FROM THE CEO WHO LED THE COMPANY THAT MADE TIDE PODS A REALITY, THEN HAD TO FIGURE OUT WHO HE WAS WITHOUT IT.
P. Scott Bening led MonoSol for 33 years, sold it to Kuraray, and planned to stay three years to manage the transition. He stayed ten.
Stepping away proved harder than expected. After decades spent building a company around its people and culture, the decisions suddenly belonged to someone else.
The Back Nine follows that transition from CEO to advisor, mentor, and retiree. It begins with the mentor who spent his final two months personally handing off every client relationship he had built. Four decades later, Bening found himself in the same position.
Across six chapters, he writes about giving up authority, finding purpose after a career ends, mentoring the next generation, dealing with unfairness, adapting to social and technological change, and learning to let others take over.
For anyone who has spent decades building a career, company, or reputation, The Back Nine is a candid account of what happens when the title goes away, but the experience remains.