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.