Redirecting.work
Start your redirection by cocooning
When I was 50, my husband and I did a three-day program called Life Launch(1) with Frederic Hudson, founding President of the Fielding Graduate University and the Hudson Institute of Coaching. The program is now called Life Forward.
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In our program, he talked about the adult “renewal cycle” where people are in a satisfying job and are “going for it.” But then, they get bored or burned out and are “stuck in the doldrums”. From this stage, many people leave their job and get another. For years they are just “going for it” and “stuck in the doldrums,” moving from one to the other, just making a mini-transition from one to the other - repetitively. I know I did this early in my career, changing jobs every 3-4 years. Mini-transitions are good. Organizations might encourage these for their high performers and you may be doing this too.
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Hudson recommended instead, to take time out and “cocoon” - turning inward and reflecting on core values and purpose and perhaps doing some inner work to heal. From cocooning, one “gets ready for the next chapter” exploring new possibilities and perhaps learning new skills. Ultimately, one chooses the next direction and plunges, literally, wholeheartedly into it.
I’ve been cocooning for almost a year now. Part of this, for me, has been to mindfully get in touch again with my values, life meaning, and reaffirm my personal powers. A "Be Do Have" exploration was part of this. Who do I want to be? My answer: A lifelong learner, a supporter of women and older workers, a voice to remind and educate management and organizations where value comes from - people - so include them in your decisions impacting their lives. For me, the “have” part has always come. And my values have driven what I do.
When we did Life Launch, and before, in a “Best Work” seminar (no longer available), I realized that what I love to do is research. In my early fifties, I committed to research as what I would do and I would communicate findings as best I could. I would also do it with my core values more present. I spent 17 years running a survey on the state of HR technology adoption and value achieved, now known as the Sapient Insights HR Systems Survey. I followed this as head of research at Visier for seven years.
During this cocooning stage, I again confirmed. I am a researcher. I love the processes. I love reporting and sharing of findings. I love helping people and their organizations to put them to use. Redirecting.work contains my latest research.
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Step-by-step Guide to Cocooning
This is what worked for me:
Do a deep assessment of your purpose, your values, and your strengths at a minimum. See Resources.
Establish or reconnect with your network. For me, after leaving work, I’ve more deeply reconnected with friends and colleagues in my special interest areas - volunteering, crafts, hiking, and more. With all, I’ve listened more deeply to their experience and advice on retiring, but others will want to listen to advice on career pivots.
Take really good care of yourself physically and mentally. This is something I’ve done for most of my life and I got a bit more serious about living with good health now that I’m almost 80. See Health Considerations
Revisit your financial plan from wherever you are. Get a financial planner or coach if applicable. Update your will, trust, etc. Consider long-term care insurance.
If you are in mid-life, consider doing a program such as Modern Elder Academy or if you are thinking of retiring, consider a program such as Future of You. For either consider doing Life Forward.
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Advice and Resources
In cocooning, mindfully assess yourself. I’m grateful to Serena Huang, Heidi Spirgi, and Scott Burton for providing some of these questions.
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Who am I?
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What three words describe me(2)? And, check these out with a trusted partner or friend.
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What are my strengths? Perhaps use an assessment instrument (see below)
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What do others value in me? Ask people how they view you and your brand
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What impact do I want to have - now and when I’m 75 - or when I die?
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If I were to die tomorrow, what would I regret?
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What is your energy, or capacity to contribute? What does it take to refuel? (There’s an app for that)
I’ll get into two other key questions in the Purpose section.
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What is my purpose?
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What is my mission?
And, do make use of assessments. Here’s some I’ve found useful.
What is my personality?
Always, the Myers Briggs Test, a personality type assessment, which I’ve done countless times for team building and personal understanding. When I first took it with work teams in the 80’s, I was an ESTJ and as I got older in the late nineties, I had changed to an ISTJ. I asked a coach about this, who told me, it’s common that as we get older, we become more introspective. Indeed. I recently took it now that I’m redirecting and don’t have to do things to a schedule. I’m now an INTJ-A. Not sure why I've gone from an S to an N, but I am indeed assertive in my later years.
Here’s a free version that is easy and direct - just select the word that most and least describes you to find your best alignment with one of 16 personality types.
What are my values?
Here’s a free values card exercise
Here’s a card sorting game to explore your values
One good for leaders is Hogan Values that explores values and goals that drive a leader’s behavior, aspirations, and expectations about life. What people value determines how they lead and the kind of environment and culture where their people can do their best work.
What are my strengths?
One of the best is StrengthsFinder. Many organizations use this to assess their talent. As an individual you can buy the book, StrengthsFinder 2.0 and do it yourself using an access code at the back of the book or take the Clifton Strengths assessment offered by Gallup for a small fee.
There’s also Standout, by Marcus Buckingham, which is an assessment that measures how well you match nine roles and reveals your lead role and secondary role.
FOOTNOTES
(1) The program we took had a notebook titled Life Launch: Five Maps for Launching the Rest of Your Life, Frederic M. Hudson and Pamel D. McLean. Reference this book to learn about the original program
(2) For me: Curious, creative, communicator, connector
(3) For me: 1. Give back whatever wisdom I gain through my research; 2. Add value and make a difference for others; 3. Creatively and playfully “go for it” in this next phase of “redirecting”.
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