An intimate group for reflecting on your life’s work.
The Life Work Transitions Affinity Group for Senior Fellows meets monthly to provide a safe, confidential and supportive gathering of senior fellows from diverse classes to discuss, in an intimate setting, contemplated, current, or previous work transitions (e.g., from one full-time position to another, from full time to part-time, or into retirement), and the implications on one’s personal life, including exploring new identities and a sense of purpose.
Sometime in early 2012, I met Meri Maben at an ALF Taking Stock retreat. During a small breakout group together, we shared our respective visions about our work-life over the coming years. Taking time to verbalize our vision and then be heard and responded to with clarifying questions was so helpful to each of us taking stock of our professional futures. We realized there would be many turning points with many considerations (both personal and professional), and it would be beneficial to us, and likely others, to support each other during our work-life transitions.
So, before “affinity groups” were a thing at ALF, we formed a group, open to any ALF Senior Fellow, for the purpose of taking stock of our work, its transition points, our leadership roles and goals, our career considerations/challenges, our vision for alternative professional engagements, and the personal joys and disappointments that enhance or make difficult bringing our whole selves to the work we do or want to do. Some Senior Fellows join us when they are considering a job or career change, others are transitioning from full to part-time work, or from one professional position to many less demanding professional pursuits (such as sitting on boards while writing a book), or are adapting to a time of repurposing or retirement.
“We realized there would be many turning points with many considerations (both personal and professional), and it would be beneficial to us, and likely others, to support each other during our work-life transitions.”
In 2013, I formally opened my home in Palo Alto as a space for our meetings. I facilitated that first meeting and generally have had the privilege of facilitating since. However, we welcome other regulars to facilitate. Since the (start of the) pandemic, we have met via Zoom. Every ALF Senior Fellow is welcome.
In the beginning, and even now, ALF Senior Fellows learn about our affinity group by word of mouth. It’s a drop-in group, meaning any ALF Senior Fellow can join us for one session only, just to check us out, or become one of the “regulars” who participate almost every month. We’ve even had one Senior Fellow join us for several months when she was transitioning from one full-time position to another, then stopped attending the group for seven years while she worked at the new position, then rejoined after retirement.
While we call ourselves the “Life Work Transitions Affinity Group,” we share any aspect of our life that feels important. We begin all meetings with an ALF-style check-in. These check-ins provide an opportunity to hear our own narrative about our current life. We reflect on where we are professionally or personally, challenges and difficulties we face, changes we might want to make, and possibilities for making those desired changes a reality. There is no judgment, only caring support from other Senior Fellows who listen actively and then, if invited, share feedback and ask clarifying questions.
“It’s a drop-in group, meaning any ALF Senior Fellow can join us for one session only, just to check us out, or become one of the ‘regulars’ who participate almost every month.”
After our check-ins, we typically discuss a theme that arises from the group’s sharing. These topics have ranged from how job/career/retirement changes impact our identity, daily structure, and a sense of purpose; how to measure the quality of our lives as well as our achievements; the source of our life’s work passion and meaning; and creating/sustaining authentic friendships. We end our sessions by sharing a takeaway—each person is invited to let the group know their primary takeaway from the meeting, for example, what they were inspired by, what nugget of wisdom they plan to take with them from the meeting, or what they shared that surprised them and they will explore more.
If this sounds interesting to you, please join us. We typically meet on the first Tuesday of each month from 3-5 pm. For more information and our Zoom link, contact Meri Maben or Allyson Paul.
Naomi Fine, Class XX
