Learn to Make a Hard Pivot with Apolo Ohno

Apolo Ohno is one of the best-known Olympic athletes in the world and is the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian ever. He is also well versed on how to make a career transition —?having moved from the sports arena to rare mineral mining and investing. His pivot from one world to the other wasn’t easy, but Ohno says on the latest episode of Get Hired with Andrew Seaman that good moves aren’t always simple.

Ohno shares the lessons he learned from his transition out of sports and why he decided to put them into his latest book Hard Pivot .

Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen. If you like the show, be sure to leave a rating and review. Your praise helps other people find the podcast.

Transcript: Learn to Make a Hard Pivot with Apolo Ohno

Andrew: Hey, everyone. It's Andrew. Before we dive into today's topic, I want to invite you to be part of the show. For those of you who have listened to our show before, you know that we do a segment called the Job Search Win of the Week. It's a way for me to hear how all of your careers are going, and to celebrate when good things happen. Wins can be small things, like getting an informal coffee with someone at your dream company, or just reaching out to four new people this week to start networking. Wins can be big things, too, like landing a new job or getting that promotion. We want to hear these wins from you, so that other job seekers, and career builders, know they're not alone. So, if you want us to feature your win, send us a voice memo to get hired at linknedin.com. All right, on with the show.?

Andrew: From LinkedIn news, this is Get Hired, a podcast for the ups and downs of our professional lives. I'm Andrew Seaman, LinkedIn Senior News Editor for job searches and careers. Each week on Get Hired, we'll talk about leveling up. Sometimes, we'll talk about finding work. Other times, we'll talk about excelling where you are right now, and through it all, we'll focus on how to stay true to yourself in the process. Chances are, at some point in your career, you're going to find yourself at an inflection point. Should you stay where you are? Where it's comfortable, but maybe not ideal? Or should you take the leap and make a hard pivot? My guest today is no stranger to a hard pivot. In fact, that's the title of his book. Apolo Ohno is the most decorated US winter Olympian ever, winning medals in the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Olympic games. He also retired from that first career young, before he turned 30. So, what did he do? He pivoted and started a career in business, and somewhere in between there, found time to win a little show called Dancing with the Stars. But even though today he's a sought after speaker, consultant, and investor, his pivot wasn't immediately comfortable. Here's Apolo.

Apolo: The transition from my previous identity to what iteration is next was one that was filled with all types of kind of self doubt, and insecurity, and missteps, et cetera. Like any ambitious Olympic athlete, I was also really, deeply na?ve around the skillsets that I thought that I did have, didn't have, but I knew that one thing was for certain, is that I needed to start saying yes to a lot more, because I had spent a lifetime saying no to everything, because it didn't fit in the wheelhouse, or in the realm, of performing, a particular attribute that would help me be my best in that sport. So, from there, that kind of broke open this incredible plethora of options in Asia, and Southeast Asia. And so I've had my hand in various shapes and forms all across many different industries, I had been investing for a number of years. I had been an entrepreneur. I had had amazing wins. I had had incredible failures, and what I knew was that I really enjoyed the dynamics of the humanistic components of helping other people be their best. I'm not a computer science major. I don't have a background in finance, but I understand people, and I care about people, and I love technology, and I want to help them succeed, and so, trying to corral that where, hopefully, I can give to them some real value add by walking them through the psychology challenges that each and every single leader, uh, executive, employee, coworker, or entrepreneur will face in their career.

Andrew: When I picked up Apolo’s new book, Hard Pivot, I was struck by its title. Coming from the world of job searches and careers, I immediately read it as career-oriented. But it turns out, “hard pivot” is also a speed skating term – it’s an aggressive change in direction meant to propel you forward in a race.

Apolo: When executed properly, it's amazing. You carry the speed, to momentum, the excitement through the corner, throughout that tremendous pressure, and then you explode again coming up and exiting out of that corner as your hurdle down the next corner, the next pivot, in your life, and executed improperly, or by not without fault, something happens and you go crashing into the pads, and it's painful, and it is really hard, and at those defining moments, we have an option to decide how we perceive this particular situation. We can stay down, get out of the fight, and effectively give up, or we can recalibrate, refocus, learn to fail fast, and then go back out there are determine where the next course of action will be so we can gain momentum again, and so, everyone is their life is going to face some sort of change and or pivot. It is absolutely critical, and it's inevitable, in all of our lives, and so the greater that we can focus on not just bracing for impact, so to speak, but really embracing the fact that change comes, whether you like it or not, and so the entire impetus, and the intentionality behind this book, is not to give you my playbook and say, "This is what works for me. You must try it. If you don't try it, it's not gonna work." Instead, it's intended to start the conversation that says, "How do we get you, the individual, the reader, the participant in this game of life, to take your own steps to have your own internal transparent conversations, whether you are leader of a multinational organization that governs, you know, hundreds of thousands of people, or you're someone who is, an associate in a particular organization."

