Time to Evolve -- Lessons from Serena Williams
On an early September night, Serena Williams took what we believe was her last curtain call at the US Open. We knew it was coming. She told us a few weeks prior in a beautiful essay in Vogue.
As she says goodbye to the sport where she is the undisputed GOAT, Serena Williams has given us a new verb for early retirements, second or third acts – evolving. I like it. When I technically retired from a corporate job six years ago, I did not describe myself as retiring. Because I wasn’t. I was leaving one job, but I wasn’t going to the couch. But I didn’t have a good way to describe it. Evolving works.
Serena is 40 years old. That’s early, early retirement for most of us. But not all. And it is certainly not too young to evolve.
It may be time for you to evolve. Workplace unhappiness is at record highs. The pandemic changed the way we work, the way we want to work, and our priorities. Business has not adapted to the new normal as quickly as our priorities have shifted. So many of us are looking for change.
I don’t know how Serena arrived at her decision. Her essay in Vogue indicated that she wants more children and more family time. She also talked about her venture capital interests. And you get the sense that there is more ahead for her.
Some things you may want to consider if you think it may be time for you to evolve:
Why am I leaving/considering leaving?
Are my opportunities limited? Is it a toxic environment? Are there work life balance issues?
When I left my corporate job, it was because my opportunities were limited. It wasn’t until I was doing work that I loved (teaching, consulting, and coaching), that I realized how unfulfilled I had been in recent years..
Are you happy?
What does that look like? When were you last happy at work?
If you don’t know what happy looks like and you can’t remember the last time you were happy, that could be a signal. If you look forward to going to work on Monday morning, you’re probably happy at work.
How is your overall wellbeing?
Gallup has identified five components of wellbeing – career, social, community, physical and financial. They are connected and interdependent. You are either thriving, surviving or struggling in each area. For example, your career may be going great, but your social and physical components may be struggling because of the demands of the career. Serena describes that a bit. She’s still playing tennis at an elite level, but she can’t keep doing what she has to do to stay at that level and grow her family and be the mom that she wants to be to daughter, Olympia.
It's all about balance.
What are you good at? What gives you joy?
We’ve all heard about people who were in roles that they were good at, but they weren’t fulfilled. Is that you? You may be doing great work, but it drains you.
Explore an assessment that gives you greater insight. We love CliftonStrengths®, but there are others that can provide important insight.
Do you need help to figure this out?
Maybe. When I was making my decisions, I had a lot of folks give me advice. “Take six months off.” “Go right back to work.”
To be honest, they weren’t telling me what was right for me. They were telling me what was right for them. I ignored most of it unless it felt true to me. I did my own research and exploration. If I had known then, what I know now, I would have worked with a coach to help me explore my interests and my passions. I got to the right place, but it probably wouldn’t have taken as long. In the meantime, I applied for a lot of jobs only to realize that I didn’t want to do that work anymore.
And in at least one case, I wasted the time of the organization on an interview.
I was exploring nonprofit leadership. A lot of us think we can take our corporate experience into nonprofit space. I had philanthropy experience, so I wasn’t totally oblivious, but I remember interviewing for a non profit director role where the entire board did the interview. It was a quality role, with a respected organization, but the board was not aligned on the direction of the organization.
I left the interview and called the recruiter to withdraw. I did not want to join an organization where the board was all over the place. I might or might not be able to create alignment and I didn’t want to find out. I wanted something different, but this was not it. If I had been working with a coach, I might have come to that conclusion before the interview took all of our time.
How much financial flexibility do you have?
Do you need to go directly into a comparable (or better) role? Can you afford to take time off? Can you afford to make less money for more joy? The more flexibility you have, the more time you can take with the process.
But don’t rush the process. Do your homework. We all know people (and may be people) who have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. That’s painful at every level.
But don’t rush the process. Do your homework. We all know people (and may be people) who have jumped from the frying pan into the fire. That’s painful at every level.
If you are feeling a slight feeling or maybe a strong feeling that it is time to evolve, approach it like Serena Williams did. Think about your feelings, your options, and your plans. And handle your evolution with warmth and grace – it’s a part of your legacy.