Pamela Mitchell - The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention: Essential Survival Skills for Any Economy

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Epigraph

Introduction

LAW 1 - IT STARTS WITH A VISION FOR YOUR LIFE

LAW 2 - YOUR BODY IS YOUR BEST GUIDE

LAW 3 - PROGRESS BEGINS WHEN YOU STOP MAKING EXCUSES

LAW 4 - WHAT YOU SEEK IS ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

LAW 5 - YOUVE GOT THE TOOLS IN YOUR TOOLBOX

LAW 6 - YOUR REINVENTION BOARD IS YOUR LIFELINE

LAW 7 - ONLY A NATIVE CAN GIVE YOU THE INSIDE SCOOP

LAW 8 - THEY WONT GET YOU UNTIL YOU SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE

LAW 9 - IT TAKES THE TIME THAT IT TAKES

LAW 10 - THE WORLD BUYS INTO AN AURA OF SUCCESS

EPILOGUE:

WORKBOOK

LAW 1:

LAW 2:

LAW 3:

LAW 4:

LAW 5:

LAW 6:

LAW 7:

LAW 8:

LAW 9:

LAW 10:

Acknowledgements

WORKS CITED

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE REINVENTION INSTITUTE

PUBLISHERS NOTE

DUTTON

Published by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.); Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England; Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd); Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd); Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India; Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd);

Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Published by Dutton, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First printing, January

Copyright 2010 by Pamela Mitchell All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARKMARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Mitchell, Pamela, 1964

The 10 laws of career reinvention : essential survival skills for any economy / by Pamela Mitchell. p. cm.

eISBN : 978-1-101-17117-2

1. Career changes. 2. Vocational guidance. I. Title. II. Title: Ten laws of career reinvention. HF5384.M.14dc22

2009036177

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors rights is appreciated.

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

http://us.penguingroup.com

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO MY GRANDPARENTS, ROBERT AND JANE LOU REED: THANK YOU.

Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

With the exception of the ten profile stories, most of the names and some personal details in this book have been changed to protect the identities of the people involved. The inspirational quotes used throughout are not meant to suggest an endorsement of this book by those artists and authors.

Special thanks to Alton Brown for graciously agreeing to be interviewed for this book.

Jeffery Rudell story: 2009 Jeffery Rudell

10% of the authors net royalties from sales of this book will be donated to charity.

AUTHORS NOTE

INTRODUCTION:

IT IS TIME TO LEAVE

There are no more safe industries. The ability to reinvent your career at any moment is the newand onlyform of job security. Even when you desire change, the familiar always exerts a powerful magnetic pull. But when the world is changing and you are seeking refuge, career reinvention is your safestand often your onlychoice.

In The Prisoner, a 1960s British TV series, a spy wakes up one morning and finds himself in an outwardly pleasant, picture-perfect seaside village where each day is like the last and nothing unexpected ever happens. A person could happily live there forever. The villagers are all contentexcept for Patrick McGoohan, who plays the spy. He senses menace beneath the placid, homey exterior. There is no free will, no opportunity for change or possibility for growth, and no way to leave. Whenever he tries to escapesay, by swimming out to seaa big white balloon bobs up and nudges him back to shore. This isnt paradise. Its a prison. Yet the balloon could have hauled those villagers into the water and pushed them out to sea, and most of them would have swum back to the comfortable jail of their seemingly perfect lives.

But you cant stay in your comfortable old career if there are no jobs available. Whether you are among the legions of the downsized and the sidelined, or a victim of industry consolidation, job scarcity, ageismor just plain job dissatisfaction; whether you are a corporate job hunter responding to the realities of business or ready to stake your claim in a small business, or among the artistically inclined and wondering whether its possible to put your hobby center stage; whether youre a baby boomer hedging against a shrinking portfolio, an employee beefing up your experience to stay competitive in a digital world, a freelancer who wants the benefits of a staff job, or a staffer who wants the freedom of going it alone: You have no idea what step to take first.

Whether you are willing to leave the familiar trappings of your seaside village by choice or the white balloon is in the process of evicting you: Either way, it is time to leave.

GETTING THERE SAFELY

The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention is the first book to give you all the necessary tools for navigating the full arc of career change between different fields. It will help you take that first step and the next nineall the way to a successful new career. But know one thing: This book is about using vision and creative thinking to repurpose your skills and find new outlets for your abilities without having to depend solely on the job listings du jour. This book is not for you if you are merely looking for a promotion to the next level in your career, or if you are hoping to replace your old job with its counterpart at the competition across the street. Those goals belong to a traditional job hunt, and there are plenty of old-school books to help you polish your rsum and dress correctly for an interview.

The book is divided into ten lessons that combine my hard-won expertise with real-life success stories. Changing careers can be quite a culture shock, but you can ensure a smoother transition by mastering the techniques outlined in these laws. They have been successfully applied thousands of times by my clients in the real world. I will help you explode the myths youve been harboring and choose a destination, and I will teach you how to translate your background and skills so that you are understoodand valuedby potential clients or hiring managers there.

Each law begins with an in-depth profile of a dramaticand successfulcareer reinvention that illustrates the principle. Youll meet people such as the popular Food Network personality Alton Brown, who began his career on the other side of the camera as a videographer; public relations pro-turned-mental health advocate Terrie Williams, who used the starry client list she built through her eponymous firm to bring attention to the problem of depression in the African-American community; Reggie Mebane, the former COO of Federal Express Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage (a $2 billion subsidiary of Federal Express), who parlayed his expertise in the logistics of handling packages into the logistics of saving lives when he went to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control; and Felina Rakowski-Gallagher, a cop who left the force to open New York Citys first breast-feeding boutique. I will break down the steps they took (and the mistakes they made) to reinvent their careers, so you can see up close how its done.