Released on August 30th, 2019
This week’s article is around the whole domain of ‘career transition’. Huge numbers of people want to transition from their current work to something more fulfilling and on-purpose. But far fewer people have a clear sense of exactly how they’re going to make that move, and what it’s going to look like. What follows is a summary of the main approaches I’ve identified, but if you want a more in-depth look at them, here’s a link to a 12-minute video I made describing the 5 career transition strategies.
This article will walk you through the five main “transition strategies” involved in starting your own venture, and will highlight some of the key advantages and disadvantages of each. As you read through the five strategies, you’ll start to get a sense of which strategy (or combination of strategies) makes the most sense for you.
Transition Strategy #1 – Parallel Jump
Build up your new venture alongside your current job until the new venture is generating enough stable income to meet your needs. Stay in your job until your new venture(s) is/are providing sufficient stable income.
Pros
– Provides steady or even increased income.
– Allows time for developing your skills and growing your new venture.
– Job provides a potential “sandbox” for practicing new skills.
– Job provides funds for training and development of new venture.
– Encourages gradual development of an entrepreneurial mindset.
Cons
– Less free time available for leisure activities because you’re spending it working on your passion.
Transition Strategy #2 – Incremental Jumps
Identify intermediate stages leading to greater freedom by taking greater responsibility for your income (E.g. become a contractor or an interim manager to increase revenue and reduce your working hours so you can develop your new venture.)
Pros
– Steady or increased income (contract roles often pay better than FTE).
– Opportunity to develop skills
– Roles provide funds (and potentially extra time) for training and development of new venture.
– Interim roles can provide a “sandbox” for practicing new skills
– Additional time flexibility
– More freedom, independence and personal responsibility *
– Encourages development of the entrepreneurial mindset you’ll need for your new venture.
Cons
– Takes time and effort to find interim / contract roles
– Involves multiple role-changes / requires high adaptability
– More freedom, independence and personal responsibility *
* “Freedom, independence and personal responsibility” are listed as both pros and cons. Moving away from full-time employment and taking responsibility for generating your own income is a challenge for many people. But it’s incredibly useful to “build that muscle”, and can bring the benefits of an increased sense of freedom and independence.
Transition Strategy #3 – Negotiated Transition
Negotiate with your employer to reduce your workdays by (for example) one day per week, ideally while keeping pay constant (I’ve coached a couple of people who did that, believe it or not.) This “buys” you an extra day per week to work on the new venture. Then two days per week, and so on.
Pros
– Provides steady or even increased income.
– More time for your new venture / fewer days spent at your job.
– Allows time for developing your skills and growing your new venture.
– Job provides funds for training and development of new venture.
– Encourages development of the entrepreneurial mindset you’ll need for your new venture.
Cons
– Good social skills / negotiation skills needed to agree this with your employer.
High level of effectiveness and focus required to deliver sufficient results to your employer in fewer days per week.
Transition Strategy #4 – Jump and Hold Your Breath
Build up sufficient cash reserves from your existing job to pay your bills for a period of time (Eg. 6, 12. 18 or 24 months) so you have the time and space to get your new venture up and running. Then leave your job and build the new thing.
Pros
– For a small number of people, the clear financial and time-constraints help to sharpen their focus.
– Potential for high levels of motivation (“sink or swim” can be highly motivating for some people).
– Maximizes available time to work on your new venture
– Lends itself to a highly experimental approach, with rapid iteration and bold action.
– Encourages rapid development of an entrepreneurial mindset.
Cons
– Fear of failure can have a worrying and even paralyzing effect.
– Many people who use this approach end up back in full-time employment within a short period of time.
Transition Strategy #5 – Go with the flow
The “go with the flow” strategy involves a) preparing for opportunity, b) noticing it when it shows up and c) acting on it. Sometimes people refer to this as “just following your wisdom”, but a closer analysis reveals that when people have followed their wisdom successfully, it’s involved these three elements.
Pros
– Highly “organic” approach.
– Lends itself to boldness, courage and taking action.
– Can be very successful, especially when used in conjunction with one or more of the other strategies.
– Benefits from cultivation of high levels of awareness and perceptiveness externally (E.g. for noticing opportunities).
– Relies on willingness to act on intuition / wisdom / gut-feeling.
– Relies on you taking a proactive / responsible position with relation to your venture (rather than a reactive / passive position).
Cons
– Risk of a counter-productive and passive attitude (“Why hasn’t it happened yet?”)
Big love,
Jamie
Jamie Smart, Sunday Times Bestselling Author, Speaker and Executive Coach