age diverse workplaces that combat bias and unlock multigenerational talent
As life expectancy and career spans extend, organisations are waking up to the reality that a 25-year-old analyst and a 65-year-old innovator are not competing generations, but complementary assets. The real challenge isn’t demographic; it’s cultural. That means rewiring systems that quietly favour one age group – from job ads coded as “digital native” to promotion panels that equate ambition with youth. Forward-looking firms are instead experimenting with age-neutral hiring, reverse mentoring and mixed-age project teams that pair strategic memory with fresh market intuition. The result is a culture where experience is not treated as a cost, but as a multiplier of innovation.
Making this shift requires moving from slogans to structure. Leaders need hard data on who gets hired, promoted and reskilled – and at what age. They also need to redesign roles, learning pathways and benefits around multi-stage careers, not the old linear “up-or-out” model. Practical moves include:
- Audit bias in performance reviews, job descriptions and succession plans.
- Blend generations in teams to avoid age silos and stereotype “echo chambers”.
- Invest in reskilling at every career stage, not just early talent.
- Measure inclusion by age alongside gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background.
| Practice | Risk if Ignored | Upside When Done Well |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed-age project teams | Narrow ideas,blind spots | Richer solutions,faster learning |
| Transparent promotion criteria | Perceived ageism,disengagement | Trust,stronger leadership bench |
| Cross-generational mentoring | Knowledge loss,skill gaps | Shared expertise,mutual respect |
In Conclusion
As London Business School enters its second sixty years,these challenges are not abstract thought experiments but concrete priorities that will shape the institution’s next chapter. From redefining leadership in an age of technological upheaval to embedding sustainability and inclusion into the core of business education, the agenda is both aspiring and urgent.
What emerges is a picture of a school that recognises its influence and is prepared to use it-testing new ideas in the classroom, in research, and in partnership with industry and policymakers. The questions raised by The Second Sixty will not be answered overnight,nor by LBS alone. But by naming these six areas as central to its future, the School is signalling a willingness to confront complexity rather than sidestep it.
If the first sixty years were about establishing London Business School as a global player, the next sixty will be defined by how effectively it equips leaders to navigate an era of volatility and profound change. The work has already begun; the real test will be measured in the decisions and directions taken by the generations of leaders who pass through its doors.
