Coaching Towards Retirement
People engage with a coach for numerous reasons – a leader requiring the confidence to carry out major changes, a newly promoted manager needing support in their new role, a recently redundant employee looking for guidance tackling the job market. Given time, we’d all be able to list several more, but would coaching towards retirement feature on your list?
In recent months we have been supporting and coaching a number of people working through the process of retiring. It’s a huge life event that many can’t wait for – the freedom to do the things that couldn’t be done before due to lack of time, or maybe the increased opportunity to spend time with family and friends. It should be an exciting phase of life, but for many it can be daunting and for everyone it needs some emotional adjustment.
Some people have been fortunate enough to be able to plan financially for their retirement, but rarely will they have put as much thought into what they are going to do and how they might feel once they cease working.
Thought-provoking questions rise to the surface when coaching towards retirement
It’s a privileged position to be in when you are considering retirement – during the current economic climate many feel that they can’t afford to stop working yet, but it doesn’t make the decision straightforward. Many thought-provoking questions rise to the surface.
- What is enough? – What do you need to have the confidence to say, “I choose to stop working”? This may be a financially loaded question and in the current climate it might be particularly difficult to answer. It’s hard for people who felt ready to step back 12 months ago, but if the sums no longer add up, they are now under pressure to delay retirement or return to work.
- What will you do with your increased free time? – If you choose to stop working, what do you choose to start doing more of? How clear a picture do you need? Is it ok to plan to cross that bridge when you come to it?
- How closely linked to your work is your identity? – To what is extent is your work what you (or others) value about you? If you are no longer a ‘INSERT JOB TITLE HERE’ what are you? Will leaving your work persona behind be an obstacle that you need to tackle?
- What do your family and friends think? – Are they looking forward to spending more time with you – or are they dreading the day?! Are they still working – might you find yourself becoming lonely, or do you have a plan for that? Changes you make will affect others so talk to friends, family and colleagues to seek their guidance.
- To what extent do you keep in touch, or drift away? – What does stepping away from work mean for the relationships you have with work colleagues or clients – that might go back decades? Who do you want to keep in touch with (and who will you happily let go)?
- What conversations can you have with colleagues? – Is it ok to discuss retirement with your line-manager without fear that it will change how you are treated? At what point should you share the news of your retirement with your peers and team members?
What are the answers?
Clearly there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to the retirement conundrum, and everyone needs to work out their own solution and do what feels right for them. When approaching retirement it’s important to set aside time to ask all these questions and to think about the practical and personal implications.
There’s a lot of practical and financial advice readily available, but it’s vital that we don’t forget the emotional adjustments that need to be made. Our Consulting Director, Graeme Rainbird, says, “The earlier we think about the emotional implications and challenge some of the assumptions that we make about what it means to be ‘retired’ the better we will navigate the choices ahead.”
If you, or your organisation would like to find out more about coaching for retirement, please contact us and one of our consultants will be happy to get in touch.
