Finishing Strong: Finding Purpose in Your Later Years

by Brent Roy, MCC

Achieving greatness is important, but what truly sets you apart as a leader is finishing strong.

Many accomplished executives and leaders in their late forties and early fifties often confront a similar question: Is this the part where I start to coast?

In my work with executive clients at this stage, I’m seeing the opposite. These leaders don’t want to fade out or hold on to the status quo. They want to finish strong—to make their last 10–15 working years the most intentional, impactful, and personally meaningful of their careers.

If that sounds like you, you’re not alone, and you’re not “late.” You’re at a powerful inflection point.

Below are five practical strategies I share with clients. These strategies help them maintain momentum and purpose through the final stretch of their career.

1. Redefine What “Winning” Looks Like Now

What motivated you at 35 isn’t necessarily what will fulfill you at 55. Many executives I work with wonder whether they’re approaching burnout, not because they’re tired of leading, but because they’re still chasing an old definition of success. It starts with a re-evaluation of your values. This in turn will inform your goals.

Try this:

• Ask yourself: If the next decade were a success, what would actually be true in my work, health, relationships, and what would be the impact?
• Distinguish between self-image goals (title, status, external validation) and legacy goals (who you’ve developed, what you’ve built, how you’ve changed).
• Capture a short “success statement” for the next 10 years—1–2 sentences that become your filter for decisions.

When you update your definition of winning, you often discover you’re not done—you’re just ready to play a different, more meaningful game.

2. Shift from Solo Performance to Legacy Through Others

Earlier in your career, you advanced by delivering strong individual results. Finishing strong was still a distant vision. In this chapter, your greatest contribution will likely come from multiplying the performance of others. In fact, it’s common for leaders at this stage of their careers to experience the seventh stage of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development known as “generativity.” This is led by the virtue of “care” and focues on wanting to contribute to society and be part of a family.

That might mean:

• Intentionally developing a small group of high-potential leaders
• Taking on leadership and mentoring roles as a volunteer outside of work
• Being known less for “saving the day” and more for “building people who can”

A powerful question to ask is:
If I left this role in three years, what capabilities, culture, or people would I want to leave behind that aren’t here today?

This shift from “my performance” to “our legacy” is where many executives find energy and purpose.

3. Protect Your Energy Like a Strategic Asset

By your late forties and early fifties, energy management becomes more important than time management. I see many senior leaders with full calendars but depleted reserves. This makes it tempting to fantasize about coasting. They wonder whether the energy reserves would even allow for finishing strong.

Instead, treat your energy as a non-negotiable resource:

• Audit your week: Mark meetings and activities as +, –, or neutral based on how they affect your energy.
• Delegate or leave the drains: Where possible, pass on recurring work that is energy-sapping and not central to your unique value.
• Rebuild core routines: Sleep, movement, and boundaries around email and after-hours work are more than “nice to haves” at this stage—they’re performance infrastructure.

You can’t finish strong if you’re running on fumes. Protecting your energy is an investment in your ability to contribute at a high level over the long term.

4. Keep Learning at a Level That Feels Slightly Uncomfortable

One of the quiet risks for seasoned leaders is becoming more of a critic than a learner. You’ve seen a lot. You know what works. That’s valuable—but it can also limit your sense of growth and possibility.

To stay sharp and engaged:

• Put yourself in rooms where you’re not the most experienced person—peer groups, boards, or cross-industry forums.
• Take on a stretch project that requires you to learn (for example, AI, digital transformation, new markets, or new business models).
• Invite honest feedback from a few trusted colleagues: “What’s the one skill or mindset that, if I upgraded it, would make the biggest difference to my leadership?”

Leaders who keep a beginner’s mindset in one or two areas of their life tend to stay more energized, adaptable, and relevant.

5. Design Your Exit Story Before You Need It

“Finishing strong” isn’t just about the work you do—it’s about the story you’ll tell yourself when you look back.

Instead of waiting for a retirement date or a reorg to dictate your ending, design it now:

• Imagine it’s your final day in this role. What do you want colleagues to say about working with you in these last years?
• Consider what kind of transition you’d be proud of: mentoring your successor, stabilizing a new strategy, building a team that thrives after you’ve gone.
• Begin shaping your calendar so that more of your time is spent on work aligned with that desired ending.

When you’re clear on the story you want to create, everyday choices—what you say yes to, where you invest your time, who you develop—start to align around that narrative.

You’re Not at the End—You’re at a Strategic Middle

For many of the executives I work with, the realization is this: you’re not closing a book; you’re writing the most intentional chapters yet.

You have experience, perspective, and influence you didn’t have earlier in your career. The question is not whether you have anything left to give—it’s whether you will choose to invest what you’ve built in a way that feels worthy of the journey you’ve been on.

If you don’t want to coast, you don’t have to. With clarity, energy, and intention, the final stretch of your career can be the most meaningful and impactful part of the journey.

Brent Roy is an ICF Master Certified Coach (MCC)—a designation held by fewer than 5% of ICF‑credentialed coaches—and is currently the only MCC in New Brunswick, Canada. After three decades in communications and leadership roles, he now focuses on helping senior leaders through executive coaching. He also supports ACC, PCC, and MCC‑aspiring coaches through ICF mentor coaching. Brent works online with clients across Canada and around the world. He helps seasoned professionals finish strong—turning the final stretch of their careers into their most meaningful and impactful chapter yet.