A few months ago, I bid farewell to a good friend headhunted into a Senior Vice President position at one of the world’s biggest multinationals. He was revved up for a challenge that elevated into rarified atmosphere of the world’s truly rich and powerful. Then Covid-19 hit and, because of travel restrictions, his family was physically unable to get to the US.
Also read:Â Alec Hogg: How to buy Xero shares
With renewed lockdowns pushing out the starting date, he invested the rare spare time into long-overdue reading. This gravitated to books with advice on how to tackle the biggest challenge we all face – ourselves. His internal journey delivered a surprising conclusion: no matter how golden the treadmill, it is always an empty trophy.
So, my friend did the unthinkable: he withdrew from the job his younger self would have killed for, and, on the advice of his immediate family, “retired”. That soon turned into helping his wife grow her business. Now it’s a real family enterprise. And my friend has never been happier, calmer and more at peace.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___
His journey would have been applauded by my all-time hero, the late Clayton Christensen (above). A Harvard Prof best known as the author of Disruption Theory, Clay also wrote the life-altering How Will You Measure Your Life? which teaches us what really matters. By providing time for reflection previously impossible to find, Covid-19 has had a silver lining after all.
NB FOR YOUR WALL STREET JOURNAL ACCESS…
Because of The Wall Street Journal’s credential requirements to access its site, your password MUST be at least 8 characters and include at least one letter and one number; and it MAY NOT contain any special characters (ie #, !, @ etc). To maintain access to WSJ.com, you MUST enter our partner’s website at least once a month via BizNews Premium
TO LISTEN…
Latest audio on BizNews Radio.…..(click on the link to access)