How to Pivot Out of Academics

I’m complete. Have you ever landed on that sense of satisfaction, perhaps after a peak experience when you’ve given everything you could? Often what quickly follows: Now, what’s next? 

My guest this week — the very first partner coach I brought on to help in my business — pivoted out of academia after an accomplished trajectory into running her own coaching practice. Several years ago, she was featured in Shana Gaynor’s wonderful Business Insider article, I went to a career coach, so you don't have to—and it was a rude awakening, that has been bringing clients our way ever since!

In this conversation, we discuss creating the impact you want to have in the world, crafting jobs and roles to fit your strengths, and how to navigate the nerves of striking out on your own.

More About Rebecca: Rebecca Fraser-Thill is a Pivot Career Coach, the Senior Contributor at Forbes on meaningful work, and the owner of Fraser-Thill Coaching & Consulting, based near Portland, Maine. Rebecca taught psychology at Bates College for 18 years, where she led the design of their Purposeful Work program. She holds a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University. You can find her at www.RebeccaFT.com

🌟 3 Key Takeaways:

• Are you a coaching skeptic? The feedback, insight, and accountability can be transformative in ways you don’t expect.
• Job crafting: Take every step you can to make the most of a current opportunity before making bigger moves, to know you gave it everything you had and gain clarity on when it will be time to go.
• Look for hidden strengths that come so naturally to you that you barely recognize them for the advantages they are. We often downplay our own abilities, so ask for feedback from coaches (and friends and colleagues!).

✅ Next Action: Find a list of work-related or adjacent values online (or generate your own) and write them on index cards or slips of paper. Next, physically put them in order of what is most important to you. Return and reorder them over a week until you have no more changes. This list of values will help you make decisions and rules about your work—if something doesn’t align, it becomes much easier to say no to. 

📘Books:

• Free Time: Lose The Busywork, Love Your Business 
• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One
• Life After College
• Don't Call It Quits: Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Love by Shana Lebowitz Gaynor
• Agile: Essentials of Team and Project Management. Manifesto for Agile Software Development by Alex Campbell

🔗Resources:

• Rebecca on the web, Twitter, LinkedIn
• Learn more and schedule a Pivot Coaching intro call with Rebecca
• Business Insider: I went to a career coach so you don't have to—and it was a rude awakening
• Therapy Apps: Better Help, Talkspace
• Career Values Lists: Mindtool, James Clear
• The Tim Ferriss Show: What Is Important to You

🎧Related Podcast Episodes:

• 308: Pivoting in Place with Adrian Klaphaak
• 303: What is Your Soul Path for 2023? Follow What’s Most Alive — With Adrian Klaphaak
• 299: Juggling Risk and Pursuing Passion while Pivoting in a Recession with Adrian Klaphaak

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💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers

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📝 Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/310

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