Two years ago, I convened a group to talk about their transitions out of long-term sustainability roles. They shared advice on navigating a successful career as well as a smooth transition out. All of them were leaving sustainability leadership roles with the employers they’d been with for a significant time. How would this change their identity, focus and goals?
Our conversation made clear that “retirement” did not mean becoming less engaged. Quite the opposite; many were pursuing or planning even more meaningful endeavors. But new challenges arose: confronting the unknown, mustering the self-discipline to challenge oneself and overcoming perceptions that retirement meant a lazy nap on a beach.
I recently reconvened five of them 18 months later to compare notes and hear about how their perception might have shifted. Our chat surfaced interesting insights about the nature of work in expressing our values and shaping identity.
Read more here in the latest GreenBiz Talent Show post.
Starting in 2010, Ellen Weinreb created a column on GreenBiz called “Talent Show.” The goal of this column is to share industry trends and best practices in the collaboration between sustainability and HR. This article was originally posted on GreenBiz Talent Show.