We all know what an executive is, don’t we? If you’ve worked in large organisations for 10 or 20 years, in middle and senior management, you fit the bill. Probably suited and booted, versed in the bureaucracy and politics that come with the territory, somewhat jaded and institutionalised, you are one of the executive cohort.
What was supposed to happen was that you stayed in that world until you retired on a decent pension and went and did what you wanted with the rest of your life. Or sometimes, you took redundancy or early retirement and pootled about in semi-retirement for a while. Then the rules got changed.
Today, many people find they are leaving that world a long time before retirement and without achieving the financial security they had hoped for. They need to work, they want to work, but they can no longer find, or don’t want to seek, a place back in the world of corporate employment.
If this is you, your challenge is to re-invent yourself outside of the corporate environment. In a very different world to one your are used to and one that is undergoing rapid and substantial change. You have to create a whole new life for yourself.
You are a Post-Executive.
The options you face are no different to anyone else who is looking to build a new career, or a business, or follow a vocation. The place you are starting from, however, is very different. Most advice that I’ve come across doesn’t recognise this and so fails to serve your needs. For example, there is much written about starting a business but it not written for someone with our experience, knowledge and wisdom and so it seems patronising, facile and just plain wrong.
I know what it’s like because I have been there myself and I have met and helped many others. I have seen that there are many common misconceptions about what will work and that we all make many of the same mistakes. I know that we have a lot of gifts to bring and build upon but we also have a lot of burdens and obstacles of our own making that slow us down or sabotage us. I also know that we have a set of needs that, as far as I can tell, are not being recognised or served.
This blog for for all of us Post-Executives. I want to share my experience and what I have found on my journey of reinvention, to be your guide along the way, pointing out the dangers and the pitfalls, the blind alleys and elephant traps, and help you reach your destination as quickly and painlessly as possible.