A Leadership Kick in the Ass by Bill Treasurer

Author:Bill Treasurer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 2017-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

“Special Projects”: A Kick into Retirement

The fear that Torschlusspanik provokes can be so powerful that many senior leaders hang on too long, careful to not step outside the city gates. So much of their identity is tied up in the organization, they fear they’ll have no identity when the gate closes on their career. So they become hangers-on, unable to retire but not fully contributing either. Often they’ll claim that they intend to retire “in two years”—even if they first said this six years ago!

An organization will have much less tolerance for, and loyalty to, a young leader who isn’t carrying his weight. For an aging leader, though, there is too much goodwill built up over time. The longer a leader has been with the company, the more love may surround her, making it harder for the company to let her go, even if she doesn’t add the same value that she used to. Instead, the organization will use less direct approaches. For example, one common butt kick that companies use to ease an aging exec out the door is to take away her direct reports and assign her to a “special project” role. The move is typically couched in such a way that you don’t realize that you’ve been sent out to pasture until you are far afield from the responsibilities you used to have. You’ll be told, “The company really values your expertise and wisdom, so we’d like you to lead up our new such-and-such project because it’s super important to our future . . . blah, blah, blah.” In truth, a “special project” move is often the company’s way of exiting you without having to fire you. The butt kick happens in slow motion. Eventually you find yourself counting paperclips just to pass the time. Once you realize that you have no power, influence, or resources, retirement becomes an attractive option.

Remember, butt kicks are mostly good things. Sometimes the company is doing for the aging leader what she didn’t have the courage to do for herself. Crossing over the threshold into retirement sometimes requires a little shove from the company.

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