The Idea in Brief
We all periodically face the haunting question: “Am I really living the way I want to live?” For executives, this question often arises at the apex of their careers—when aging parents or milestone birthdays remind them of their mortality. At these times, many people experience a creeping sensation that something is wrong.
Exploring this question is usually painful and messy. But it’s essential for renewing your energy, creativity, and commitment—and your ability to inspire others.
How to begin? Recognize signals that it’s time to take stock. Then, make minor adjustments or larger life changes that take you in new directions.
The Idea in Practice
Taking Stock
These feelings may signal it’s time to take stock:
- “I feel trapped.” Once-fulfilling work seems less meaningful. You’re restless but can’t change or articulate what’s wrong.
- “I’m bored.” Something’s missing from life: satisfying work, intellectual stimulation, fun, enthusiasm. You’ve lost touch with your dreams; you’re “going through the motions.”
- “I’m not the person I want to be.” You’ve adapted to your company’s culture, which conflicts with who you are and what you care about.
- “I won’t compromise my ethics.” You face challenges to your principles; for example, reporting to an unethical person.
- “I can’t ignore the call.” You’re strongly drawn to a new mission, such as becoming a teacher.
- “Life is too short!” A major or minor life event (a heart attack, significant birthday) makes you reassess your priorities.
Watch for quiet signals especially. Their impact is so incremental, you may miss them.
Renewing Professional Passion
To interpret vital signals and revive your energy for work, use one or more of these approaches:
- Call a time-out. Take time off to reconsider your priorities, evaluate your personal life, or do something different. Time-outs energize, but high achievers may miss corporate routines or lament their “lost identity.” For some, financial concerns preclude time-outs.
- Find a professional development program that helps you clarify your values, aspirations, and strengths.
Example:
BFGoodrich president John Lauer decided he’d had enough of corporate leadership—and left to help refugees. But during a seminar, he realized he loved leading—under certain circumstances. Reenergized, he became CEO at raw-materials giant Oglebay Norton, proving so effective the firm was featured in several business publications.
- Create “reflective structures.” Schedule regular self-reflection time—daily, weekly, monthly, or longer periods annually. Use whatever it takes—exercise, meditation, long drives—to escape career demands and clarify your thoughts. Consider collective reflection; e.g., a monthly CEO discussion group.
- Use an executive coach to help you identify your core priorities and see new opportunities everywhere in your life.
- Find new meaning in familiar territory. Can’t change your job? Make small changes reflecting your values.
Example:
When Unilever asked Niall FitzGerald to take a leadership position in South Africa, he accepted—but felt conflicted about working in an apartheid-ruled country. To live his values, he changed what he could, by building non-racially segregated bathrooms in a new plant. As a result, the government quietly changed the law.
Last September, as millions of people around the globe stared in disbelief at television screens, watching the World Trade Center towers crumble to the ground, many of us realized that accompanying the shock and sorrow was another sensation—the impulse to take stock. The fragile nature of human life, exposed with such unbearable clarity, compelled people to ask a haunting question: “Am I really living the way I want to live?”
