Richard Wightman

Age at time of shift

44

Gender

Male

Education level

Graduate

Universities attended

Oxford (BA/MA) & London Bus. Sch. (MBA)

Shifted from

Head of Passenger Business

Location

?

Salary

£100,000+

Years in old career

22

Shifted to

Snr Leader, New Life Church

Location

?

Salary

£20,000-£30,000

Years in new career

2

Year of shift

unknown

What was your role in your old job?

My last job was overseeing customer relationships and contractual negotiations between Network Rail and Train Operating Companies, and managing relationships with the PLCs who owned the train operating companies (such as Virgin and Stagecoach).

What is/are your new role(s)?

I lead a church of around 300 people with a team of staff helping people grow in their Christian faith and working with the community on projects such as a debt advice service. I spend most of my personal time on vision-casting, communication, leadership development and coaching people one to one.

Why did you change?

The short and truthful answer is because God told me to. The longer answer is because I was mentally shifting from wanting success - that is, doing something well that paid the bills - to wanting significance - that is, serving people in a way that would both have long-term significance and make an immediate difference to their lives.

Are you happy with the change?

Yes - the new role fully enables me to achieve my goal of doing something of much greater long term significance that serves people. If I'm honest, I suspect that this feeling is made rather easier by the church's 50% growth in the last 18 months.

What do you miss and what don't you miss?

I liked the people who worked for the railways, and miss seeing so much of them. I do not miss the frustration of the difficulty of getting things done, the political environment, or the continual negative publicity, in most cases regardless of whether a good or bad job was really being done (and there was some of each). I would stress that I knew these features when I joined the railways, could handle them, and they had nothing to do with my decision to leave (see above).

How did you go about making the change?

I knew 20 years ago that at some point I would be working full-time in a church, but I had no idea then whether it was 2 months, 20 years or 40 years away. I did the theological training part-time using accumulated holidays (!) between 1997 and 1999, and waited for opportunities to open up. I had been a non full-time leader in the church for 10 years previously, so I had some idea what was involved, and knew the people very well.In 2000 the leadership team of my church (including myself) decided to start another church of a similar type in the south of the Milton Keynes, and in 2001 we agreed as a leadership team that the previous senior leader of the church would lead the new church. We then needed to find a replacement senior leader for the established (north) church, and during 2002 it became apparent that I had the best skills fit and that it was a role I should take on. I finally resigned from Network Rail in 2003.

What was the most difficult thing about changing?

Fear. It was a one way door, and once I was out of the big corporate environment it would be almost impossible to get back. I also was concerned about getting bored in the job, but my wife rightly pointed out that with the scale of people engagement boredom was most unlikely because they are so infinitely varied.

What help did you get?

I read an excellent book called "Half Time" by Bob Buford, which showed how others had made the same sort of mid career change. I talked to the previous leader of the church and our mutual boss, the regional leader, who had been in business ten years previously and had made a similar shift. We spent a lot of time checking the skills fit to minimise the risk of a mismatch. I also spent a lot of time talking it through with my family, as the financial consequences would affect them, and the precise final timing was influenced by my 16 year old son who did not want to downsize to a smaller house, causing a 6 month delay whilst we finished paying down the mortgage.The actual timing was a combination of my priorities shifting (see above - from success to significance) and opportunities opening up.

What have you learnt in the process?

Your growth as a person will be limited unless you are willing to step out in faith and take risks. Taking risks involves belief in your abilities and in what you will be doing, but the risks can be minimised if you check everything carefully first.

What do you wish you'd done differently?

Actually nothing. I think I made the right decision at the right time.

What would you advise others to do in the same situation?

Research what you are thinking thoroughly, and get as much advice as possible from as many people as possible. Test your talents and skills against the possibilities. But at the end of the day you have to make a leap of faith and as the Nike slogan says: "Just do it".