A New Mid-Lifer’s Paradigm: mini sabbaticals =
new career energy + personal growth
Mid-Lifer’s hungry for renewal
What if you could put your career on hold for one to six months and do something you have always wanted to do… something that would reenergize you…what would you do?
Increasingly, corporate mid-lifers are asking themselves how to rediscover a sense of career energy and personal growth. According the Annual Survey by the Society of Human Resources Management, the percentage of U.S. corporations offering paid or unpaid sabbaticals is growing each year and now estimated at 23%. Recent studies also indicate that sabbaticals are increasingly being used by corporations as a means to provide employee renewal and retention. A recent article in Business Week by Michael Arndt indicates that a growing range of companies from Intel, Coca Cola, Timberland, Morningstar, and McDonald’s, Hewitt Associates, to Charles Schwab are offering the sabbatical option.
How did this need for new career energy and personal growth transpire? From one perspective it has always been part of a developmental psychology framework as a midlife search for meaning. At the same time, our work culture has changed significantly in the last twenty years. All of us live in a global business world of trends full of downsizings, rightsizings, reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions, outsourcing, 24/7 expectations, too many daily emails, palm pilots, longer work weeks, a norm of two family incomes, increased schedules for kids, doing work on weekends and unfortunately this list could go on and on.
Not surprisingly, midlifers are increasingly sharing thoughts with executive coaches and career life consultants of … "I feel like I have lost a part of me", "I never realized how fast I’ve been moving", "I want some time for things I missed out on" or "I have forgotten how to have fun". It is not uncommon that clients will share remembrances of a friend or relative who has died or become ill unexpectedly and they start to reflect on what has gone unlived in their own lives. More and more mid-lifers are attracted to the idea of a mini-timeout as a means to renew themselves.
Post timeout comments
In a series of recent interviews with mid-life clients who have taken a sabbatical many have shared the following comments:
"My spouse says they got back the person they married"
"People tell me I look different"
"I am so reenergized"
"I now remember the person I lost"
"It provided me with the opportunity to step away from what I had been doing, look at my life, and decide what is important"
"I learned to give up on my old way of thinking about work"
"I am now thinking when I will do it again"
So what would you do?
Traditionally, most of us would have quickly passed off this idea of a timeout with a statement such as "I could never do that", "I don’t have the time or the money" or maybe "I will when I retire". However, a growing number of clients are willing to think about what they would do.
Recent examples of individuals who have chosen this option include those who have committed to new learning such as taking an Italian language course or volunteering for something that touches a passion. Others have taken up photography, committed to a deeper spiritual practice, helped build houses in New Orleans, made quiet time for themselves each day or traveled to a foreign land.
Imagine if you could give yourself the permission to be totally "unplugged" while at the same time creating "space to think" and the "time to act". Akin to when a winter blizzard strikes and you are forced to pause activity, this timeout gives you the space to put aside your lists of shoulds and just be.
Timeout Planning
A recent Wall Street Journal article by Joann Lublin entitled: How One Executive Used a Sabbatical to Fix His Career, identified the planning process for a timeout to be invaluable to a significant life event outcome. Some practitioners and the writer suggest that boomers develop a "Sabbatical Proposal" which includes a vision, desired outcomes, benchmarks, and a process for checking in. Others interviewed suggest involving life partners, husbands or wives, as part of the process as it is these individuals who see the best in each of us.
Coaches and Career Consultants comment that it is amazing to watch clients begin to plan their potential sabbaticals. These dream possibilities tend to bring a new sense of life. They comment that it often can be seen in a person’s body language. For some, it can be as simple as a smile which has been hidden.
Post timeout perspectives
What happens after this time out? Some return to their previous careers but with a renewed sense of commitment and energy. Others recalibrate work to fit within a portfolio of other parts of their life which often includes life balance sectors such as exercise, community work or new learning.
Does it sound interesting?
So…what would you do if you had a couple of months…what would be wild for you...what would bring you new energy or growth?
Dan Shepard is a Partner with Essex Partners, a Boston Executive Outplacement firm. He specializes in mid-life transitions, next chapter planning, and assisting clients in the planning of their own timeouts. He has recently been interviewing mid-lifers who have taken sabbaticals. He can be reached at dshepard@essexpartners.com.
