Reboot Part 4: Back to the future
Making a Decision on your next career is never straightforward and simple.
And I have to admit, after getting my "second MBA" at PT HM Sampoerna, it has taken me a while to decide between the several career options I had: to set up my own Leadership Advisory Company or to join another Executive Search Company or to re-join Egon Zehnder.
There were pluses and minuses in every option and I sought advice from several of my trusted friends. However, there was also no consensus on the best option to choose, all options having their own merits. Setting up my own company is always risky and I would also have to set up my infrastructure from scratch. Joining an established company may look like a safer option, but I would have to conform and adapt to an entrenched corporate culture, and; let's not underestimate corporate politics.
In the end, I had to go back to my first Reboot, to dream and prepare for my future and to work beyond the age of 62. My recent trekking trip to Nepal, re-living an old dream, also enlightened me of the joys of freedom roaming in the mountains. To live your life the way you want, at your own pace and time.
I also admire Mr. Egon Zehnder for his audacity and dream to set up his firm back in the 1960s, and how his firm is now the best in the world. If I set up my firm, would I ever be able to emulate his firm? Perhaps not to the scale and scope, but I can create a firm that lives to some of his values and principles, in addition to some of mine: to help bring out the best in people, and to create life-long learning and memories. The time to set up my firm is now.
While still crafting the purpose and mission of the firm, I am fully aware of dramatic changes to come as a result of the unprecedented COVID-19 crises. The dust has not settled yet, but businesses and lives have already been severely disrupted. Business needs and business models will change and the Executive Search Consulting industry will also be impacted.
But in every crisis, there are always opportunities. There will be a need for more agile and adaptive ways of working, leading to more interdependencies and collaboration between clients and Executive Search Consulting companies. The future does look very interesting.
In one of my conversations regarding my future with an astute colleague, I was asked, "What will Reboot part 4 look like?". I remember thinking for a while before answering rather boldly: Reboot part 4? I want to blossom again.
I believe my best is yet to come.
The original article was published in LinkedIn by Johannes Wardhana: Link