Reading List: Pivot

UPDATED: August 13, 2016
PUBLISHED: August 13, 2016

How ironic is it that a career-development manager working in Google’s much-envied Career Guru program hit a career plateau and needed to take a sabbatical? Jenny Blake used the sabbatical in 2011 to launch her first book, and it went so well she launched a consulting firm instead of returning to Google.

In Pivot, she shares what she has learned about making a successful career change. Constant change is the new reality, Blake writes. Based on her own experience, she developed a four-stage process: Double down on strengths, interests, and experiences; seek new opportunities and develop fresh skills without discouragement; run small experiments to determine your next step; and take smart risks to confidently launch in a new direction.

Pivot
By Jenny Blake
September; Portfolio; $28

Related: 5 Lessons on How to Make a Successful Career Change

 

This article originally appeared in the September 2016 issue of SUCCESS magazine.

 

Chauncey Mabe is a freelance writer, book critic, and blogger in Miami, Fla. For 23 years he served as Book Editor and Senior Entertainment Writer at the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. He was Book Blogger for the Florida Center for the Literary Arts, the parent organization of Miami Book Fair International, from 2009 to 2012. He also blogs for the Betsy Hotel South Beach hotel, which sponsors literary events year round. His reviews and feature stories have appeared in publications such as the Toronto Globe & Mail, the Serving House Journal, Inspicio, the Palm Beach Arts Paper, the Baltimore Sun, the Juneau Empire, and the Chicago Tribune.