Craig Coben’s latest piece in the Financial Times, In finance, there can be too few reasons to leave (behind the FT paywall) touches on what he calls the fear of institutionalisation, that “decades inside one institution have produced skills the outside world does not prize much.”
It’s a common anxiety. But the truth is more nuanced. The institutional knowledge – navigating your firm’s politics, knowing who to call internally – may indeed have limited currency outside. The broader skills you’ve developed, however, are another matter. Leadership, judgement, the ability to manage complexity, and bring clarity to difficult situations: these are genuinely valuable. The challenge is recognising them.
Many professionals we work with at Milestones struggle not because their skills lack value, but because they underestimate what they have to offer. They conflate firm-specific knowledge with the deeper capabilities they’ve built over decades.
Coben’s advice is characteristically direct
The smarter move might be to stop trying to replicate what you had. Take the impairment charge and redirect your skillset towards work that actually wants what you are offering: lecturing, consulting, public service, even writing. Restructure your career before someone restructures it for you.
At Milestones, we help senior professionals do exactly that: recognise their transferable value and redirect it towards work that genuinely wants what they offer.
If that conversation would be useful, call Tim Musgrave on 07802 481 124 or Nick Holt on 07802 885 363, or email us at contact@careermilestones.com.