Adaptive Leadership: The Heifetz Collection (3 Items)

and important person with a big and important role, what happens

when you lose that role? You are likely to think the next job, the next

form of your work, has to be just as “big and important.” Other-

wise, it isn’t worth doing; otherwise, you cannot find yourself. Hav-

ing bought into the myth of measurement, you cannot define new

modes of loving and caring, giving and mattering, unless they can

be measured in the same terms as your previous work. We all know

people who shriveled up inside after retiring or leaving a career

because they could not find the big next thing to do.

Fortunately, some people escape this trap.

Ron’s father, Milton, is considered one of the ten living masters

of his craft—neurosurgery. He designs surgical instruments used

by brain ...