I am 23

Let that sink in. Twenty three.
Despite being born in the early years of Gen X, Spotify thinks I am 23.

Given how much eighties music I still listen to, I was a little nervous to see what Spotify 2025 Wrapped edition would say.
But apparently all the bubble gum pop and thump, thump, thump I play at the gym has kept my digital age surprisingly youthful.

It got me thinking about what age really is.

Yesterday I was leading a meeting with a team of strategists at a well-known agency.
Most of them were half my biological age and much closer to my Spotify age.
Their energy, commitment, humour and openness left me feeling significantly lifted.
Not older. Not out of place.
And supremely hopeful.

We talk a lot about diversity, but one form that is still undervalued is age diversity.
Research consistently shows that teams with a mix of generations are more innovative, more resilient and better at problem solving.
Older leaders can bring pattern recognition, calm and long term thinking.
Younger ones often bring fresh lenses, challenge, curiosity and a refusal to accept the way things have always been done.
When those perspectives collide gently rather than defensively, something powerful happens.
You get a team that can both remember and reinvent.
A team that can honour experience without being limited by it.

In my coaching work, I often see this dynamic.
Leaders who thrive are the ones who stay open to the next generation, not threatened by it.
They ask questions instead of assuming they already know.
They let younger voices influence how they think, work and lead.

And they stay curious about their own internal age too.
Because we all have one.
The version of ourselves that still feels restless and ambitious.
The one who dances at the gym to music of the moment.
The one Spotify accidentally revealed for me today.

So maybe age is less about the candles on a cake and more about the energy we allow in.
Mine, it seems, is twenty three.
On a good day at least.