Just over a year after retiring from my firm I attended the Annual Retired Partner Dinner. It was  my first as a retired partner. I walked into a place that I’d known so well for over 20 years but this time as a guest rather than a host. It felt quite strange. I was greeted by my former partners as a guest, no longer as a colleague. I was no longer an insider, this wasn’t my place anymore.

This was definitely a “What’s Next” moment.

I certainly hadn’t gone “cold turkey” on my old firm. I had been in contact with a number of people since but for those who I hadn’t seen there were the inevitable questions. What was I upto? What had I been doing?

Cefalu, Sicily

I talked about our  travels  and then there were questions about whether I was consulting on boards etc?

This is where all conversations seem to head. The assumption is very much that after a career in consulting that I’d continue but in my case I haven’t. For me the process of “What’s Next” was reaching the decision that consulting was not a key part of my post professional life.   Sure I have a couple of consulting roles, but really I had taken  the student route and I definitely feel most comfortable  with being described as such.

As the conversations over the evening continued, I said that while I’d loved my time in professional services that I was now really enjoying being out of it and being incognito. Continue reading →