How to reinvent your career

Herminia Ibarra is an authority on leadership and career transitions. She is the Charles Handy Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School. She writes regularly for FT, HBR, WSJ and NYT.

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“Am I doing the right work for me, or should I change direction” is a question many ask.

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Most people can articulate what they don’t want. The challenge is what next, what do you want to do instead?

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In your career, you will find yourself on 3 pathways:
1. Build: how to find a work arena that builds on my skills, identity and reputation?
2. Pivot: how do I shift to a new area when the old area is no longer suitable or possible?
3. Leverage: how do I curate my work so that it plays to my strengths without devoting all my time to work?

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A career change is not an event, it’s a transition that takes time and is built from small changes.

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Most career changes ask you to start with the end in mind, i.e. the desired outcomes.
However, it should start the other way—knowing what you really want.

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Career transitions are rarely linear and complications arise.

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The only way to figure out is to experiment.

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The Odyssey plan developed by Stanford Professors
1. What would life look like in 5 years if you continued with current trajectory?
2. What would you do if Plan A didn’t happen and how would you pivot?
3. What would you do if money and time were no object?

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Stop trying to find out one purpose or meaning in your life because you cannot discover it yourself through introspection.

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Reflection is important, and in failing to act we hide from ourselves.

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3 levels of career decision making
Level 1 - Job, industry and sector
Level 2 - Competence, motives and values
Level 3 - Implicit assumptions on what is desirable and what’s possible in our lives and the world.

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Your experience reveals your own barriers to change.

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One reason it’s hard to change careers is that we internalize our titles, relying on them to convey our worth and accomplishments to the outside world.

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The difference between a job change and a career change is the level of personal transformation needed that’s largely invisible to an outside observer.

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One way to a career reinvention is to do something on the side—part time courses, doing pro bono work, doing projects.

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Don’t just focus on the work, find people who can coach you and help you in the transition. They will not be from your old social circle.

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As you embark on a career transition, networking outside your current social circle becomes important. This becomes a vital lifeline to what you can become.

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The challenge with your strong ties—friends, family and close colleagues—is that they know what you know. They can’t think fresh about your choices.

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When you are stuck, step back, but not for too long.

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Change happens in bursts and starts. There are times you are open to big change and times you are not. Seize opportunities.

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