As a global corporate leader, Paul Woolley travelled the world opening, growing, merging and sometimes closing businesses. From a $3m Revenue single-site operation base in 1994 through to a 21 entity $600m Revenue business by the time he stepped back from his Global President and COO role some 12+ months ago.
Leaving any close community is hard. Hear Paul’s thoughts on how stepping away from over 25 years of corporate leadership felt like being cast adrift without a map. How, in order to help him craft his future he sought advice and objective feedback, both from others who had been in the same position and those who had worked with him.
Paul’s advice to others is to plan early for your life after your corporate role. Have a clear idea of what you don’t want to do; keep learning, networking and connecting so you remain relevant and can draw on these resources when you need to.
Finally, Paul believes that companies need to offer more help and guidance to those who are leaving, to help them to use their wisdom and knowledge to thrive after they leave their corporate community.