Page 101 - Ray Dalio - Principles

CHAPTER 6

RETURNING THE BOON:

2011–2015

It seems to me that life consists of three phases. In the first,
we are dependent on others and we learn. In the second, others
depend on us and we work. And in the third and last, when

others no longer depend on us and we no longer have to work,
we are free to savor life.

I was beginning my transition from my second to my third
phase. Both intellectually and emotionally, I was no longer as
excited about being successful as I was excited about having
the people I cared about be successful without me.

I had two jobs at Bridgewater to transition out of:
overseeing the management of the company as chief executive
officer, and overseeing the management of our investments as
a chief investment officer. I wasn’t going to stop playing the
markets, because that’s a game I’ve loved playing since I was
twelve and I will keep playing until I die. But I didn’t want to
be needed in either role, because of the key-man risk that

would create for the company.

My partners and I understood that transitioning from the
first generation of leadership to the next in a founder-led
organization with a unique culture is difficult, especially if the
leader has been in place for a long time. Bill Gates’s transition
out of the CEO role at Microsoft in 2008 was the most recent
example of that but there have been many others.

The biggest question I wrestled with was whether I should
leave management completely or stay involved as a mentor.
On the one hand, I liked the idea of stepping out completely
because it would give the new leadership the freedom to find
their own ways of succeeding without me looking over their
shoulder. My friends urged me to do that—to “declare
victory,” collect my chips, and move on. But I wasn’t