Mid-Lifer’s hungry for renewal
What if you could put your career on hold for one to six months and do something you have always wanted to do… something that would reenergize you…what would you do?
Increasingly, corporate mid-lifers are asking themselves how to rediscover a sense of career energy and personal growth. According the Annual Survey by the Society of Human Resources Management, the percentage of U.S. corporations offering paid or unpaid sabbaticals is growing each year and now estimated at 23%. Recent studies also indicate that sabbaticals are increasingly being used by corporations as a means to provide employee renewal and retention. A recent article in Business Week by Michael Arndt indicates that a growing range of companies from Intel, Coca Cola, Timberland, Morningstar, and McDonald’s, Hewitt Associates, to Charles Schwab are offering the sabbatical option.
How did this need for new career energy and personal growth transpire? From one perspective it has always been part of a developmental psychology framework as a midlife search for meaning. At the same time, our work culture has changed significantly in the last twenty years. All of us live in a global business world of trends full of downsizings, rightsizings, reorganizations, mergers, acquisitions, outsourcing, 24/7 expectations, too many daily emails, palm pilots, longer work weeks, a norm of two family incomes, increased schedules for kids, doing work on weekends and unfortunately this list could go on and on.
Not surprisingly, midlifers are increasingly sharing thoughts with executive coaches and career life consultants of … "I feel like I have lost a part of me", "I never realized how fast I’ve been moving", "I want some time for things I missed out on" or "I have forgotten how to have fun". It is not uncommon that clients will share remembrances of a friend or relative who has died or become ill unexpectedly and they start to reflect on what has gone unlived in their own lives. More and more mid-lifers are attracted to the idea of a mini-timeout as a means to renew themselves.
Post timeout comments
In a series of recent interviews with mid-life clients who have taken a sabbatical many have shared the following comments:
"My spouse says they got back the person they married"
"People tell me I look different"
"I am so reenergized"
"I now remember the person I lost"
"It provided me with the opportunity to step away from what I had been doing, look at my life, and decide what is important"
"I learned to give up on my old way of thinking about work"
"I am now thinking when I will do it again"
So what would you do?
Traditionally, most of us would have quickly passed off this idea of a timeout with a statement such as "I could never do that", "I don’t have the time or the money" or maybe "I will when I retire". However, a growing number of clients are willing to think about what they would do.
Recent examples of individuals who have chosen this option include those who have committed to new learning such as taking an Italian language course or volunteering for something that touches a passion. Others have taken up photography, committed to a deeper spiritual practice, helped build houses in New Orleans, made quiet time for themselves each day or traveled to a foreign land.
Imagine if you could give yourself the permission to be totally "unplugged" while at the same time creating "space to think" and the "time to act". Akin to when a winter blizzard strikes and you are forced to pause activity, this timeout gives you the space to put aside your lists of shoulds and just be.
Timeout Planning
A recent Wall Street Journal article by Joann Lublin entitled: How One Executive Used a Sabbatical to Fix His Career, identified the planning process for a timeout to be invaluable to a significant life event outcome. Some practitioners and the writer suggest that boomers develop a "Sabbatical Proposal" which includes a vision, desired outcomes, benchmarks, and a process for checking in. Others interviewed suggest involving life partners, husbands or wives, as part of the process as it is these individuals who see the best in each of us.
Coaches and Career Consultants comment that it is amazing to watch clients begin to plan their potential sabbaticals. These dream possibilities tend to bring a new sense of life. They comment that it often can be seen in a person’s body language. For some, it can be as simple as a smile which has been hidden.
Post timeout perspectives
What happens after this time out? Some return to their previous careers but with a renewed sense of commitment and energy. Others recalibrate work to fit within a portfolio of other parts of their life which often includes life balance sectors such as exercise, community work or new learning.
Does it sound interesting?
So…what would you do if you had a couple of months…what would be wild for you...what would bring you new energy or growth?
Dan Shepard is a Partner with Essex Partners, a Boston Executive Outplacement firm. He specializes in mid-life transitions, next chapter planning, and assisting clients in the planning of their own timeouts. He has recently been interviewing mid-lifers who have taken sabbaticals. He can be reached at dshepard@essexpartners.com.
