For some reason, when I see Joe Biden, I can’t help but smile.

He’s older than both Donald Trump and Barack Obama and doesn’t carry the same oratory abilities that his predecessors had.

What he does have and shows is grit and the personification of the perpetual value of experience.

I had a conversation some time ago with a former colleague of mine. He admired Canada and New Zealand for the energy and progressive attitudes exuded from their respective leaders. I agreed but our conclusion for their success and outlook was something we both had different opinions on.

His take was that youth was a precursor to progression. ‘’They think differently and move fast to implement change’’. No other reason was given as to the factors that made them the way they are.

So my take? There could be a perception that the younger generational leaders aren’t burdened by the remnants of the old world order shaped after WW2. They have started to question why institutions and norms are the way they are. The shield formed by the US over the global economy was done under pretense of globalization and liberation of commerce. Looking at the context at the time, and it was an excellent application of Soft power. The target? Russia and the Communists.

The world has changed. Russia is an annoyance but the new world order is being shaped and it so much more fragmented. Or at least it seems like it is. China, climate change and rogue nuclear states all pose a diplomatic minefield for any eager upstart quickly coming into power.

Trump wasn’t young but he had both the silverpoint and the chip on the shoulder to make a folly of nuanced challenges. He handled all three challenges poorly. Maybe identifying the right problem in the case of China and rogue states like North Korea, but almost always prescribing the wrong solution. — as is the case with the Paris Climate Accords. He had a young mans zest but not the wisdom of the statesmen before him.

So when I see Biden, I smile. His story is boring. He’s a career politician and genuinely came from respectable beginnings. He’s experienced some painful experiences in his personal life far more times than any person should have to endure. And yet, his Colgate smile radiates through my screen and newspapers worldwide. Journalists have labelled him ‘Bipartisan’, ‘ a moderate’ and even a old school ‘salesman’. And in the context of todays world, I think these carry excellent connotations.

I say this because I feel we have put youth on a pedestal. Plastering on the cover of Forbes. Handing them the keys to a bottomless supply of VC funds and creating an almost cult-like obsession with ‘impact’ AKA disruption for the sake of things.

We’ve done just that. The younger generation — my generation, have come and broke the world order established after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. We did it because aspects of it were still not right. We neglected and discriminated people of different sexualities, faiths and backgrounds and continue to reject our moral obligations to society.

We may have also overcorrected. Technological advances continue to lift millions out of poverty each day and connect people all over. But we didn’t think about the consequences of an interconnected world. These same technologies levelled the playing field for everyone and that meant empowering rogue states in new and unseen ways.

At this time of writing, the Suez Canal is currently holding $9 billion worth goods due to a blockage. How is one strait so pivotal to the global supply chain? This isn’t a bad thing when all is working but something breaks, it breaks hard. And that is easily seen when any one of these oil tankers traversing the oceans under the banner of Free-trade hits a reef and spills quite literally a boat load of oil — damaging the environment irreversibly. How do we fix that?

We’ve come in and changed the world. But we’ve lacked the leadership to address the new challenges that emerged after in the last two decades. In the void that increased as our nations got richer, God was replaced by Google and Jesus was replaced by Jeff Bezos. We don’t understand the new world and no matter how technologically advanced we are or how progressive we might paint our self, we are incapable of finding the meaning behind any of it. So we turn to our stories and to our deities. Unfortunately, my generation has handed over this void to the Tech Titans.

When I’m at an impasse, or feel a loss of perspective in the work I do (which is often), I turn to history to find solace in the fact that I and the work that I do, is rather insignificant in the arrow of time. History is the amalgamation (whether true or not) of people’s experiences and drawing on the past gives comfort to the present and blueprint to the future.

The world is just as confusing — more so now than when Wall fell. We should also take heed from the fact that we. Millennials or whatever are the last generation that can draw upon the wisdom of those that fought in WW2 and had experienced first hand the hard times we take for so granted today.

In the face of uncertainty, we need a steady hand on the ship. We don’t need unpredictability. We don’t need a tech bro running for president. We need a politician. A damn good one. Someone who’s been through the trials and tribulations first hand. Who knows how to work across party lines, embraces adverse opinions and who has used his experiences to shape his contribution to society. He is more akin to Churchill more than we or even he, would care to admit.

The world is very confusing right now. We need a wizened hand over our shoulder. It’s very likely Biden won’t be the President for a second term, but we’re fatigued with so much and whilst we go through this phase, we need a leader who champions diverse opinions. Reaches across divisions and thinks before they speak.

I don’t want to say these skills don’t come with time and experience because like Jacinda Arden, exceptional people come across time and space. But in the context of the new world order being shaped, it helps to have a mixed bag with common traits.

Championing the voices of the unheard, promoting diversity in thought and appearance and trusting the experts aren’t skill sets isolated to either age demographic.

Biden’s arrival as President has happened exactly at the right time. The world is giving off so many signals and we need an experienced hand to tell us what to focus on moving forward.