The Chrysalis: Late Career By design
The Chrysalis
Late Career By Design
A guided workshop series to design your next chapter.
You’ve built the career.
You’ve led teams, delivered results, solved hard problems, and carried responsibility for decades.
And now a new question is emerging:
What’s next?
For many experienced leaders, the later stages of career bring a surprising mix of opportunity and uncertainty.
You might be wondering:
Should I stay, shift, scale back, or step away?
How do I transition from doing to guiding and influencing?
What does meaningful eldership actually look like?
If I retire — what will I do with my time and energy?
How do I ensure the next chapter is purposeful, not just quieter?
These questions rarely have simple answers.
But they do have a process.
The Next Chapter Doesn’t Happen By Accident
Without intention, late career can drift into one of two traps:
Overwork and exhaustion, staying in roles that no longer fit
Abrupt retirement, without a clear sense of identity or purpose
Neither path honours the wisdom and experience you’ve built.
The real opportunity is to design the next stage of your life deliberately.
That is what this program helps you do.
The Late Career By Design Workshop Series
This guided program walks you through three powerful pillars for navigating midlife and late-career transition:
1. Becoming
Understanding the transition you are in — and shaping your evolving identity.
You will:
Identify the personal, professional, and life transitions you are navigating
Clarify the identity shift from Achiever to Elder
Explore how leadership evolves from execution to influence
Define who you want to become in the next stage of life.
2. Mattering
Deepening your sense of contribution, purpose, and legacy.
You will:
Clarify where your energy and contribution matter most
Identify the impact you want to leave for future generations
Explore ways to grow leaders, mentor others, and steward the future
Move from being deployed by others to choosing where you invest yourself.
3. Living Well
Designing a life that supports vitality, meaning, and joy in the years ahead.
You will:
Build a practical blueprint for the next chapter of life
Plan for work, relationships, community, creativity, and adventure
Design the rhythms of a life that is sustainable, fulfilling, and energising
Leave with a clear and detailed plan for living well in later years.
By the End of the Program You Will Have
✔ A clear understanding of the transition you are currently navigating
✔ A framework for shaping identity in the later stages of career
✔ A pathway to deepen purpose and contribution
✔ A practical plan for living well in the decades ahead
✔ Greater confidence about what comes next.
This Program Is For You If
You are a senior leader, executive, or experienced professional who is:
Navigating midlife or late career transition
Considering retirement, reinvention, or redesign
Thinking about legacy and generational impact
Wanting to shift from doing to influencing
Seeking clarity about the next chapter of life
You are not finished contributing.
But you want to be more intentional about how and where you invest your energy.
The Conversation Most Leaders Avoid
Most leadership development focuses on how to rise.
Very little focuses on how to transition well.
Yet this stage of life may be the most meaningful one.
It is the stage where:
experience turns into wisdom
authority becomes stewardship
ambition becomes contribution
In many cultures, this is known as eldership.
And it does not happen automatically.
It must be cultivated.
Your Guide
Zoë Routh (that’s me!) is a leadership futurist, award-winning author, and strategist who works with CEOs and senior leaders navigating complex transitions.
My work explores power, leadership maturity, and the evolving role of leaders in shaping the future.
In this program, I will guide participants through a practical process to help them design their next chapter with clarity and intention.
Program Details
Format: Guided workshop series
Delivery: Online interactive sessions
Audience: CEOs, senior executives, and experienced professionals
Focus: Late career transition, purpose, and life design
Workshop 1: Becoming — Love Deeply. Step Into Eldership.
Cultivate identity and courage for the next stage of life.
Thursday 28 May, 10am-11am, AEST
Workshop 2: Mattering — Lead in Service. Steward the Future.
Focus your energy where your contribution truly counts.
Thursday 4 June, 10am-11am, AEST
Workshop 3: Living Well — Live with Grace. Flourish for the Years Ahead.
Design a life of vitality, connection, and joy.
Thursday 11 June, 10am-11am AEST
Workshop 4: Integration — Walk the Path
Leave with a grounded plan, meaningful commitments, and simple rituals to carry your next chapter forward.
Thursday 18 June, 10am-11am AEST
Inclusions:
Four 60 minute online workshops, recorded for reference later.
Checklists and workbooks
Special offer for 2027 Chrysalis Retreat
The Next Chapter Is Not About Slowing Down
It’s about redirecting your energy and wisdom where it matters most.
The question is not:
“When will I retire?”
The better question is:
“What do I want this next stage of life to stand for?”
This program helps you answer that.
✅ Join the Late Career By Design Workshop Series
50% of registrations fees will be donated to Literacy for Life, an Aboriginal-run charity training Aboriginal people to bring literacy to their communities.
