Leave On Purpose.

How we handle endings in our lives determines the quality of our beginnings. I dare say that if we leave on purpose, we live on purpose. My last major transition from my tent business came with many lessons. Hindsight is always 20/20. Now that I have spent the last 5 years studying transitions, I realize that I didn’t leave on purpose. I wanted out so badly and I finally did. But I should have planned better for my exit. The desire to exit was so strong that it was all I thought of. If you asked me back then what I’ll do next I couldn’t tell you for sure. Yes, I knew that I wanted to help people but the discomfort of my transition distracted me from thinking deeper about what that would look like practically. That said I’m still glad I leaped. A key realization was that sometimes we know what we need to stop doing before we know what we need to start doing and that’s ok.

I think I’ve done a better job of preparing for my current season. It should end smoother than my previous one because I’m more aware that an ending is guaranteed and a new beginning will beckon. And I need to prepare for both. It always helps when we see a bit further ahead. It reduces surprises and we make better decisions.

Transitions (and halftime too) are often messy. Maybe it’s because we are resistant to change. It’s the default setting for most people. We settle in fast to things and situations that are kind to us and they quickly turn into a comfort zone. Then the end catches many by surprise yet when we look back we realise that we missed (more like ignored) the warning signs of the impending change of direction.

My baby shark is a deadly swimmer. She has now graduated from a baby shark to a grown shark hehe. When she was born I called her the heir to my estate. She’s making me a proud father so far. I have taken her to many swimming galas and shouted my voice hoarse as she competed. Let’s use the analogy of how my competitive swimmer girl swims into the wall. Her coach emphasizes how the turning at the wall can be the difference between winning and losing the race. So how does this analogy relate to finishing a season strong and starting another well?

Halftime calls it leaving Life 1 on purpose and goes on to offer six tips for this. The first one is that for my shark to stand a good chance at winning she needs to maintain momentum and focus until the end. If we want to leave well, honourably and with respect, we should focus on all our current obligations with energy, integrity and an urgency of sorts. Character is also a non-negotiable if we are to finish well.

There are races that my girl was sure to win but somewhere along the swim, she lost steam. That cost her a podium finish. When we lose steam, get distracted and lethargic then things fall through the cracks. We end up with a poor exit. Reminds me of when in the last months of my business we had customer complaints regarding poor service. That was a sign that I needed to wrap up haraka and neatly. Since I had already checked out of the business mentally and emotionally I needed to do damage control and close shop with my reputation still intact. It helped me get into my current season without much baggage.

It was a difficult time but I’m glad we closed when we did. Some compromise because they are exiting their positions thinking they can get away with it. Sooner or later their bad manners haunts them in their next station of life. We have seen that a lot especially in politics when Gen Zs salimia (expose) a new government appointee. Past skeletons get exposed and that threatens current opportunities. We should build momentum as we leave and hopefully, it will carry us into the next season nicely.

I admire watching my girl and other swimmers approach the wall in a calculated manner. They do their tumble turn seamlessly without wasting vital seconds. They have a plan to go in a different direction. That’s the second tip. The end of the pool didn’t just show up. They have prepared and practised hard to change direction without compromising their next lap. In life transitions as in swimming, we need to be as intentional and strategic about planning our exit as we are about planning for our next phase (life 2). What can you delegate? What responsibilities will you keep? And for how long? Who do you need to talk to? What key deliverables do you need to pay attention to before you leave? What can you hand over and how?

Ensure to paint the house you are leaving so that the next occupant finds a clean and nice space to thrive in. Creating a conducive environment for the one coming in to take your place is part of leaving a good legacy. So, have a plan and communicate with all concerned that you are preparing to go in a different direction. Sudden disappearances don’t augur well in transitions. Share as much and as relevantly with those who will be affected by your leaving. I recall telling my team that we were shutting down though COVID did half the job for me.  Even if they could see the signs of imminent closure, we still needed to have a conversation about it. It helped give them closure too and we separated better. It’s what good leaders do hehe.

Let’s see what swimming lessons my shark teaches us for next week so we don’t drown in our transitions.