Shall I? 27 questions and 1 retirement speech

Plan your Withdrawal as Professionally as did it with your Career so far

 

 

 

 

A check list with 27 questions as a supporting tool for the key question: Shall I retire and if yes am I well prepared? – that´s a new Pennsylvanian scientific paper´s output that was published recently. Divided into the 4 main factors when decisions concerning your withdrawal are to be made – readiness, introspection, advisors and control over free time – and based on interviews with a bunch of CEOs the researchers have developed a new tool for retirement candidates and executive coaches alike.

There you can find questions as “How satisfied are you with what you have accomplished?”, “Which image pops up when thinking about your future time with your family?” or “Which role does aging play when you are considering retirement?”

The scientists concede that each case is different from each other – of course – something is crystal-clear, though, for them after all: the professional withdrawal ought to be planned as well as the single steps of your career so far.

Wasylyshyn/Slater/Woo/Nissen, “An Exploration of Factors That Influence the Retirement Decision of CEOS”, in: Psychology of Leaders and Leadership, 2025, vol. 28nr. 2, 261-285.

From the practise:

And there is another excellent tool for you to identify if retirement should be done better earlier than later: the concept and training of your farewell speech.

There you not only have to mention your reasons for retiring, but you also will present your personal end results and provide ideas how you will spend your time in the future. I have recommended and used this tool amazingly often when working with managers, politicians or university professors. And it was always an eye opener and more efficient than a bunch of coaching sessions over several months!

Those who had troubles yet when developing the concept of the speech knew soon that they had to do a better preparation first or to stay in the round still for some time. By training the speech and by analysing the video afterwards at the very latest all cards were put on the table: Go or stay? If while doing the concept the mind and intellect were in control, was now unmistakenly brought up by my client´s body: the solar plexus, the posture, the voice, the eye contact, the mimics and the gestures.