I've been executive coach and mentor to some high powered
entrepreneurs and executives over the years. And today, more than ever, they fear becoming invisible if they change positions or sell out.

In my succession blog, www.TheSuccessionPlanner.com, my
recent post http://cli.gs/WNMBsZ spoke of the owners' fear of irrelevance, of
invisibility after the sale. So much of themselves is tied up in the business that it is hard for them to imagine themselves separate and apart.

I have found similar dynamics among the high performing senior executives I've worked with. For them, being over 50 can lead to an irrational fear of becoming a non-entity. And changing jobs, can be looked at as a terrifying prospect where, despite years of high performance, s/he will be thrown into a wilderness where success is a thing of the past, where the salaries of today are a distant memory and where nobody remembers your name, what you've accomplished and wants to relegate you to the scrap heap.

While there is a kernel of truth in this fear, it is just that, merely a kernel. America still produces more business formations than any other nation, still leads the world in innovation and is still able to resist calls for a world currency - the dollar is still the standard.

Opportunities still exist. What is often in question is the desire/willingness/self-confidence in the executive to "do it again. Where there is opportunity, there is also choice. What usually saves my clients is their ability, sooner or later in the coaching/mentoring process, to look over the trees, breathe the fresh air and see the choices that exist.

A friend, age 63, was recently laid off. He called for advice and we scoped out several opportunities. He planned to take a month off to consider what opportunities to pursue. We looked over the trees and he knew it would be OK. What momentary fear had grasped him, dissipated.

Another friend/client, age 62, was recently laid off, as well. He called. I've been advising him on the purchase of a franchise/dealership. He, too, shook off his initial fears and is back in his game. But both friends have not become irrelevant; have not become invisible. They have morphed into today. FDR once said, "The only thing to fear is fear itself." It was true in the depths of the Great Depression in 1933. It's true today. And that's relevant.