Soon I will no longer be the Chief Executive of Speaking Up. Indeed, I have already relinquished day to day running to my superb replacement Jonathan Senker who, I believe is the right person to lead the new merged organisation long-term.
Handing over the reins has in some respects been surprisingly easy. When you are confident of the person coming in, and know they share your values, it is actually quite easy. Not quite so easy is where this leaves you as a person in the world. Our status is a bit like our health. We sort of take it for granted, indeed hardly notice it - till its no longer there. Then, coughing and wheezing, we chide ourselves for not appreciating what we had - and wonder when we'll be back to our normal selves again.
Probably the most challenging part of this journey for me, then, will be the reinvention of myself that is a requirement of the the transformation of what-was to what will be. Whether I like it or not, I am no longer Mr Speaking Up. It's now on my CV but no longer my calling-card. Indeed, it would be a mistake to do what I have seen many others do - become known primarily for what they were, rather than what they are doing now.
Which leaves me with the question of how I define myself now - before I actually have something clear to say about what I actually am these days. In truth, I am between things. Freelancing for a bit till I decide on the next big thing. Something which I am sure will be interesting, fun and restorative. But hardly something on which I can hang my hat.
I suppose I will always be the person who set up Speaking Up - but I can't - and shan't live on my capital for long. Time to shed my skin.
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