Old Lessons – New Challenges

For most of my working life, I lived in the rhythm of management … people management and change management. One was about building relationships, the other about guiding transformation. Both demanded patience, awareness, and the ability to read between the lines of what people said and what they felt.

As a people manager, my first priority was simple: show up every day, be present, and treat people with respect. Those daily interactions, the good mornings, the check-ins, the personal acknowledgments were the glue that held my teams together. When people felt seen and valued, they performed not because they were told to, but because they wanted to. That sense of belonging rippled outward …from employee to customer, from customer to company reputation. It wasn’t a management trick; it was basic humanity in action.

Change management was a different challenge. Markets rise and fall, products peak and fade, and companies expand and contract like living organisms. I learned to read the early signs of stress, the cracks that show when everything still looks fine on the surface. My role was to help people adapt before the storm arrived, to make the necessary shifts while morale was still strong. I knew changes were coming and the window of opportunity would close quickly.

Those were intense years. I took pride in leading through change without losing the human touch. But every decision came with weight, especially when jobs, families, and livelihoods were at stake. Preventing layoffs or softening their blow became my quiet mission. It wasn’t just about keeping the business healthy; it was about protecting the people who gave it life.

Now, years later, I find myself in another season of change, retirement. The schedule is gone, the structure has loosened, and the old markers of success no longer apply. Physically, the body has begun to ask for a different kind of leadership from me. A total hip replacement, knees that remind me of the miles I’ve lived, these are the new performance reports I read every day.

And so, I’ve begun to realize that the principles that once guided my career as a people manager can still guide this next chapter.

People management has become self-management. I check in daily, not with a team, but with my body, my emotions, and my spirit. I practice the same consistency I once asked of others, showing up each day with honesty and respect, even when motivation lags.

Change management has become life management. The market cycles are now the seasons of health, mood, and meaning. The same discipline that once helped me navigate corporate shifts now helps me meet aging and uncertainty with steadiness rather than resistance.

Many employees over the years have asked me “What do you want boss, quality or quantity?” to which I’d reply “Both”. As the manager of the company I lead now ….i.e. my own life, the new metrics are: peace over productivity, presence over performance, quality over quantity for once.

It’s easy to think that retirement means the end of management. But in truth, it’s just a transfer of responsibility, from leading others to leading myself with wisdom, kindness, and care.

I used to measure success in quarterly goals and customer satisfaction.

Now, I measure it in mornings of gratitude, afternoons of peace, and evenings without regret.

In the end, it’s the same work, adapting, listening, and keeping the human side healthy, only this time, the business I’m saving is me.