'Tis a maxim of the wise to leave things before things leave them... Do not wait till they turn you the cold shoulder and carry you to the grave, alive in feeling but dead in esteem... A beauty should break her mirror early, lest she do so later with open eyes.
Baltasar Gracián, 1647 (tr. Joseph Jacobs, 1892)
Every role peaks, and the audience sees the decline before you do. Leaving on your own schedule reads as a decision. Leaving on theirs reads as a verdict. Same event, opposite meanings. This is not only about retirement. It covers the flagship project, the committee seat, the role you have outgrown. The test is one honest question: am I still here for the value I add, or because leaving frightens me?
Practice
- Write down your exit condition before the peak. At the peak, your judgment is the least reliable in the room.
- Groom a successor early. A strong second is not a threat; he is what makes your exit yours.
- Start the second income and the second identity years before you need them.
- When money saved for a goal reaches its number, move it out of the market's reach, even if you stay in the game.
Use this when
- Use this when you notice you are defending your position more than doing the work.
- Use it for small exits too: projects, committees, roles that now run on your reputation instead of your contribution.
Ignore this when
- Don't leave before the floor is built. Exit without preparation is not courage; it is flight.
- Don't let fear of decline push you out at your actual peak. Leave before the descent, not before the harvest.
A picture of it
Two seniors retire from the same institution. One fought for an extension, got a cold farewell, and now introduces himself by his old designation to people checking their phones. The other left eighteen months early with a successor trained and handovers clean. His phone still rings, and he is free to not answer it.
The sun that sets on time is called majestic. The one that gets dragged down is just called a day, over.