3 Steps to a Successful Career Pivot

Experts are predicting a “Great Resignation” due to people wanting to move on and try something new in a post COVID-19 world. Many people, having had the experience of working at home for over a year, are thinking about shaking up their careers to suit themselves and their desired lifestyles more. Career shifts and career pivots are on the agenda. So, if you are thinking about it, how do you go about it?

As someone who made a huge shift from a leadership position in a big corporation to running my own company at the grand old age of 49 I know first-hand what it’s like to make a career pivot. What it’s like to face a blank sheet of paper and work out what I wanted. To go through the uncertainty and self-doubt of starting again / starting over / making big changes despite having big financial responsibilities. It’s been a fascinating journey and yes, there have been some sticky moments! BUT…

I’ve never been happier or more fulfilled. I genuinely feel I will make more impact in this next chapter of my working life than the rest of it put together. I love what I do, I make as much money as I did before and I have the independence to live my life the way I want to.

So if you are wanting to make a shift right now — whether it’s landing a new job or making a career pivot, here’s my advice:

Spend some serious time on personal development if you want to innovate and grow in your career. If you think about big successful companies, they always have significant investment in research and development to stay fresh, to innovate, to stay ahead of the market. It’s no different for us, our careers and our own professional development. My advice, if you are not happy or wanting to make a change in your career, is to carve out 20% of your working week towards personal development. That may sound like a lot but if you are restless and don’t have clarity of direction, a vision of what you want or a strategy on how to get there how do you think it’s going to happen? Personal development involves a serious evaluation of who you are, what you want and working out a strategy to get it. If you find this hard to do by yourself, invest in a professional career coach.

Consider yourself your own agent. Because I started my career as a freelancer, I understood very quickly that hard work and talent was only going to get me so far: I had to hustle, network, pitch myself to get my next gig. No-one else was going to do it for me. If you are wanting a new job or want to pivot, you need to act like your own agent. Spend time working on and crafting your own sales pitch: what is it that you do, what impact do you have, what problems do you solve and what are you like to work with? What’s the promise of working with you? And if you are feeling shy, modest or like it’s awkward to pitch yourself and your assets then (tough love here) get over yourself! Don’t ask, don’t get. You can sit around working hard and being talented but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the top job or the pivot that you want. 

Get to grips with your self-doubt and kick that Imposter Syndrome in the butt. A wise man once said to me, ‘Tracy, we spend too much time worrying about what we are not, rather than what we are.’ So true, we spend so much time looking at what we haven’t done, instead of celebrating what we have. Too much time concentrating on the 1 piece of negative feedback instead of the 9 glowing pieces. Too much time comparing ourselves negatively to other people and finding ourselves wanting rather than concentrating on our own path and journey. So, once and for all, invest some time in really examining that self-doubt and what fears and values it’s linked to. I believe and have experienced, that if you relieve the burden of self-doubt and perceived limitations from the shoulders of talented people, they become fearless. Fearless about who they are and what they can achieve. 

So whether it’s career shift or total career pivot, I encourage you to try out my steps above. 

For lots of resources about how to become fearless in your career, visit my virtual academy fasttracktofearless.com