Andrew: When you walked away, you talk in your book a little bit about how you didn't go for a big press conference, or anything like that. You sort of decided on your own. How was that pivot for you?

Apolo: It was a huge pivot. I had no background in geology of any kind. I didn't understand the mining process. I had no idea what these? minerals even did, or how critical they actually were. The one attribute that I carried over with me from the Olympic space was this obsessiveness. I have this unique, natural, relentless curiosity to just want to learn, and so I spent every hour and waking moment immersing myself in conferences, experts, reading, being around the actual factory itself, and asking questions, and I asked a lot of dumb questions, and I forgot those answers many times over, but what I found was that I had a unique ability to process this information, because I was really just curious, And what I? realized after many, you know, stops and failures, was that there is no shortcut. The shortcut is the actual work, and so, if you can embrace that and embody it, it's gonna give you so much fruit, um, beyond your wildest imagination.

Andrew: I know lots of athletes tend to get that second act, or even a third or fourth. Were you thinking about what your next steps would be when you retired?

Apolo: Well, I could physically continue to compete all the way up into this past Olympic games in Beijing.? I knew that that was actually the easier path, and I know the Olympics are not easy, but because it was so familiar to me, I knew with the training looked like, I understood it, and now I knew that in order for me to truly grow, I needed to be thrown out of my nest. My nest was the Olympics. It was the ice rink. It was the grueling time meditating in the sauna, the extra third and fourth workouts per day after the rest of the team has decided to shut it down and just start resting. That was my nest. That my comfort zone, ?in kind of a weird, you know, obscure way, but the other side was there was a whole world of exploration that I didn't have experience for, and I needed to go turn that light switch on. Something was calling me to that adventure. So, it's not been an easy path, that's for sure, but I think everyone goes through it, and what I want people to understand is that you can do the hard stuff. It is possible. We have adapted to all sorts of conditions and climates on this planet, and here we are today, still, here after millions of years, and so you, too, have the ability to adapt, and maneuver, and find a way throughout any situation.

Andrew: We're going to take a quick break. When we get back, Apolo digs into finding purpose and meaning in what you do.

Andrew: We're back with winter Olympian speaker and venture capitalist, Apolo Ohno. When we left off, we were talking about how scary it can be to push yourself out of your comfort zone. So, I wanted to know, how did he process leaving that part of his gold medal identity behind, like so many job seekers want to do?

Apolo: There absolutely is a part of that job, and there is a part of that business card, that is tied to you, but it's not all that you are. It is simply the attributes of the things that you do on a daily basis that make up what is on that business card, and they are transferrable skills. Now, yes. Some hard skills are not transferrable. Me going in circles, pulling 2.7 G forces in the corner, doesn't necessarily relate to whether I can make a good investment decision or not, but what are the attributes that make up a great race? Well, great analysis, doing the work, staying dedicated, having sacrifice, showing up fully on a daily basis. Not operating out of a fear of failure, and instead, tactically putting yourself in the best possible chance of having success. To ascertain some level of green light or red light for an investment, right? It's very similar. Sometimes, you really question your place in the world, because you had a sense of purpose when you were doing something before, because you knew that routine, but don't forget, in order for that growth to happen, sometimes you have to pour that cup of knowledge out and start again with the beginners mind. No one wants to start over. No one wants to climb the mountain, go back down to the bottom, and then go back up again. ?It's really daunting, but I'm telling you, it's still possible. I could've easily gone down a variety of different other businesses and paths and career choices, but I chose this one, not because it's the best, or it is easy, or because it's natural. I chose it because it's hard, and I think that inherently designed in that is an ability for me to grow, and then help others in that same process.

Andrew: That actually brings us to my next question, which is that purpose, because I think identity is definitely something that can be forced on you. It's something that you can hold, and a purpose is something that is, I think, abstract, and sort of sits out there in the future, How do you find what your purpose is??

