🧥 Are You an Empty Raincoat?
Making Sense, Before It’s Too Late
You look the part.
You’ve built something.
You’ve earned the coat.
From the outside, it fits, credentials, confidence, credibility.
But the real question is what’s inside the coat.
And more importantly, what’s missing?
Because sometimes…
the coat keeps moving,
but the person inside has quietly disappeared.
Charles Handy called it The Empty Raincoat
A haunting image: a life, a business, a role, still walking, still performing, but hollow.
Built for external success.
Dressed for recognition.
Perfectly packaged.
But somewhere along the line,
meaning leaked out the back.
You’re not alone.
This isn’t a judgment.
It’s a signal.
A truth too few are brave enough to say out loud.
Even the most accomplished founders and CEOs tell us:
“It all looks good… but something feels off.”
“I should feel proud… but I feel empty.”
“I’m still winning… but I’m not sure why.”
They’re not broken.
They’re waking up.
Handy saw it coming.
In The Empty Raincoat, he warned of a future filled with paradox:
Progress without purpose
Growth without grounding
Leadership without love
He saw the danger in mistaking efficiency for wisdom, and wealth for worth.
He spoke of raincoats, impressive on the outside, but lacking soul on the inside.
And 30 years later, his warning is everywhere you look.
So ask yourself:
🧠Have you become a symbol of success rather than a living, feeling, questioning human being?
🧠Is your business growing… but your sense of meaning shrinking?
🧠Are you leading from clarity, or just playing the part?
🧠Do you still remember why you started or have you buried it beneath what you’ve built?
You don’t need another coat.
You need a return to the core.
Charles Handy offered a way through, not with 10X hacks or productivity porn —
but with questions that cut deep:
“What is progress for?”
“What should we measure?”
“What are we really leading people toward?”
These are not philosophical luxuries.
These are your compass points.
Because when everything speeds up,
your only advantage is knowing who you are, and what matters most.
That’s the work we do inside The Alchemists.
Not fixing. Not dressing you up for show.
But making sure that beneath the coat…
there’s clarity, not chaos
trust, not fear
a sense of enough, not endless striving
and a business that grows because you are growing
You don’t need to be perfect.
You just need to be present.
So here’s the invitation:
Take Active Time Out.
Breathe. Step back. Begin again.
Not because something’s wrong
but because something inside you is ready.
We’ve built the space4change for that exact moment.
Not for the empty raincoats…
But for the ones ready to refill them with purpose.
✉️ Join us inside
This isn’t about branding or bravado.
It’s about making sure the next move you make
is one you can live and lead with.
đźź You can step into one of our Bounce Rooms
đźź Or book a Call to explore what's next
đźź Or just sit with this newsletter until something clicks
But whatever you do, don’t keep walking in a coat that’s no longer yours.
– Alan Branagh
Founder, The Alchemists
Unlocking Greater Performance → From “Don’t F*** It Up” Pressure to Clear, Confident, Next Moves
And having fun doing it.