How CEOs Are Redefining Success In Their Second Act

Janet Foutty had spent over three decades at Deloitte, rising to CEO and then chair of the U.S. firm. When her term ended, she considered the paths many high-achieving executives take: She fielded offers, entertained board roles, explored the next big job.

“I would get all the way to the finish line with those roles and then think, why should I leave Deloitte to go do something this similar?” she says. Then, she had her “aha” moment. “I realized I needed to be much more disciplined and intentional about how I would spend my time. I wanted work that was defined by purpose.”

Foutty is hardly alone. Across corporate boardrooms worldwide, a growing number of accomplished CEOs are discovering that stepping down from decades-long careers triggers an identity crisis no one has prepared them for. “This kind of transition—especially from being defined by your achievements and distinctions to a much more self-determined, intrinsically motivated set of efforts— takes a real cognitive shift that’s often more difficult than people anticipate,” says Diana Petty, executive director of University of Chicago’s Leadership & Society Initiative.

Finding Your ‘Next’

The LSI fellowship is designed to help senior leaders excel in that transition from career success to purpose-driven impact. Fellows have two paths to choose from: a year-long immersive Design Pathway for those ready to engage deeply, and a more flexible Imagine Pathway for executives still in the seat but beginning to explore what comes next. Either way, leaders are challenged to define their values, sharpen their goals and build out what Petty calls a “purpose plan” for their next chapter.

For Foutty, the result wasn’t just clarity but also a rise in confidence and momentum—and a monumental change in perspective. “It went from assuming that the only way I could be contributing in a substantive way was by being a CEO to saying, ‘I can have high impact across a broad set of things.’”

And she didn’t have to do it alone. Foutty notes that when she was CEO, she was “surrounded by a really smart team that I could co-create with. That was very hard to walk away from.”

The Power of Peers

The cohort-based structure of LSI replicates that team dynamic in a new way, allowing Fellows to go through this challenging transition with peers who are each facing the same crossroads. “As an advisor, I’ve been impressed at how LSI empowers accomplished leaders to design and activate purposeful next chapters,” says Dan Draper, CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices and a member of LSI’s advisory board. “You’re able to build that environment where you’re sharing and building creatively.”

For Foutty, the outcome defied conventional expectations. Rather than pursuing another CEO role, Foutty designed what she calls a “portfolio life,” organized like an academic schedule, with a major, a minor and extracurriculars.

For her major, she says, “I’m working across venture capital, philanthropy and advocacy to draw attention and money to women’s health,” an area particularly meaningful for Foutty as a breast cancer survivor. Her minor, “enterprise technology for good,” leverages her background as a technologist through venture capital work and board service. Her extracurriculars focus on women’s leadership, speaking at conferences and providing strategic consulting when opportunities arise that align with her expertise.

Foutty is busy, by choice. “I’m working a full-time schedule,” she says. “But across a broad set of things—not just one P&L or one business.”

That transformation required LSI’s structured methodology. Through academic frameworks for values clarification, impact assessment and legacy design, plus dedicated advisor support, Foutty systematically reimagined leadership beyond traditional corporate roles.

The cohort experience proved equally crucial—22 accomplished leaders navigating similar transitions created an environment of shared problem-solving that accelerated outcomes. For executives facing this crossroads, LSI demonstrates that the most complex career transitions are best navigated in purposeful community. Together, seasoned leaders are learning that their greatest work may still lie ahead.