We really enjoyed listening to Dorie Clark, Author, business professor, and coach. She learned to be a master at reinvention after she lost her job after 9/11. In the years since, she’s written a number of books, including one called Reinventing You. It’s one of a few she’s written on business, entrepreneurship and branding. She’s also a communication coach, and she has taught at the business schools of both Columbia and Duke. On this episode of Hello Monday, Dorie and Jessi chat all about making a good Plan B, how willingness to learn is a key to success, and why you shouldn’t wait until things seem dire to plan for what might come next.
Author Dorie Clark on Plan B: “You can reinvent yourself into almost anything.”
Quick question, don’t overthink it: what’s your Plan B? That idea for what you’ll do without your job or what you can also do on the side. This is definitely a hot topic at the moment!
Here are some highlights…
On branding yourself: “When you are creating content, you’re putting something out into the world. That is the way that people who do not already know you personally can get a better sense of who you are as a person.”
On using social platforms: “What you’re trying to do is give people a lens into your thinking and how you see the world. And when you do that, they get a better sense of your personality and what you might be like to work with.”
On launching a side hustle quickly: “What is the thing that you can do as rapidly as possible? It is typically performing some kind of professional service. It could be coaching. It could be consulting. It could be a service that you happen to be good at, like photography.”
On what makes a good entrepreneur: “I think that entrepreneurship is something that is a constellation of different skills. It is a lot more about willingness to learn and to try than any kind of natural disposition.”
On the importance of timing: “The truth is you can reinvent yourself into literally almost anything as long as your runway is long enough. The problem that a lot of people have is that they assume that things have to be an all or nothing proposition. They assume that, oh, well, I’ve decided I’m not happy in my current career, so obviously, I’m going to quit my job and then suddenly find another job. In a down economy, it often takes a while to find another job, and it can be very, very hard, especially if you’ve built up a certain level of seniority, to find another job right away at that same income level.”
On networking, a tip: “Oftentimes, people underestimate their own ability to be the host of something, but it is actually such a low bar. And people appreciate it so much if you are the host and you invite them.”
Reinventing You: A step-by-step guide to reinventing you Are you where you want to be professionally? Whether you want to advance faster at your present company, change jobs, or make the jump to a new field entirely, the goal is clear: to build a career that thrives on your unique passions and talents.
Article Published by Jessi Hempel Senior Editor at Linkedin News.