
Strategic Career Pivoting
A strong recommendation to enhance one’s self-awareness and engage in meaningful self-reflection to establish the real intent behind a career pivot.
Gone are the days of picking a job or a career path and sticking to it forever. Career pivots are far more common today than they ever were. I remember one of my earlier jobs where most of the middle and senior management had put in 20 to 35 years in the same organization. Some of the reasons for pivoting gaining importance include we are not adept at navigating an increasingly complex and uncertain environment, the need for instant gratification (especially in the millennials), to get away from the toxic work environment, feeling of burnout, and lack of motivation and creativity. Post-pandemic this trend has become even more pronounced. It is becoming more evident that in order to navigate this VUCA – Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity – world, professionals are constantly re-evaluating their current roles and industries and attempting to pivot their careers.
It is important that a career pivot is a planned, purposeful change in career direction. I remember my first career pivot was not planned and an outcome of how much I disliked my first regular job. The driver of pivot was my perception that this job does not value my contributions and I do not like the people I work with. This could have gone south leading to a downward spiral in my career. Also, if we do not invest in planning a timely pivot, we may then increase the chances of making it an even riskier pivot. Of course, we should not pivot as a reaction to a failure. We should learn from that very failure and evolve and move towards our highest potential. Otherwise, we will be moving from one pivot to another without any value addition. Making a planned pivot is critical and requires determination and introspection.
I strongly recommend enhancing one’s self-awareness and engaging in meaningful self-reflection to establish the intent behind a career pivot. Do you have the answer to these questions:
- Are you on the right path to meet your personal and professional goals?
- Is there something you would love to accomplish in this lifetime (big purpose)?
- What could you gain if you risk the security that you have now?
- Are you currently facing limited room for advancement or skill development?
- Have you discovered a passion/meaning which was missing before?
It was 20 years ago that I first considered moving from a full-time job to an entrepreneurial venture. It was a planned pivot – I made the business plan and was clear about the intent behind the pivot. But I lacked the courage and conviction to push through the change due to the fear of failure coupled with apparent lack of adequate skill set. It is imperative to put the mind-blockers in the right perspective and overcome them through strategizing wisely. After not successfully pivoting to entrepreneurship, I successfully worked in a planned way to pivot my role from function head to MD/CEO. I used the following strategies:
- Seeking and working with a Mentor/Coach
- Cultivating self-confidence – keep acquiring new skills & identify transferable skills
- Allowing room for mistakes – make contingency plans
- Building diverse support networks – make exploring a habit
- Embracing a persuasive narrative of past experiences adding value to your new role
Going through the steps enabled me to make my move confidently, and smoothly.
Career Pivoting is not a leap but a series of steps.
- If you know what you want – plan & implement.
- If you know what you do not want, but do not know what you want – experiment and learn. Make a list of your ‘possible selves’ – check attractiveness & feasibility.
- Check your intent, passion, alignment with purpose, values & aspirations.
- Navigate the emotions – overcome sense of guilt, adjust sense of self, let go of self-limiting beliefs.
In conclusion, while career pivoting can be intimidating, it certainly cannot be left to chance. The rewards are plenty but pivoting successfully requires clear intent, improved self-awareness, actions based on newfound wisdom, and ability to adapt while focusing on progress. Learning these skills will stand you in good stead for making your future pivots even more rewarding.
Mukul Sinha – CFI Coach

About the Author
Mukul Sinha focuses on bringing about a change in leadership abilities to manage problems and develop their unused potential. He brings a holistic, humanistic, and coachee- centric approach.