What's Your Playbook?

What's Your Playbook?

Anne Chow was CEO of AT&T Business till she retired two years back.  And as her colleagues were bidding her adieu, she declared she WON'T be into retirement.  Instead, she will be into REWIREMENT, a new career phase that comes after climbing the corporate ladder and embracing a more purpose-driven work.  Today, Chow serves on the board of three public corporations and is a fellow and adjunct professor at the Kellogg School.  What's Your Playbook???

Chow advises those going OR are already into RETIREMENT that while it is deeply fulfilling, it also comes with pitfalls.  As transitioning from a frenetic phase at work to a more controlled phase, it will be a significant change both financially and even in terms of personal identity.  BUT she clarifies that transitions will always be unique and different for each person.  And Chow says, there is NO default playbook that can be replicated and rolled out for execution across.  Having said this, she has shared how she has managed it😊😊😊

And if she has seen one serious miss during REWIREMENT, they were unable to apply their natural business instincts to themselves.  In short, people missed out planning WAY AHEAD while they were still in their current roles at that time.  WHY?  Chow explains that those REWIREMENT opportunities that you will eventually be angling for WON'T just fall on your lap. While competition within the corporate world is damn tough, during that REWIREMENT phase, things will NOT be served to you on a silver platter.  In short, if you miss out planning thoroughly for that next phase, you will be playing in a not so level playing field.  WHO wants to play in that kind of field???

And I couldn't agree less on that point.  Indeed, a lack of planning can also mean that rather than branching out, some people would eventually default to staying within their old industries.  And that could be a particularly difficult situation WHO were used to wield authority, influence and for those at the C-level, those impactful powers reverberating across organizations.  YES, I did witness seeing people WHO swirled up in the ecosystem they had left, becoming a consultant OR even working for a supplier OR vendor.  BUT psychologists opine that that move is NOT 'mentally healthy'  because if you're going to REWIRE, grab that opportunity to RESET yourself, and NOT hang on to the glory days of the past.  You can only cling along the surface within a very limited window and if that happens, it will be something superficial and effectively uneventful❎❎❎

Our takeaway:  In a nutshell, even before one reaches that final turn towards REWIREMENT, we need to start [by then] start exploring WHAT will be our PURPOSE in that next phase.  Missing out that crucial step will be a major miss.  Problem is we've seen many WHO didn't have that crystal-clear clarity of their next PURPOSE in that REWIREMENT phase.  YES dude, each us need to draft our own PLAYBOOK NOT as a post-mortem BUT way prior💥💥💥