Pivot by Jenny Blake: The only move that matters is your next one

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About the author

Jenny Blake is an author, career and business strategist and international speaker who helps people move beyond burnout to build sustainable, dynamic careers they love. She is the author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One, which won the Axiom Best Business Books award in the careers category. Jenny also hosts the popular Pivot Podcast,
which CNBC listed among 6 podcasts to make you smarter about your career, and Entrepreneur selected as one of the top 20 female-hosted business podcasts.

After two years at a technology start-up in Silicon Valley followed by five years at Google in Training and Career Development, Jenny moved to New York City in 2011 where she has been running her own consulting business in the years since, helping clients like Google, Microsoft, and Chanel incorporate the Pivot Method into their career development programs.

Her motto: if change is the only constant, let’s get better at it. Today you can find her at PivotMethod.com and on her Pivot Podcast.

Source: http://www.pivotmethod.com/bio

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Pivot/9780241975473/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Careers are not linear, predictable ladders any longer; they are fluid trajectories. No matter our age, life stage, bank account balance, or seniority, we are all being asked to navigate career changes much more frequently than in years past. The average employee tenure in
America is just four to five years, and even those roles change dramatically within that time.

Our economy now demands that we create businesses and careers based on creativity, growth, and impact. In this dynamic world of work, the only move that matters is your next one.

Drawing from her own experience and those of other successful pivoters, Jenny Blake has created a four-stage process that teaches anyone how to seamlessly and continually:

• Double-down on existing strengths, interests, and experiences
• Find new opportunities and identify skills to develop without falling prey to analysis-paralysis and compare-and-despair
• Run small experiments to determine next steps
• Take smart risks to launch with confidence in a new direction

Whether you have hit a plateau in your perfect-on-paper job, are considering taking on a new role in your current job, are thinking about starting your own business, or you want to move into a new industry altogether, one thing remains clear: your career success depends on your ability to determine your next best move.

This book is for anyone searching for an answer to the question, “What’s next?”

Source: http://www.pivotmethod.com/about-the-book

Links

Check out all of the Pivot resources here: http://www.pivotmethod.com/

Pick up more valuable career advice on the Pivot podcast: http://www.pivotmethod.com/podcast

Connect with Jenny here:

• LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/jennyblake

• Twitter: @Jenny_Blake

• Instagram: @pivotmomentum

• Facebook: Facebook.com/JennyBlakeCA

Liked this one? You might also like the So Good They Can’t Ignore You episode of Steph’s Business Bookshelf.

BIG IDEA 1 (6:51) – This is not about passion.

This is about embracing your strengths and experiences and using these to take you forward. It is about intentional shifts in different directions.  It is acknowledging that careers are not linear anymore; more like a jungle gym – you’ll go a few rungs on the traditional ladder, swing over to another side, down the slide and back up the climbing net throughout your career.

Passion doesn’t mean that you’re good at something or that a particular career will be satisfying for you. It’s about planning, thinking, testing and moving. It’s not about blindly following your passion and hoping it will take you all the way.

It’s important to recognise the idea that you can pivot within companies or your own business, you don’t have to just become an entrepreneur as your next career move. For example you might be a lawyer who wants to stay being a lawyer but wants to do it in a different market or industry.

Jenny uses a couple of terms throughout the book – people who are ‘high net growth’ are those who always reflect on what they learned, what their contribution was and the value they added. These people are impactors, they have the mindset to be different, are intentional and having discipline.

BIG IDEA 2 (9:18) – You need to plan career moves like a netball player.

Jenny has a five-part pivot method that you can use to plan and implement your next career move. The four main parts are plant, scan, pilot and launch. Plant is about putting a pin on it – where do you want to be a year from now and setting that direction. Looking from within and knowing your values, strengths and experiences and your financial situation.

Part 2 is scan which is about looking at your options. Knowing the people, skills and opportunities that you need to move forward. This is about scanning your skills gap and how to bridge them. A big part of scan is being discoverable and letting people know what you’re doing or considering.

Part 3 is pilot. Pilot is a series of mini experiments to test your move idea in the real world and then reviewing them and reflecting on them – thinking about what works and what doesn’t.

Part 4 is launch, which is setting your criteria and knowing your values. Jenny talks about value hexagon which shows you where your risk tolerance is, how you value and feel about risk and knowing when to hold and when to fold when launching.

Finally, part 5 is lead. This is how you can use the pivot method as a leader in your organization. This helps people better plan their career and helps you have better career conversation with your team members.

These are well thought intentional steps you take to see what works next, to move and pivot in the right direction.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:21) – Experiment.

This requires you to put yourself out there. There’s always things to make and things to change. You just have to try…

Music By: The Future Is Now – Instrumental Version Song by MARLOE.

Let’s Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

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