Advent Reflection
Todays #AdventBlog is from Steve Thompson, who is a Organisational Development and Leadership practitioner who is practical and supportive with a wealth of experience, which I know, having worked with him. You can connect with him via LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-thompson-development/
He gets reflective and has captured these thoughts in todays blog, in the run up to the big day. I hope you are all set for Christmas, or like me, madly planning on a shopping trip. If so, take some time out, to read and share your reflections on todays blog, over to Steve.
This Advent, I’m sharing something a little more personal than usual. After being made redundant earlier this year, I’ve found myself reflecting deeply. Not just on my career, but on the seasons of life, the value of steady work, and what might come next. Advent, with its quiet pace and gentle sense of waiting, feels like the right moment to pause and take stock. For me, it’s not just a countdown to Christmas, it’s a signal: it’s time to change.
Being made redundant stops the usual rush and gives me space to look back at what I’ve done and to think about what I want next. That pause is uncomfortable at times, but it’s also honest and useful.
Lesson: When life forces a pause, treat it as useful information, not punishment.
Looking Back at the Chapters
Over the last 25 years, I’ve moved through clear stages. I built learning teams in local government, helped the NHS and heritage sectors through big changes, and most recently worked on culture and capability in a fast-growth tech business. I set up learning platforms, ran leadership programmes, and watched people step into bigger roles. Those were the real wins: people changing how they worked and teams growing stronger through steady effort.
Lesson: Measure success by the people you help, not by trophies or job titles.
What Redundancy Showed Me
Losing a job is messy. It takes away routine and forces you to see what really matters. For me, it highlighted the seasons of my life: the early years of building, the middle years of scaling and stabilising, and now a quieter phase where choices matter more than momentum. Redundancy didn’t feel like an end, it felt like a doorway. It gave me permission to ask different questions about how I want to spend my time and energy.
Lesson: Reframe endings as doors. An ending can be the start of a deliberate choice.
Naming the Season
When you can name the phase you’re in, decisions get easier. Saying “I’m in the building phase” or “I’m in the harvesting phase” helps you pick the right next steps. For me, naming this as the Autumn of my career brings clarity. Autumn is about harvesting what you’ve planted, clearing space, and focusing on what matters most. It’s not about slowing down because you must, it’s about choosing where to put your effort.
Lesson: Name your season to make better choices about where to put your energy.
The Value of Steady Work
The work that mattered most in my career was rarely the loudest. It was steady, human work: helping people learn, shaping cultures where leaders did the small right things every day, and building systems that lasted. That steady work is what I want to carry forward. It’s the slow, consistent effort that changes behaviour and creates real results, even if it doesn’t make headlines.
Lesson: Quiet, consistent effort often creates deeper change than big, flashy moves.
Harvesting Deliberately
Autumn is a time to harvest and to make space. That means deciding which projects deserve more of your time and which are ready to be handed on. It also means protecting your time and saying no to things that scatter your attention. At this stage, focus matters more than busyness. I’m learning to be choosier about where I invest myself so the work I do next has real meaning.
Lesson: Be deliberate about what you keep and what you let go.
Hopes for the Next Chapter
If this is the next, possibly final, chapter, I want it to be meaningful. I’m looking for roles that mix strategy with hands-on practice, where values are lived and learning is designed to stick. I’m drawn to mentoring, to projects that leave a legacy, and to work that uses everything I’ve learned to help others. I want to work with leaders who know culture is built in small daily choices, not slogans on a wall.
Lesson: Aim for meaning over title; choose roles that fit your skills and values.
Ways to Stay Useful
There are many ways to keep contributing without the full-time grind. Consultancy, part-time leadership, board roles, mentoring programmes, or project-based work can all let you use your experience while keeping balance. Being open to different formats keeps options alive and lets you shape a role that fits this season of life. I stay curious and flexible about how I can help next.
Lesson: Stay open to different formats; they can extend your impact and protect your energy.
Advent Wish
This Advent I light a small candle for change: for brave endings, thoughtful beginnings, and the quiet confidence that comes from a life spent helping others grow. If you’re in a season of change too, use the pause to name your lessons, harvest what matters, and choose the next step with intention. Small, steady choices add up to real change.
Final lesson: Make the pause productive. A short, honest pause can turn uncertainty into a clear plan and open the door to something unexpectedly good.
Steve in his Santa hat