The pattern for CEOs who left their positions used to be that they would become consultants, teach business courses, and serve on corporate boards. Now, a number of high-flying CEOs are leaving their positions, only to become senior executives elsewhere, especially if they are young.

A case in point is Lewis Platt, who was CEO of Hewlett-Packard, a $50 billion multinational company, and is now CEO of Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, a mere $365 million company. Mr. Platt has reduced his workweek from 90 to 70 hours a week, affording him more time with his family. He now often opens his own mail, writes his own speeches, and has few opportunities to mix with federal politicians and world leaders, but he still relishes molding his new company.

The same applies to former Washington figures, such as Mike McCurry, the ex-White House Press Secretary. He is now CEO of a political communications Internet firm, Grassroot.com. He says that the pace is equivalent to that of a presidential campaign.

(Updated April 1, 2001)