I counsel a lot of people who are interested in leaving fairly staid corporate jobs for greener pastures—namely start-ups or small agencies. They fantasize that these new environments will provide all kinds of fresh thinking and ways of doing business and that they themselves will be respected and appreciated as elder statesmen with the gravitas and savoir-faire that are just the thing that was missing.

I am the mother of two teenagers, aged 13 and 16. Last year, when my son was in 9thgrade, I began using the techniques I’ve honed in my practice to help him become aware of his strengths and interests, and more purposeful about using them through his coursework and summer experiences. Given my frustration with the lack of a system for planning the high school-college-career trajectory, it seemed ideal to help my own child develop a program for himself.