If you've spent decades building a business, leading organisations, or establishing yourself as the go-to expert in your field, retirement can feel like a cliff edge rather than a launchpad. Gordon Callum knows this territory well. He built Changing Point into a respected change management consultancy over 20 years, then realised - during the pandemic - that he'd done almost no thinking about his own retirement. That moment of clarity led to Retiring Point, and this conversation.
This one isn't just for people looking ahead to retirement. The themes here - identity, purpose, planning for transitions, and how you invest your time - apply at every stage of a career.
✳️ The financial side of retirement gets all the attention, but the non-financial side is what determines whether it's fulfilling - identity, purpose, relationships, and the emotional rollercoaster of the transition all need the same planning rigour you'd apply to a business initiative.
✳️ Gordon's behavioural change cycle - awareness, thinking differently, application, and follow-through - transfers directly from change management to retirement planning, including building a rolling 12-month plan towards a clear vision rather than a single grand plan.
✳️ Personality type shapes what a good retirement actually looks like. Extroverted thinkers need goals and competition; extroverted feelers need variety and multiple projects; introverted feelers need a cause to align with; introverted thinkers need structure and rhythm.
Gordon's Amplifiers
✳️ Balance the non-financial with the financial - give real attention to purpose, identity, relationship dynamics, and emotional wellbeing, not just the pension pot.
✳️ Retire into something, not from something - spend the 2-3 years before retirement experimenting with projects and possibilities so you have something to run towards from day one.
✳️ If you have a partner, create three retirement plans - your own individual plan, theirs, and a shared plan for what you genuinely want to do together. Communicate all three openly.
Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction and welcome
01:55 - Meet Gordon Callum - from Changing Point to Retiring Point
04:10 - Why most senior leaders arrive at retirement unprepared
05:06 - Identity, purpose, and the non-financial side of retirement
07:19 - What does a healthy retirement actually look like?
09:07 - The cliff edge vs the easing-off approach
12:00 - How personality type shapes what fulfilment looks like in retirement
15:50 - What drove the success of Changing Point
18:18 - Client acquisition and the long-term client strategy
19:59 - The frameworks Gordon has brought from Changing Point to Retiring Point
22:27 - The imagination gap and creating a retirement vision
24:21 - How you invest your time today builds your future
26:01 - The danger of going harder in your final 12 months
28:06 - Changing Point to Retiring Point - the shift to a global virtual model
30:58 - Amplifier 1: Balance the non-financial with the financial
33:06 - Amplifier 2: Retire into something, not from something
34:36 - Amplifier 3: Have three retirement plans if you have a partner
37:45 - The Retiring Point scorecard and how to connect with Gordon
39:11 - Wrap-up and close
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