What does Succeeding Well mean?
A New Direction
I worked at the same law firm for 25 years and was a partner there for over 18 years. I was head of the Private Client Division for 10 years and by all accounts was pretty successful.
Read on though please, my ego is not on the rampage here.
And now I am making a huge change. I am setting up my own business, providing consultancy and coaching services to individuals, families, family businesses and professionals. My business is called Succeeding Well. I am pretty excited about it and hope it takes off, but…
How are you going to pay your bills?
Are you mad?
What are you going to do now?
Why?
are all questions I’ve been asked as I make this transition. I’ll be honest and say I have doubts aplenty, particularly when my answers are:
I’m not entirely sure.
Possibly a little, but I like to think in a good way.
I’m not entirely sure but I know I must try.
Because I’m not living my version of successful, and I don’t feel well. I want to be successful, for me, and I want to be healthy
but the last bullet point is compelling, isn’t it?
So here goes…
The principle around Succeeding Well is that I hope to work with people in two main areas – Success and Succession. And overarching both, is how can we do it well, and how can we make sure we are well.
These are my areas. It’s what I’ve got experience in, and I believe the intuition, which means I can make a difference. I will develop these themes over the coming weeks and months and, but for now, I am pondering what success means to me, and as I transition out of the business I’ve worked in for 25 years, what does succession look like there.
Looking positively to the future, I am proud to be able to say that I am seeking out new challenges and hope to work with people in the future where I can use my skills, insights and empathy in a way which delivers amazing results. I am prepared to dedicate my time and energy to this and am not currently feeling drained or desperate for a better work / life balance. I feel liberated by the fact I can work in a way which is results focused. And although the list of why this is positive for me is much longer, even those things on their own feel energising. Of course there is a lot of unknowns right now, and at this point I don’t know what the future will look like in terms of the clients I will work with or the work which I will have the opportunity to do, but the very fact that I am trying is vital to me, and so that feels successful. Let’s see how I feel in a year’s time?!
And in terms of leaving my firm, I have always felt overwhelmingly grateful to those who came before me, who passed on their wisdom, clients and the foundations from which I could grow. I always felt like I was the current custodian, rather than the owner of client relationships or the business, and I hope to be able handover client relationships in a positive and supporting way, so that I can to do the same for those who come after me because I believe that is doing succession well.
With all fingers crossed and a deep breathe in, onwards and upwards…