Apolo: Yeah. Finding your purpose is a critical piece to all of this, you know? We talk about these things called the five golden principals in the book that are deeply rooted in gratitude, having some kind of giving component, either to your own local communities and or giving yourself the best possible chance of success, meaning no more self sabotage, and then, we want to talk about things, like grit. Like gearing up. So, setting your expectations, and then, going and getting into action. So, when people feel that they have no sense of purpose, or they're trying to struggle and find it, I think it first comes from a sense of self acceptance, and so having this intrinsic conversation with yourself, to see yourself in all of your insecurities, and shortcomings, and faults, and say to yourself, like, "I- I know that this is not perfect, and I know that I want to be better, and I know that I've made these mistakes, and I know that some incident in my life has probably caused some semblance of microtrauma," maybe someone stole your lunch at school, or whatever it was, and this can go to very acute to very large scale traumatic events. They show up and manifest themselves in your life in the way that you respond to challenges and perceptions of reality. That is a fact, and so, understanding oneself allows you to, then, lead in a different way with empathy towards yourself, but then also saying, "Now, I'm ready to make this transition from Apolo 1.0 to Apolo 2.0, and I know the journey is never straight, and it's never easy. However, I'm going to remain committed to this path," and so, that purpose can be this path, this change, this reinvention, this desire to be and gain approval from others. (laughs) ButI really try to get people to say, like, "What's the most important things to you? What is a well lived life? What do you believe that you are here for in this life? And what do you want from this life? And what do you believe that life wants from you?" And actually asking yourself this question, and thinking about it, and having that marinate on your brain stem for the next several months, and I think what people will find is they will find some attraction towards something that sparks or lights the inner flame, or maybe it's something totally outside that's in a personal perspective, and you say, like, "Look, I may not like what I'm doing here, and it sucks, but that's a part of the process sometimes. I have to do the hard stuff, and it's not supposed to be super easy, and I can do it. I'm going to remain committed." And I can tell you, when you start to prove to yourself that you can do the hard stuff, even when you didn't want to, it is so gratifying.

Andrew: Yeah, I think a lot of people, they're still sort of on this threshold of, "I want to make a change," but there's that fear holding them back. If there's one thing people can do when they're listening today, and saying, "I want to make this change, but I'm still not sure." What would you suggest they do to start that change?

Apolo: To start the change is to start by creating lists. And then also why do you want to change? What's important to you? What can no longer stay the same, and how will you improve on those things? Once you're able to kind of map that out, it's much easier to stick to. Do not give that voice a vote. That voice in your head that tells you that you can't, and that you won't, and it'll never happen. That's a voice that keeps you in the comfort zone, and as we know, you don't want to stay there, right? We need to be thrown out of the nest to be fully alive.

Andrew: Yeah. And especially getting your fears, like you said, down on paper, or just in front of you. Once you see them, you sort of say, "Well, that's silly," or you know, "That's not gonna be the case," and I think they're much easier to overcome. And I really appreciate your time, Apolo. This has been a great conversation.

Apolo: Yeah, thanks for having me, Andrew. I appreciate it.

Andrew: Even if you don't have an Olympic medal, or eight like Apolo, don't be afraid of a hard pivot. Even if it's difficult, as long as you're intelligently pursuing purpose, it'll be worth it. And who knows? That pivot might just lead to, you guessed it, a win.?

Yes, it is time for my favorite part of the show, our job search win of the week. This week's win is a perspective shift from listener Stacey. She shared that she's been job searching since December after dedicating her 20's to a company that closed during COVID. Even though getting an interview has been hard, she wanted to share that she has a new perspective that shows anything is possible, regardless of the circumstances. Stacey, we're so happy that we could help you shift your mindset. Your next job is out there, and they'll be lucky to have you. If you want to share your job search win, like Stacey, send us a voice memo to [email protected]. We just might share it on the show.?

Remember, it's up to you to put our advice into practice. Still, you always have a community backing you up and cheering you on. Connect with me, and the Get Hired community, on LinkedIn to continue the conversation. You can also join my weekly Get Hired live show every Friday at noon, Eastern time, on the LinkedIn News page, and if you liked this episode, leave us a rating on Apple Podcasts. It helps people like you find the show, and of course, we'll continue this conversation next week right here, wherever you like to listen. Get Hired is a production of LinkedIn news. The show is produced by Michele O'Brien, Joe DiGiorgi mixed our show, Florencia Iriondo is Head of Original Audio and Video, Dave Pond is Head of News Production, Dan Roth is Editor in Chief of LinkedIn, and I'm Andrew Seaman. Until next time, stay well, and best of luck.