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It may not be the most attractive metaphor, but I often talk to people about living in a gilded cage or being held in golden handcuffs. 

Gilded Cage

When I worked for an international professional services firm and became a partner, they would fly me business class, put me up in 5-star hotels, pay me what I thought, at the time, was a ridiculous amount of money, enable me to work with extraordinary people and work on projects for global organisations.  In one particular week, I literally flew a 360-degree circuit of the world.  I had the personal status of being a partner in what, in those days, was a Big Four firm.  Maybe I could have stayed longer and taken on a more significant role.  Still, it was very tempting to feel that the wonderful lifestyle the business provided and the financial resources it gave me were like a golden cage.  And then, the golden handcuffs – what’s the penalty for leaving?   

Golden Handcuffs?   

For me, the shackle—the golden handcuffs—was less about the money and more about the demand they made that I dedicated my life to the firm.  The peer pressure of cultural expectations too often kept me in the office so late that I stayed overnight.  Or I would accept unreasonable demands to travel at weekends or very early in the morning to reach a client site.  Team celebrations would place additional demands, with late-night or all-night alcohol-soaked clubbing funded by the firm being commonplace.  Even when on holiday, clearing the e-mail and voicemail inbox was expected at least once a day. 

Perhaps for you, the shackles are different.  Possibly, your family now expects the lifestyle your corporate role enables them to afford.  Maybe the kudos you have and the status you have in your senior role in corporate life act as a shackle.   

What keeps you caged or shackled in your corporate role?   

Do a thought experiment.  This was a thought experiment I experienced for real.  What would you do if your big corporate job ended tomorrow?   
 
I faced this when Arthur Andersen was shut down in the UK due to the Enron scandal.  There was this magic date, on 1 August 2002, when I, along with many other partners in the firm, would be told whether we would be let go or would have a position at Deloitte.   

If we were let go, we would be terminated, I think, within a month.  It was swift.  So, it wasn’t just a thought experiment for me.  It was a reality, and I had to face the question: what would I do?  What would it look like for you if your corporate role ended with a month’s notice?  If you’re based in the US, termination could be even faster.  Maybe you’re on a 3-month notice in the UK—or perhaps not.   

But what would you do?   

Are you ready to give up the company car?  Are you prepared to give up the benefits of international travel or the sports club membership?  What are the things that keep you caged or shackled?  What could you do without?  And what are the things that matter to you?  

Perhaps, for many of you, it’s the identity of the role and the colleagues and relationships you have within it.  If you work in a very demanding corporate environment, you probably spend more time working than you do with your spouse.  Your most significant relationships may well be through your work.   

As corporate life develops and grows, I increasingly see that most senior people are being paid more extensive packages, so the golden handcuffs and gilded cages are only getting brighter.  The gilding is getting more colourful, and the handcuffs are getting tighter.   

If someone opened the door to the cage and undid the shackles, would you fly out?  Or are you so unused to flexing your wings and stepping out of corporate life that you stay where you are, even when freedom is offered? 

What is True for You? 

Perhaps you disagree that corporate life is a gilded cage with golden handcuffs.  Maybe you will find your best self in that environment; feel free to do your best work and enjoy a wonderful future.  If so, fantastic.   

But more and more people I talk to as they age beyond 45 into their 50s and older, realise that it becomes increasingly difficult to leave unless they plan an escape route.  As the Eagles sang about Hotel California, ‘A lovely place… You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave’. 

A gilded cage and golden handcuffs: you can be released or terminated.   But perhaps you simply stay where you are because you don’t have an exit plan and retirement is not a viable option.  If you want an exit plan we should talk: charles-mclachlan@futureperfect.company

Charles McLachlan is the founder of FuturePerfect and on a mission to transform the future of work and business. The Portfolio Executive programme is a new initiative to help executives build a sustainable and impactful second-half-career. Creating an alternative future takes imagination, design, organisation and many other thinking skills. Charles is happy to lend them to you.