In a 2019 Harvard Business Review essay, George conceded that leaving an all-consuming job that occupies 70-80 hours of your week can feel “like stepping off a cliff”.
But he insists it does not have to be that way. “There’s got to be more to life when you retire than just playing golf,” reflects George. “If nothing else, it’s a tragedy because here are people with tremendous talent.”
Richard FitzGerald agrees. A one-time CEO of the Aston Villa football club, he stepped down from the top job at UK television rights management company Racecourse Media Group in 2020.
It has worked out well for him - he does now play some golf, spending the winter months honing his game in South Africa, but has also become a keen investor in sports-related start-ups.
However, he admits his only real clarity on leaving the boardroom was on what he did not want to do: no more stress, no more overloaded diary and no more working all hours. “I felt I’d had enough and it was time to... generally step back, although I don’t think any of us really know what stepping back properly means.”
Help to adjust
On hand to help is a small but growing network of executive coaches who specialise in assisting CEOs to figure out what to do after the pension kicks in.
Often, these coaches have worked with a particular business leader previously. Increasingly, however, an offer of personal coaching comes as part - albeit a minor one - of a company’s formal succession process.
As head of global consulting firm Kearney, Paul Laudicina was subject to a maximum six-year tenure. A year before his obligatory departure, he appointed US recruitment firm Korn Ferry to help him and his top team prepare for the transition.
The process included meetings with a private coach, during which Laudicina was prompted to draw up a personal “statement of purpose”. The result was a very consultancy-sounding maxim, “I to the Third Power” - an elaborate way of saying he wanted to help other executives make more of an impact.
The 73-year-old, who moved from Washington DC to Santa Fe in New Mexico when he retired in 2012, has since written several management books and launched a successful podcast. He serves on US President Joe Biden’s Export Council.
“Leaving the office of chief executive seems like it should be easy; you just walk out, close the door and you’re gone... but unless you’re very intentional and purposeful about what comes next, it can be enormously difficult,” he observes.
Just say no
Janet Feldman, Laudicina’s former coach at Korn Ferry, aims to help clients find their next challenge by asking open questions such as, “What gives you fulfillment? How do you picture your legacy? Which relationships do you most value?”
One of the most immediate benefits of this exercise is knowing when to say “no”, she notes. Unless a CEO leaves under a very dark cloud, most face a surfeit of offers once news breaks of their departure. Invitations to serve as a non-executive board member, lecture at a business school or offer consultancy advice are typical.
The temptation to jump at whatever is offered can be strong, Feldman adds.
Some of this comes down to a desire to remain active and engaged - the average age of departing CEOs in S&P 500 companies was 62.6 in 2022, so there is plenty of time for a new role. But accepting high-profile positions can also represent an effort to regain personal status, she warns.
“A lot of their identity is tied up in their roles, so retiring is a big shift. When people ask, ‘What do you do?’, do you just continue to say, ‘I’m the former CEO of X, Y, or Z company?’”
US executive coach Mark Thompson has noticed a similar trend among retiring business leaders. Saying “yes” too often will not only balkanise their diary, he says, but could prevent them having the space to accept a better opportunity.
“The question isn’t about trying to find something meaningful to do. The question is finding something that is the most meaningful,” Thompson says.
Janet Harvey, another US executive coach, advises departing CEOs to set aside six to 12 months to “decompress” - most are more stressed than they realise, she adds. Reconnect with family and friends, take time out to travel, explore new hobbies and avoid taking on any long-term commitments, she advises.
“Most [departing CEOs] have reflected to solve problems, but rarely have they spent time asking questions that are more existential [like], ‘How did I get the privilege to do what I did for 25, 35, 40 years?’ And, ‘Who am I if I’m not this identity?’” Harvey says.
Family connections
As chair of the Chief Executive Alliance, an invitation-only network of corporate leaders, Thompson organises private discussion sessions for small groups of senior executives - and says they quickly take a personal turn.
“Sometimes we end up getting into conversations about the greater complexity of life, like, ‘What am I going to do with my life partner?’ ‘How am I going to relate to my spouse?’ ‘What the hell has been going on with our kids?’”
Most coaches push for CEOs to have their life partners join them when talking through what comes next. The Korn Ferry programme, for instance, includes a three-day, in-residence intensive retreat to which both CEOs and their partners are invited.
For some spouses, the prospect of their partner spending less time in the office can be the source of considerable disquiet, notes Feldman. “‘I married him/her for better or worse’, goes an oft-quoted quip, ‘but not for lunch’.”
For others, retirement may present a valuable chance to spend more time together or enable the partner to pursue their own career path or private passion, long put on hold.
“We bring both parties together to talk about meaningful relationships and the time they both want to be spending on things like travel and seeing their children,” Feldman says.
In Cutifani’s case, he didn’t need a coach to advise him that his wife was “very independent” and that the idea of him spending all day at home “horrifies her”.
Fortunately, the Covid lockdowns allowed them to practice for what was to come. Plus, she’s a fitness enthusiast, he says. “So, she’s got me working flat out on that.”
Written by: Oliver Balch
© Financial Times
