Harvard Business Review Press Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career

"Working Identity" è un valido supporto per chi è in una fase di transizione lavorativa e ha bisogno di un metodo per scoprire e perseguire le alternative lavorative che ha a disposizione, adottando un approccio "fai e poi vedi" piuttosto del classico "pianifica e implementa". Decisamente consigliato.

This book is very good if you interested in developing your managerial career in a different direction, and want to hear the wisdom of someone with both relevant experience and academic credentials. It can also be useful if you are line managing and developing staff through their careers.Most of the examples refer to business executives that may have changed managerial roles or set up a new business, so I think it will have most direct relevance for this context. This book may not be for you if you are plunged into change and need to keep money coming in somehow. Nor is it for you if you are after a quick fix and some magical formula that will spout out your ideal career. Indeed, the whole concept behind this book is that successful change takes time and occurs through small iterative steps. She maintains that sitting in a room reflecting on past successes and experiences, or doing personality profiles, will only get you so far: ultimately you have to take a plunge, however small, and try things out so that you feel and experience which doors are right for you to open.Do you need a book to tell you this? Maybe not but why are you even reading this? Change is a strange thing, and it is easy to get caught up in day-to-day work and not look at the broader picture, no matter how organised or ambitious one is.I am very cynical about so called "self-help" books: I am sure the answer is never in a book but some might help illuminate paths forward if they are on your wavelength. I specifically searched for a reputable publisher (Harvard University Press) and author (from a good business school) to avoid the risk of evangelical preaching about one can really be a bullfighter or filmstar or whatever, just by reflecting on what you're good at and being brave.Life is not like that, and neither is this book. The author takes a calm and measured approach and gives case examples of how experimenting with change can be done in any setting in order to find out what really makes you happy. The answer is your answer and there are probably many.The book assumes you have time to experiment and being proactive in seeking change. It is not about reacting to change, unless you have time and money rolling in to carefully consider you next step. It is written well and authoritatively.You might also want to consider Timothy Butler's book "Getting unstuck". Similarly written by academic career psychologists, it takes you through a process of gradually arriving at options.

I’m sure the examples in the new edition will be better, but Ibarra’s insights are leading edge. As an executive coach, I highly recommend this book when my clients want to think strategically about their careers.

Herminia é inspiração !

Expertly interpreted cases of a multitude of people changing careers. I learned about this book because it was referenced in Reid Hoffman's "The Start-Up Of You", but this is way better. One of the reasons it excels at explaining a topic that is so hard to pin down is because it doesn't pretend to be a self-help book. These case studies are the result of academic research. There are about 10 pages towards the end of the book, in a section called "Putting These Unconventional Strategies to Work" that make up the only part of the book resembling advice. The entire remainder of the text is building up convincing arguments through lots and lots of case studies. The believability of these arguments is surely tied to the shear number of cases examined, each one interpreted, but also not weighted with too much meaning, so as to not lead readers to rely on mere anecdotes, as most self-help books seem to do.For anyone trying to identify with people examined in the case studies, be aware of the interviewed sample: you don't find out until the end that, "Almost half (46 percent) live and work outside the United States. It is a highly credentialed sample: All have college degrees, and about 74 percent have graduate degrees (e.g., business, science, law, and so on)." So if you don't resemble that demographic, you might have to make a bigger leap to relate to some of the cases. Still, worthwhile. Also, the interviews were all done between 1999 and 2001, so the importance of social media (e.g., LinkedIn) is not really considered. That didn't seem to matter, but worth mentioning. Finally, it's not exactly a nail-biter and some readers might find it a little dense at times, but overall it's very readable and enjoyable, and highly recommended for really anyone who's been working for more than a few years and isn't completely satisfied with their professional life.