Reinventing You. Dorie Clark
But the world is moving faster than ever, industries change, companies collapse, and sometimes our plans simply don’t work out. I also would have loved to run the White House press office, but that dream died around the time the presidential candidate I later worked for lost in the primaries. To survive and thrive, you have to reinvent yourself and move on.
And sometimes, of course, your reinvention is by choice: a creative embrace of a new direction. For a couple of years, I ran a nonprofit advocacy group and could have done so for several more. Instead, I decided to become an entrepreneur and launch my consulting business, a move that’s allowed me to travel the globe, consult for leading companies, and earn a great and fulfilling living.
It’s easy for me to see the connections and commonalities in retrospect: how my time as a journalist enabled me to be a better spinmeister when I started working for candidates, or how running a nonprofit gave me the broad-based business skills, from IT to finance, that I needed to become a consultant. But I also know those transitions might seem random to other people (and that’s not even mentioning my time as a documentary filmmaker or Harvard theology student). For years after I started my consulting business, people would still ask about campaigns I was working on, or how my advocacy work was going. Hadn’t they gotten the e-newsletters announcing my new venture? Or visited my new website? Were they just not paying attention?
But, of course, like most people, they weren’t. The truth is, the vast majority of people aren’t focused on you (or me) very much. That means their perceptions are probably a few years out of date, and it’s not their fault. With hundreds, or even thousands, of Facebook friends and vague social connections, we can’t expect everyone to remember all the details of our lives. That’s why it’s so essential that we take charge of our own reinvention and ensure our personal brands reflect, to the outside world, the reality of our lives.
As a consultant who specializes in marketing and branding, once I launched my business, it was essential for me—very quickly—to practice what I preached. I had to make sure my contacts understood exactly what skills I had and what services I offered, and to demonstrate sufficient expertise that, when the right moment came, I’d be the consultant they turned to. So I honed my narrative (what am I bringing to the table?), crafted my content (so clients could get a taste of my ideas and approach), and began using every vehicle possible—from speaking to writing to enlisting “validators”—to spread the message.
That’s the same process any professional goes through when reinventing herself. As I’ve built my consulting business, crafting marketing strategies for corporations, executives who learned about my background would often approach me. Could I help with their reinvention? Where should they start? What if they weren’t sure about their destination? And how could they begin to overturn the entrenched perceptions others held about them? Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of advising scores of executives looking for new directions. This book is the product of those conversations. I hope it proves useful as you consider your next professional iteration.
The Art of Reinventing Yourself
Over the course of the next ten chapters—through case studies, exercises, and research-based best practices—I’ll guide you through the process.
In chapter 2—just as every business project or military operation has to begin with the facts on the ground—you have to discover how you’re currently perceived. What do people make of you? What do they really respect? And what’s holding you back? I’ll walk through strategies and exercises to help you gain insight from your friends and coworkers so you can gather actionable intelligence without sounding nosy, entitled, or Gestapo-esque.
After that, in chapter 3, I’ll turn to researching your destination. You may know you want a change in your professional life, but are unsure what that looks like. I’ll lay out strategies to investigate your potential passions in the early stages, from behind-the-scenes research to informational interviews, and the right way to enlist others’ help as you focus in on a new future.
In chapter 4, I’ll talk about ways to test-drive your path to determine the perfect fit. You’ll read about professionals who have strategically deployed volunteering, job shadowing, board membership, and more to plot their next move—and learn tips for identifying the best opportunities and ways to maximize your experience.
Chapter 5 covers how to develop and refine the skills you’ll need as you reinvent yourself. How can you leverage your existing job to prepare for the one you want? Should you go back to graduate school, or is it a waste of money? We’ll look at how to ascertain the most strategic, cost-efficient ways to get the knowledge you need.
Chapter 6 focuses on that elusive creature, the mentor: something everyone wants, but so few people are able to find. I’ll talk about how to identify good candidates, spot unlikely gems, persuade them to help you, and get the most out of your relationship.
In chapter 7, I cover how to leverage your points of difference. Too often, outsiders will dismiss your previous experience as irrelevant. We’ll show them how your diverse knowledge and skills bring something new to the table, and make you far more effective than anyone else in the room. I’ll look at examples of how people can differentiate their brands and become well-known for being their best selves.
In chapter 8, I focus on creating your narrative. People want to understand who you are, so we have to craft an explanatory story that makes sense and shows continuity from your past to the present. Most importantly, we have to explain why your transition adds value to others and is an authentic extension of your true nature.
Now it’s time for the big unveiling. In chapter 9, I’ll discuss the nuts-and-bolts of reintroducing the new you. When’s the right moment to introduce your new brand? Are there strategic opportunities you can leverage? How can you win over past friends and colleagues who know you in a different context and may question your new career identity? I’ll also talk about how you can harness little-known strategies like teaming up with validators and identifying the hot spots in your company or industry where you’re likely to get the most professional traction.
In chapter 10, I’ll walk you through concrete ways you can demonstrate your expertise, impress the major players, and prove your worth. Every art student has a portfolio ready to be shown at a moment’s notice. It’s no different in the business world; no one will believe you’re serious unless you begin to create content that demonstrates your expertise. That allows potential customers or employers to test-drive your approach before they make a large commitment. (If you’re a graphic designer, having contacts check out an image gallery of corporate logos you’ve created may inspire them to send you that major new account.) I’ll go over strategies such as how to leverage your online brand, affiliate with brand-name organizations in your field, get published in major journals, build credibility through assuming leadership positions, and more.
By chapter 11, you’ve developed a new, robust brand, and you need to stay on top of how it’s perceived in the marketplace. I’ll identify online channels to monitor regularly and talk about setting up your own ongoing feedback mechanisms to keep you honest. I’ll talk about ways to mingle your old and new brands successfully, and the importance of staying consistent and committed moving forward. (A desire to expand into international work won’t go far if you don’t make the effort to learn new languages or the nuances of other cultures. And a onetime charitable gift is nice, but quickly forgotten.) The key is long-term effort, and I’ll show you prominent examples of professionals who’ve succeeded and explain why.
Finally, in the epilogue, I’ll bring it all together and summarize