If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll know that the topic of retirement has been top of mind for me. Should I? Shouldn’t I? How will I fill my time? What would I miss; and what can I happily kiss goodbye. You know, all the usual ruminations. And a long the way, I’ve been having great conversations with interesting people on the verge of the same retirement decision. Our former Premier, Kathleen Wynne, is one of those people. She’s made it no secret that this will be her last term in office.
She will not be seeking re-election in her riding of Don Valley West; a riding she’s held since 2003. So after a lifetime in politics, and Ontario’s first woman to hold the Office of Premier (2013-2018), she will be retiring next year. Those are big accomplishments! So to my curious mind, I thought for certain there had to be some interesting and insightful conversation to be had.
I had the opportunity to chat with Kathleen Wynne via Zoom last week. The clips below are bit-sized chunks from our chat.
Make no mistake, this is not an interview about party politics. It’s the sharing of a candid conversation between two women who worked really hard are to achieve leadership roles in their respective professions ; and what goes into the decision to retire from it.
Why Retire?
There’s no mandatory retirement based on age anymore. And you serve at the will of the people in a riding that you’ve repeatedly won with large numbers. So you don’t have to retire. You could have stepped down in 2018 when the Conservatives took the majority, but you chose to stay. Staying was hard! Leaving is hard! What tipped the scale this now?
https://youtu.be/-VVlXyEZCww
Family and the Decision to Retire
We both have new grandchildren; and I don’t want to sound like the cliched granny… But has family, and the new grandchild, had any sort of influence in your decision making process?
https://youtu.be/yH4whEjv8GM
Moving to a More Balanced Life
We both have jobs that can be very demanding. Actually, that’s probably an understatement. It’s always required going from zero to sixty. But retirement means an entirely new tempo. it could be sixty to zero. In the fire service there’s a great deal of excitement related to operational tempo. But that tempo in combination with the requirement to always be on available for emergencies is what tends to grinds us all down pretty quickly. Did any of this factor into your choice?
https://youtu.be/4x6Wo29Jub8
Women and Leadership
We both worked tremendously hard to climb to leadership roles in male dominant professions. There are only four full-time female fire chiefs in the province. There have only ever been twelve female premiers in this country. Are we somehow letting women down by retiring?
Pre-Retirement
I’m using up four months of vacation time before I officially retire. The constituency demands for you are far less than party leadership. It’s like we get to “pre-retire”. What are your thoughts on the concept of easing into retirement?
Sharing Leadership Wisdom in Retirement
Carrying leadership skills into retirement. You and I can’t just flip a switch and turn that portion of our brain off. What does retirement mean in terms of those skills for you… for both of us actually?
Getting to the Top vs Leaving From the Top
I’m watching some of my male colleagues struggle with retirement. Do we have it easier when we retire than men do?
Retirement Stress and Men vs Women
Why retirement might be less stressful for women? Will the challenges we faced juggling home/family/work at the beginning of our careers, on our way to the proverbial top of our professions, serve us well at the end? Do we have an unforeseen, and unanticipated, advantage over our male colleagues on the way out? Most women who work full-time are still responsible for the bulk of what goes on at home. Being a mom is pretty humbling most of the time;. No matter what we do at the office, no matter how “cool” your day job is, you never get to be a “big deal” at home. It’s a lovely thought to think something might be easier!
My thanks to Kathleen Wynne for being so generous with her time and for graciously sharing her thoughts so candidly. And I wish you nothing but the best!
No matter who you are, or what you do, choosing to retire is a massive lifestyle decision. It’s oddly comforting to know that we all run the pros and cons through our head for a long time before making it.
Who are you having conversations with about retiring? What are you going to do with your time? What are you ruminating about? I would love to hear about it; and when it’s time to retire, I hope you enjoy every minute of it!
Cynthia Ross Tustin retired early to pursue her passion for writing. Turns out, she's equally passionate about retirement! This author has spent 1000s of hours researching all the best that retirement has to offer. What you'll find here is a well-curated resource of amazing places to go and fun things to do as your retirement approaches. Not retired, no problem! There's plenty here for all of us that are "of a certain vintage"!