Career Pivots Today - Interview with Jenny Blake
If you've considered or are going through a pivot in your career, this is for you!
I interviewed Jenny Blake, a career and business strategist who loves helping forward-thinking people and organizations set their time free through smarter systems. She is the author of three award-winning books, including Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business for creative, Heart-Based Business owners and Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One for high-net-growth individuals navigating what’s next. For nine years, she hosted two podcasts with over two million downloads combined: the Webby-nominated Free Time for small creative business owners, and Pivot with Jenny Blake for navigating change.
What are the most common reasons you're seeing people pivot in the last year or so?
There has been so much instability these last six years; we all got pivoted when the pandemic hit, and in some ways, it feels like it has been nonstop ever since. OpenAI introduced ChatGPT in November 2022, and every month since we're hearing and seeing how rapidly AI is improving and taking over tasks and even job roles that were once squarely in the human domain. People with corporate jobs may be afraid to make big moves and disrupt their ability to provide for themselves in such an uncertain economy (what Kyla Scalon dubbed a "vibecession"), whereas others are looking for work after layoffs and corporate contraction. Small business owners have had it tough, too, as their individual and corporate clients seem less willing to invest as readily as the pre-pandemic boom times.
What prevents someone from pivoting in their job or career?
Oftentimes it's fear, and right now, I completely understand that! Everything feels like it's on such shaky ground that I don't blame people for not wanting to take big risks right now. That said, part of the opportunity is in the question: pivoting within their job or role is often a perfect way to approach a desire to learn, grow, and expand without disrupting everything too dramatically. I always say the best pivots start right where you are: what's already working best (and what energizes you most) within your role, and how can you double down on it?
Change is inevitable, and the uncertainty around us seems to be growing all the time. If you're someone who does not like change, how can you train yourself to manage and/or tackle it?
I love what Stephen Grosz writes in The Examined Life, "All change involves loss." Even exciting changes often mean letting something good go, so we can take a risk in pursuing what's next. That said, it's impossible to avoid change. Even when we don't want to make moves, we don't always have a choice, as the world is constantly changing all around us. As Heraclitus, a philosopher from 500 BC, put it, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." I used to feel like I was in a raft in the ocean, getting rocked by every wave, while everyone around me was sailing through change in a cruise liner or superyacht. That's why I developed the Pivot Method—a four-stage process to map what's next, that I share in Pivot. My mantra while working on the book: "If change is the only constant, let's get better at it." I do believe we can get more comfortable living in the unknown, but it's a daily practice—not a one-and-done destination.
How can you identify when to pivot and to what you should pivot toward?
The Pivot Method's four stages (Plant, Scan, Pilot, Launch) can be boiled down into four key questions: What's working best? What does success look like one year from now? What's out there? (Based on your strengths and one-year vision) And finally, what can I try? The last question is most important. You won't "solve" your pivot up front; it's impossible. Instead, determine a few small, resonant experiments (pilots) that can help you test The Three E's: do I enjoy this area? Do I want to develop greater expertise in it? Is there room to expand? Like racehorses at the Kentucky Derby, you can't know which pilot will win. Your job is to lift the starting gates, say GO! and let your pilots show you which ones take on a natural momentum of their own.
Professionals are having a harder time making career shifts due to the saturated and employer-favored job market. How can a job seeker get employers in different industries to understand and value their transferable skills?
I do think it seems very challenging at the moment; if companies aren't doing layoffs, many aren't backfilling roles after existing team members leave. More is being automated by AI every day. This is a time when everyone—both within companies and those who are self-employed—must become increasingly entrepreneurial. There are no easy answers right now, or roadmaps. The map is changing every day as we walk it. Instead of leading with your job title, try leading with the types of problems you most like solving. And whenever possible, see if you can pilot your way in through freelance projects, consulting, and even volunteering if that's an option.