Advice worth taking to deal with post-power syndrome

Advice worth taking to deal with post-power syndrome

By Santi W. Soekanto

JAKARTA (JP): Be humble. Don't be arrogant, particularly when
you have achieved high social status and are powerful. Remember
that people who praise you when you are still in power will
either leave or ignore you after you lose your position.

Those were the words of advice from Gen. (ret.) Awaloeddin
Djamin, who knows very well about what it's like to be in power
and what it's like to lose that power to retirement.

Awaloeddin is a former chief of the National Police, former
ambassador and minister of manpower, as well as a number of other
influential positions. He is currently a professor at the
University of Indonesia, and rector of the University of
Pancasila.

He said, "I have seen many generals become frustrated after
their retirement."

"I have seen generals and top ranking officers who started
their retirement by seeking new employment, entering the labor
force and competing with younger people to survive."

"I know how hard it is for people, especially military men, to
adjust themselves to those conditions of powerlessness," he said.
"I didn't want to become like them, so I made preparations for my
retirement."

One of the many adages that he adhered to, and later found
most helpful in adjusting to his retirement, was "never to look
up to people who seemed to fare better than (yourself),
especially those who became rich after their retirement".

"If I did that, I would only hurt myself," he explained.

Awaloeddin is an authority on what it is like to face
retirement after high-profile, powerful position. He reached his
mandatory retirement at the age of 55 in 1982, when he was chief
of National Police.

"That Saturday, the day I relinquished my position to my
predecessor, I was still wearing my uniform," he said. "On
Monday, suddenly, I found myself without uniform to wear and
nowhere to go."

In addition to his former posts as ambassador to Germany and
minister of manpower, he is also a former chairman of the State
Administrative Agency.

With such a distinguished career record, Awaloeddin said he
had hoped that retirement would bring him another shot at top
executive positions, such as minister. This was not to be.
However, he was subsequently appointed member of the Supreme
Advisory Board (DPA), and chairman of the patron board of the
ruling group Golkar.

His current positions, as well as activities in an additional
15 volunteer positions in various institutions, helped him not to
grow into an old, frustrated general. However, he credited most
of his success in managing old age and avoiding a post-power
syndrome to a number of self-improvement books which he had begun
to read when he was still National Police chief.

Books like Shifting Gears and The Sky is the Limit "gave me
the courage, confidence, and the drive to continue learning and
working to avoid the post-power syndrome", he said.

One of his strategies to avoid frustration was by trying to
escape special treatment even when he was still in a position of
power. He suggested to his peers that they make some sort of
financial preparations, so for at least six months after
retirement they would not have to immediately seek other
employment.

He offered another tip for top ranking officials who are still
in power:

"Keep your sight on those who are more unfortunate than you,
expect the worst, and hope for the best," he said.

Awaloeddin has been successful due to his extensive
preparations. However, this is not so for many other retirees,
who make up 7.7 percent of all of the nation's 185 million
population.

Three problems

As Awaloeddin had said, many retirees have to start retirement
by re-entering the labor market to survive financially. Even
those who can manage to find another form of employment are
beleaguered by a host of other problems.

Experts have identified at least three problems associated
with retirement.

The first is the risk of losing productivity from experienced
workers. The military and the civil service faces the loss of
many experienced, skilled workers every year because of the
mandatory retirement age for civil servants and military officers
which is set at 55 and 48 years old, respectively.

The second problem is the fact that many retirees become
frustrated, not so much because of powerlessness as of lack of
preparations to survive major changes.

The third problem is the so-called post-power syndrome. This
became widespread in the early 1980s among many former top
officials, posing quite a problem for mental health experts.

In response to the first problem, the government has signaled
that it is making preparations to change the official retirement
policies.

State Minister for Research and Technology B.J. Habibie
recently stated that the retirement age should be extended, as
the country needs to take advantage of all of its human
resources. Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Azwar Anas
also stated that the government is currently collecting
information for consideration before making changes to the
policies.

Greater attention

Experts have also begun to pay greater attention to the second
and third problems.

Psychiatrist Jusni I. Solichin identified three factors which
affect the mental health of senior citizens as follows: Reality,
social cultural changes, and interpersonal conflicts.

"The reality is a feeling of loss, either real or imaginary,"
she said. "The real loss includes a loss of health, of
employment, and of children, who grow up and leave home."

"Post-power syndrome is only one reaction towards the feeling
of loss," she said. Other problems which might affect the elderly
people include organic mental disturbances, functional mental
health problems such as depression, maniacal episodes, and
neurotic and sleeping disorders, she added.

Jusni supported the notion of extending retirement age, saying
that productivity does not necessarily decline along with old
age. She named a number of people who performed as well or better
by the time they had reached old age. "President Soeharto is a
good example. So was Eisenhower, Reagan and Brezhnev who
occupied their positions of leadership in their old age," she
said.

Senior citizens were "mountain of experience and wisdom", she
said, quoting surveys which revealed that elderly workers are
even more reliable, meticulous, disciplined, responsible, careful
and have less absentee records than their younger counterparts.

"It is clear that elderly workers are a valuable human
resource," she said. "They can transfer their knowledge,
experience and skills to their younger co-workers."

Extending retirement age or providing appropriate employment
opportunities for elderly people will help them maintain "a sense
of usefulness for family, society and their country", she said.

However, she felt that to ensure that elderly workers find
jobs that suit their skills optimally, the government should
establish a especial agency.

SMART

In response to the problems, a group of psychologists
established SMART, a center for human resource development. Its
spokesperson, Windiyati Tedjokusumo, told The Jakarta Post that
it has been developing a program called the Smart Executive
Service which aims at pooling and utilizing the skills of retired
professionals and elderly executives.

"We are currently making inventories of such professionals,
and will channel them towards public and private companies who
are in need of mature, skilled people," she said.

The center is also planning to hold training seminars for
retired people or those in pre-retirement age to help them
prepare for retirement.

According to clinical psychologist Hanna Djumhana Bastaman,
training for the retirees' personal growth should include stress
management, recognition and tapping of still-hidden skills, the
establishment of personal plans, and recognition of the
importance of religion for their mental health.