Life after managing partner: All by myself

The decision to retire from my firm and my role as managing partner was not difficult. In fact it was obvious that it was the right time. At the age of 56, logic dictated that I was more likely to establish a business selling experience I had gleaned from 16 years of leading the development of a law firm than if I left it until after I was 60.

Having made the decision, time initially dragged by as we approached the spring, but then accelerated as we approached my agreed retirement date: the end of May.

There was a degree of excitement in buying shiny new IT kit, agreeing the design of graphics and registering for VAT. There was also a dawning realisation that, after 30-odd years in a business with the support of a great team of professionals around me, I would have to start sorting a lot of this stuff out for myself.

A great friend who had made the transition ten years earlier with much success admits that he still holds his former secretary in awe for the ability to organise multi-party meetings (an ability which still alludes him).

Leaving events for me were held in each office of the firm so that we could all say our goodbyes. I was left feeling humbled by the generosity of spirit demonstrated by the staff who had supported me for so long.

Thirty years of a strong work ethic coupled with personal insecurities dictated that there would be no long sabbatical or holiday for me. There was a small window of time before the holiday period began and I needed to ensure that some of the offers to buy my time were quickly firmed up so that I wasn’t left floundering in September with no work to do.

I clearly needed to capitalise upon my profile whilst I still had it. A modest amount of work was firmed up, but that was all that I needed to preserve my self esteem and keep the insecurities at bay.

There was no real gap in finishing at my old firm and starting work the following Monday on my own account. Admittedly, my days have started a little later with an hour’s walk in the hills (which I’ve more or less achieved every day over subsequent months), but I am sat in my office before 9am. The walk across the yard has to be one of the shortest commutes ever.

I need to feel that discipline is maintained and that I am spending some time each day building and maintaining contacts, as well as investing in the business in terms of my own knowledge.

The luxury of available time makes me realise that, like many of you, I often had all too little time to really think. I was forced into prolonged periods when all I could do as managing partner was to react to prevailing circumstances; this was certainly true post 2008.

Those of you who have read my ramblings before will know the great value I have placed upon the relationships I have enjoyed with the people in my old business. On a day-to-day basis, I was surrounded by 600 or so people, many of whom had worked alongside me for many years.

As I have started to embark upon my new consultancies, it has been strange walking into offices in which I don’t know anyone other than a small number of partners and senior managers with whom my role requires interaction.

Even stranger are the days in my office with nobody else working with me. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing which causes unhappiness, but is certainly wholly novel for me.

Over the course of my next few blogs, I plan to share my further experiences of this new life after being a managing partner.