Leaving Well....
The most important lesson I learnt from my Dad, was when to stop doing something, when to let go and leave. Everything he did in life (being a Dad, a master builder, a motorcyclist, a sailor, a teacher, a storyteller) he did with a certain Palmer Panaché and energy..... But he also taught me when and how to exit. He knew that you stopped doing something, when it was still fun, when you were still at the top of your game, when you could manage and exit with energy and joy.
It's been 3 months since leaving my job, and it's taken me this long to unfurl and process the process! I've been reading the #leavingwell posts inspired by Michelle Parry-Slater, so I'll be writing a few posts on this topic....
I had lunch with a very wise friend, Ivan Inderbitzin yesterday, and we talked about the emotional effort and energy needed to positively "leave" an organisation or role. More in a later post about the process I followed :-)
This is a long way of saying - look at this article below that he shared with me (in German, but i'll try and summarize...).
The article talks about a1988 research paper by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld called «The Hero’s Farewell», exploring how CEOs leave their companies. The ideas are are of course not just applicable to CEOs, but to all of us... He proposes four different exit types, arranged in a matrix aligned two parameters - The hero's status and the hero's mission. The archetypes are Governor, Monarch, General, Ambassador.
The article suggests that for most people "retirement" becomes linked with the fear of "death" - the loss of work that gives us mearning, a loss of identity, a loss of belonging. And of course this goes for any job or role that we leave.
The "Ambassador" does not fear the loss of status or mission. They don't burn any bridges to the past role, but instead build relationships with that network and their successors.
The article ends with this quote: "Als Faustregel kann man vielleicht sagen: Wir sollten die Dinge beenden, wie wir sie idealerweise begonnen haben: neugierig, liebevoll und ernsthaft."
As a rule of thumb we should end things as we started them - with curiousity, full of love and seriousness.
My Dad, Martin Palmer, could not have agreed more....
https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/krogerus-tschaeppeler-die-kunst-des-loslassens-451046525497
It's been 3 months since leaving my job, and it's taken me this long to unfurl and process the process! I've been reading the #leavingwell posts inspired by Michelle Parry-Slater, so I'll be writing a few posts on this topic....
I had lunch with a very wise friend, Ivan Inderbitzin yesterday, and we talked about the emotional effort and energy needed to positively "leave" an organisation or role. More in a later post about the process I followed :-)
This is a long way of saying - look at this article below that he shared with me (in German, but i'll try and summarize...).
The article talks about a1988 research paper by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld called «The Hero’s Farewell», exploring how CEOs leave their companies. The ideas are are of course not just applicable to CEOs, but to all of us... He proposes four different exit types, arranged in a matrix aligned two parameters - The hero's status and the hero's mission. The archetypes are Governor, Monarch, General, Ambassador.
The article suggests that for most people "retirement" becomes linked with the fear of "death" - the loss of work that gives us mearning, a loss of identity, a loss of belonging. And of course this goes for any job or role that we leave.
The "Ambassador" does not fear the loss of status or mission. They don't burn any bridges to the past role, but instead build relationships with that network and their successors.
The article ends with this quote: "Als Faustregel kann man vielleicht sagen: Wir sollten die Dinge beenden, wie wir sie idealerweise begonnen haben: neugierig, liebevoll und ernsthaft."
As a rule of thumb we should end things as we started them - with curiousity, full of love and seriousness.
My Dad, Martin Palmer, could not have agreed more....
https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/krogerus-tschaeppeler-die-kunst-des-loslassens-451046525497