The Second Act: Five Tips for Finding Your Career’s Next Phase
What happens when you leave a job that has defined you?
Perhaps you were a business leader or a startup founder, a position that played an outsized role in your life, in your very identity. When you step down from something so meaningful and all-encompassing, what do you do next? What is your second act?
That’s a tricky question, one that Jimmy Carter, among so many others, has faced. When Carter passed away at the age of 100 last month, commentators were quick to focus on the former president’s life after he left the White House.
Widely seen as having one of the most productive post-presidencies of any U.S. president, Carter is a prime example of someone who built a robust second act for himself. He was 56 when his time in office ended, and over the ensuing decades, he devoted himself to peace, human rights, democracy, health, housing, writing, and his faith. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Danna Greenberg, a professor of organizational behavior at Babson, reflects on the transitions that happen in a career, and how people can pursue an inspiring next phase, one that takes their life in a new and rewarding direction. “The next phase can bring a tremendous amount of meaning and impact,” Greenberg says.
Here are five tips for finding the second act of your career.
1. Stay Patient
One’s identity is often wrapped up in work, and to lose that, whether through a layoff, retirement, or a decision to move on, can be unnerving. Suddenly, you may not know how to define yourself. You may be unsure how to answer when someone at a cocktail party asks, “What do you do?”
“Dealing with lack of identity is hard,” says Greenberg, who serves as associate dean of faculty, chair of the Management Division, and the Walter H. Carpenter Professor. “Human beings don’t like that lack of certainty. Our human nature is to want stability in our identity.”
As you step aside from a position and seek what’s next, give yourself grace. Be patient as you figure out a new path and a new identity. “It takes a little bit of time to re-create yourself. It won’t take six months,” Greenberg says. “Take some time to figure out what is meaningful.”
2. Always Explore
Hopefully, as you begin your second act, you already have a sense of some things (interests, hobbies, dream projects) that you would like to focus on. If not, the process of finding your next phase will be more challenging.
“People who have the hardest time with the second act—they don’t have the passions and interests,” Greenberg says. “They didn’t have time to explore them or even know they had them.”
Yes, life is busy, but you should always be exploring. Read. Network. Volunteer. Take classes. Figure out what excites you. That will set you up for a successful second act.
As Carter left the White House, he drew upon his experiences and passions. “Everything he did in his second act, we can trace back to his first act,” Greenberg says.
3. Navigate Money and Time
You can dream big for your life’s second act, but only if you can afford it. “As a pragmatist, my first question is, how creative can you think based on your financial situation?” Greenberg says. “That is an important question to ask yourself.”
Depending on your finances, you will need to balance your ambitions vs. the reality of paying the bills. That may mean, for instance, working at a business on a fractional or part-time basis while pursuing passions that are less lucrative.
Time and scheduling also must be negotiated. You need to ponder how much flexibility you’ll want in your second act. Greenberg knew a senior marketing executive who retired early and took a job in a city bookstore. She was a book lover, so the position felt perfect.
On her second day, however, she went home for lunch, started playing with her two dogs, and forgot to go back to work. “She was used to a job where she could manage her own time and her own schedule,” Greenberg says. Alas, the fixed schedule of retail wasn’t going to work for her.
4. Give Back
Many people seek to give back in their next phase. They may even be motivated to start a nonprofit, but Greenberg advises that might not be necessary. “Look and see if there’s an organization you can get behind before you start your own,” she says.
“Be careful not to take your ego with you. Be humble and recognize what you don’t know as you figure out where you fit in this new world.”
Danna Greenberg, professor of organizational behavior
If you’re a former corporate manager or executive, and you take on a leadership or board role with a nonprofit, you can bring the skills you honed in your first act to your second. “If you spent 30, 40 years building up your career, you focused on strategic thinking and managing people,” Greenberg says. “You’re now bringing those skills to something more meaningful. That is the real value.”
Some professionals, though, may be content to retire and spend their second acts on the golf course. Greenberg wishes they would reconsider. Often, society turns to younger generations to solve complex challenges, but the older generations are still vital and have much knowledge to share. “The world has so many problems, and we need your talents,” Greenberg says.
5. Be Humble
The options for a second act are many. People may choose to manage a faith-based organization, or build schools overseas, or return to a music career they left behind in their younger days.
Whatever people decide to do, Greenberg advises them to stay humble. Yes, they may have been in charge during the first part of their careers, but now they are starting new. “Be careful not to take your ego with you,” she says. “Be humble and recognize what you don’t know as you figure out where you fit in this new world.”
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