Career Resilience Strategies

Over the past couple of years, in the seemingly unshakable tech industry, we have witnessed a significant number of layoffs that have had a profound impact on thousands of highly skilled and experienced professionals. Companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Stripe, and others have collectively laid off over 220 000 employees in 2023.

While it may feel disorienting and overwhelming at a personal level, the reality is that organisations, like living organisms, need to re-organize and rethink how they operate over time. In fact, it's very likely that 40% of us will experience redundancy at least once in our working lives.

Another major trend reshaping the labor market as we speak is the development of artificial intelligence and automation. Whenever AI makes headlines, it sparks debates about whether it will replace human jobs. The reality is that AI will redefine the labor market, and it is estimated that by 2030, up to 800 million jobs could be displaced globally due to automation.

On a more individual level, the challenges where we might need to tap into our resilience can take various forms:

• Facing the risk of job loss
• Changing careers
• Dealing with difficult co-workers and managers
• Balancing work and family commitments
• Coping with health issues that might impact our ability to work.

This time of uncertainty invites us to re-evaluate and re-imagine our career choices and develop career resilience that is deeply rooted in what serves our aspirations as well as aligns with market realities.

Career Resilience Formula

What if we were to redesign our careers by applying the principles of business portfolio management?

The key component of any sustainable and resilient business portfolio is diversification.

In the career development context, resilient career design relies on:

• Diversification of Income Streams
• Diversification of your Social Capital
• Diversification of Avenues for Fulfilment.

In this Coaching Spotlight edition we will take a look into tools how to rethink your career decisions in the context of diversifying income generating streams, revising your social capital and reshaping avenues for fulfilment to design more resilient careers.?

Happy exploration!

Egle Holton

Diversification of Income Streams: ABZ Career Planning Model

Ten-Year, passion-based career planning is wrong [...] You will change. The environment around you will change. And your allies and competitors will change. Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha

Let's take a look into the ABZ Career Planning model, developed by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha.

TL;DR: to design Resilient Careers, you need three plans – Plan A, Plan B, and Plan Z.

• Plan A is what you’re doing right now.?It is your current implementation of your Competitive Edge; you can find the Competitive Edge framework below.
• Plan B is what you pivot to when you need to change either your goal or the route for getting there. It comes into play when Plan A isn’t working anymore, you've discovered a better opportunity or maybe your priorities have evolved.
• Plan Z is the fallback position. It's the plan you can rely on if all your other plans fall apart. Having the certainty of Plan Z empowers you to embrace uncertainty and take calculated risks in Plans A and B.

How do you define your Competitive Edge?

Competitive Edge helps answer the question, "What should I do with my professional life?" by finding the sweet spot across three components:

1. Soft and hard assets
2. Aspirations and values
3. Market realities

1. Soft Assets: Soft assets are intangible non-negotiables that contribute to your career success, including knowledge, skills, connections, and your professional reputation. Hard assets, like cash, stocks, and physical possessions such as your desk and laptop, provide 'economic cushion', enabling you to take calculated risks.
2. Aspirations & Values: This is your inner fuel - your goals, wishes, and vision for the future, regardless of external circumstances or your current resources. This dimension also involves your core values, which represent what's important in your life, whether it's knowledge, independence, financial security, integrity, or other values.
3. Market Reality: Market reality defines what you can be paid for. What skills or expertise do you have that are in demand in the market?

Let me share some resources on how to redesign your career choices with diversification in mind:

• Book: The Startup Of You by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha
• Videos & Workbooks: Redundancy Reset Toolkit by Amazing If
• Book: The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness by Morgan Housel

Diversification of Social Capital: the Power of Networking

Your network is your net worth. Porter Gale

The word "company" is derived from the Latin words "cum" and "pane," which mean "breaking bread together." No matter the organisation or level of seniority, professional relationships are absolutely critical in building resilient careers.

Asking 'Who?' questions can sometimes be more crucial than asking 'What?' or 'How?' because it shifts the focus toward identifying a support network, checking the direction we are heading in, and uncovering opportunities and support by tapping into collective intelligence. To paraphrase the saying 'It takes a village...' - it takes a network to build successful careers.

What are the Types of Professional Relationships?

1. Allies or Your Career Boardroom

Allies is usually a small group of individuals, typically up to 12, with whom you share deep professional relationships.

• These are the people you consult regularly for advice, trust implicitly, and actively choose to collaborate with. When the going gets tough, you support each other
• These are the individuals you trust and proactively seek opportunities to work with
• They're the ones you turn to for feedback on crucial projects, and with whom you review your life goals and plans.

Check Career Boardroom: Strategic Networking article on how to be intentional about your allies and design your Career Boardroom.

1. Weak Ties and Acquaintances?

Nurturing your weak ties is critical for building resilient careers.

Typically, we may have 100+ professional weak ties at any given point in time.

While these relationships may not be as deep as those with your allies, they play a crucial role in diversifying your network.

Research has demonstrated that weak ties are fundamental in securing a new job, gaining fresh insights, and discovering new ideas.

1. Followers

In today's digital era, a substantial social media following can be a career game-changer. It can help you land jobs, connect with influential figures, gain market insights, and even generate additional income.

Having a significant number of followers can enhance your career capital, leading to opportunities like paid subscribers, sales, and speaking engagements.

However, it's essential to recognise that this strategy isn't a universal solution. While it's pivotal for some professions such as consultants, coaches, business executives, academics, and policymakers, its relevance may vary based on your career path and objectives.

Relationships are like any living thing: if they’re not getting stronger, they’re getting weaker.?

In essence, your professional network is set of various types of relationships, each offering its unique advantages. Understanding how to cultivate and leverage these connections effectively can be pivotal in building a resilient and thriving career in today's interconnected world.

Let me share some brilliant resources on how you can nurture and leverage weak ties effectively to enhance your professional resilience:

• Podcast: How to work your 'weak' ties, by Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper
• Podcast: Networking is about helping, by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha
• Article: ‘Moderately weak’ ties best for moving jobs, study finds, by Nicola Davis, The Guardian

Diversification of Avenues for Fulfilment

"For the college-educated elite, work has morphed into a religious identity—promising transcendence and community, but failing to deliver". Derek Thompson, The Atlantic Magazine

Diversifying the sources of fulfilment in both our personal and professional lives is essential. It involves disentangling our identities from our current jobs, recognising that we are more than just our work.?

"Workism" is the belief that employment is not only necessary for economic production but is also the centrepiece of one's identity and life purpose. The term was coined by American journalist Derek Thompson, in a 2019 article for The Atlantic magazine. In his article, Derek cautions that 'to be a workist is to worship a god with firing power,' which adds another dimension and food for thought in the light of recent mass layoffs across the industry.

As Christine Wallace states in her book ‘The Portfolio Life’, “your work can absolutely offer meaning to your life, but it should not be the meaning of your life. Instead, it’s critical to consider our identities through a wider aperture, taking our personal, professional and relationship goals all into account to define our purpose and avenues for fulfilment".??

Here are some resources for further exploration:?

• Book: The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work by Simone Stolzoff
• Book: The Portfolio Life: Future-Proof Your Career and Craft a Life Worthy of You by Christina Wallace
• Article: Workism Is Making Americans Miserable by Derek Thompson