Category: Reading Room

“There is one requirement for managing the second half of one’s life: to begin creating it long before one enters it.” – Peter Drucker

One can’t help but reflect on the recent economic instability and continued uncertainty. As with many industries, they are cyclical in nature, but the current environment is particularly difficult and the future uncertain. Those that work in these industries, all too well know that when their industry is on a high they are consumed by work – not enough hours in the day to get projects advanced.

However, in a time of crisis, many organisations, true to form, will shed jobs and worry about knowledge retention at some later date, if ever. For an individual who hears the words ‘you are surplus to our needs right now’ this can be seen as a personal failure. As Drucker points out in his book “Management Challenges for the 21st Century“, we expect everyone to be a ‘success’ in this knowledge society, which is clearly impossible. “For where there is success, there has to be failure”, he tells us.

In such times, Drucker believes that it is vitally important for the individual that there is an opportunity to continue to make a difference; contribute to some social need, to be somebody. Therefore, having a ‘second area’ is essential, such as a second or parallel career, a social venture, or an outside interest, any of which will offer an opportunity for being a leader, being respected, being a success.

How often do you reflect on where your career is headed or indeed what you might like to do when retirement approaches? When recently reading Drucker’s book again, one sentence seemed to have a greater relevance in the context of this article; “There is one requirement for managing the second half of one’s life: to begin creating it long before one enters it.” Charles Handy refers to this as the second curve. The Sigmoid curve (S-shaped curve) is used to tell the story of our career/life – and has been a form of certainty in our lives for generations. Starting the second curve can be a big problem for an individual and requires great courage as it needs to be started before the first curve peaks, (a time when usually all the feedback is positive) so that momentum can be maintained. For example, one might have great intentions of things they will do once retired. In Drucker’s experience, this rarely happens. In fact, he says, unless one begins doing those things in their forties, they are unlikely to start doing them once in their sixties.

The title of this article comes from a tribute paid to the late Stephen Covey, author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. If the time is right perhaps a way to bring focus to such a reflection might be to apply Covey’s Habit #2: “Begin with the end in mind“. Where better to start than to “leave this World better than it was when you got here”.

First published by author on Linkedin | September 24, 2016