Why an International Executive Retirement Coaching?

“One must learn to remain serene in the midst of activity and to be vibrant with life in rest” — Gandhi

Often the international leader thinks of retirement in terms of money (How much will I get?) and timing (At what age will I be able to leave?).

Several years before his departure, the leader thinks of retirement as a well-deserved vacation. When retirement approaches, he thinks he has a real project: “I’m finally going to do what I love (golf, painting, travel…), see my friends, enjoy a good quality of life…”. Sometimes he thinks of keeping a light activity that enhances his experience as an independent administrator, teacher, speaker…

When retirement arrives, it actually begins with a few weeks or months of “holiday”, but soon after the former leader speaks of “depression” and “loss of meaning”. Statistically, there is even a peak in excess mortality in the first 2 years of retirement.

Why ? The leader was impatiently awaiting this retirement and yet he thought he had planned everything…

Certainly, the leader had calculated the amount of his monthly retirement payments and prepared a comfortable living environment. But what he didn’t fully anticipate was that upon retiring, he would lose:

her many professional advantages: car, assistant who solves all the little problems (especially in expatriation
his business card, his title
and above all, the calls on his phone and his notoriety!

He thought he would keep in touch with his good professional relations, sometimes almost friendly. But he discovers that true friends can be counted on the fingers of one hand. He understands that he was appreciated only as a role, but not as a person.

Over time, he had confused the role and the person. But with retirement, the role disappears. And the void is revealed, causing vertigo.

To avoid such a situation, the leader must regain contact with his “inner compass” and his “true self” well before retirement. He must be able to distance himself from his role to find the energy that is in him, and not depend on that which his character gives him.

“Retirement-oriented Sense Coaching” is the support best suited to this challenge. This type of coaching allows the leader to find his inner compass. Often the leaders have had an exciting career, but in the intimacy of my exchanges with them, they regret never having had the feeling of directing their lives. Life has decided for them. Admittedly, they seized a succession of opportunities, but they were not on the move.

With retirement, opportunities disappear. It is emptiness. As a result, the need to find your compass becomes essential. Unfortunately, life and its blows have often scratched the lens that protects your compass needle. “Retreat Directional Coaching” cleanses your compass dial, so you can see its needle again and the direction it has been pointing to you. Meaningful coaching is the opportunity to “finally” lead your life! In particular, his “last” life, which is called “retirement”, the duration of which extends 20 years on average!

In addition to classic meaning coaching, here are the 6 benefits of “retirement-oriented coaching” for the leader abroad.

Benefit #1: Reconnecting with the “True Self”

As an international leader, you are often a prisoner of the image you wanted to give of yourself and of the image that others projected onto you. By dint of “playing a role”, that of the expatriate leader, you have distanced yourself from who you really are. “Retirement-oriented coaching” allows you to lift the mask and rediscover who you are: the “true self”.

Benefit #2: Identify Your “Life Mission”

Dialogue with the “true self” identifies your core values and your “life purpose”. Deep down, everyone has the more or less confused feeling that they were not born “by chance”. To your true self, it seems like you were born with a “mission” to fulfill. “Retirement-oriented coaching” allows you to identify and articulate the “why I am here”, in other words, your “life mission”. This type of coaching allows you to view retirement as a pro-active stage of your life, not just an idealized “vacation.”

Benefit n°3: Aligning values and projects

Having identified your “life mission”, it becomes possible to align your values with your plans. With retirement-oriented coaching, you can choose the skills you want to acquire to be fully aligned when you retire. This will become your personal development program! You will be able to take charge of your retirement because you will finally know in which direction you are going.

Benefit n°4: Choose your impact and work on it realistically

Once you have a clear vision of the projects that are aligned with your values, retirement-oriented coaching will allow you to define a retirement project based on its impact on your loved ones and on the world. It will allow you to develop a realistic strategy for its effective implementation!

Benefit #5: Choose as your next stage of life, what will make you “grow” the most

Retirement-oriented coaching will give you more than direction. It will allow you to identify the best next milestone in your personal development: your “next stage in life”. You will thus know the deep stakes of the years which present themselves to you at the time of your departure.

Benefit n°6: Find motivation and pleasure in your daily work

At the end of the retreat-oriented coaching, you will feel that you have fully regained your motivation. You may do your job differently, and sometimes you will even decide to change it or engage in a side hustle. In any case, you will rediscover the pleasure of living and dedicating yourself to your activity because it will finally make sense to you! You know where you are going!

Learn more about our support

Cadran offers dedicated support to managers who wish to prepare for their retirement.

See our offer « Coaching de la retraite »

See our offer « Coaching de sens »

Related articles :

• News : Notre partenariat avec la « Maison Pregevole »
• Webinaire : « Coacher votre retraite »
• Article : « Comment préparer sa retratite de dirigeant à l’international ? »