The Career Pivot Playbook

We’re living through one of the most disruptive eras in the history of work—and it feels harder than ever to shift without losing momentum.

The Macro Picture: Organizations Are Under Relentless Pressure to Evolve

According to McKinsey’s State of Organizations 2023 report, over half of global companies have undergone major restructuring in the past two years—and most expect continued disruption ahead.

In an increasingly unpredictable world, organizations that thrive are those that can adapt their structures and people to shifting circumstances.” — McKinsey

While that helps organizations stay ahead, it also means fewer predictable career ladders, more hybrid roles, and a rising demand for individuals who can pivot across domains.

The Micro Picture: Career Change Cuts Even Deeper — It’s Personal

For individuals, navigating a career path is complex. Each move or pivot is not just a tactical career decision. It involves a lot of other factors—emotional, identity, financial, etc.

That’s why pivots feel destabilizing. It’s not just about updating your résumé or learning new skills—it’s about letting go of familiar anchors like routine, reputation, and identity.

The common mistake? Treating transition like a hard reset.

The people who thrive through reinvention don’t erase their past. They carry momentum forward while evolving. They blend their hard-won experience, insights, and relationships into their next chapter without starting over.

The Science Behind Transition

Transitions aren’t single moments—they’re evolving processes of reinvention. And they don’t just challenge what you do; they challenge how you see yourself.

One of the hardest parts of transition is that it doesn’t just require a skill change—it requires a mindset shift. You’re learning how to hold two truths at once:

I am no longer who I was. I am not yet fully who I’m becoming.

Behavioral research echoes this.

Career change disrupts what psychologists call our “narrative identity”—the internal story we tell ourselves about who we are, what matters, and what we’re capable of. If you’ve ever felt unsteady during a transition, this is why.

You’re not just setting up a new email account or learning new teammates and co-workers—you’re recalibrating your sense of self.

The most successful transitions share three key ingredients:

1. Reframing: Seeing change as an expansion of your identity, not a threat to it

2. Small experiments: Testing new skills, environments, and relationships before you leap

3. Adaptive capacity: Building the resilience to handle ambiguity and the curiosity to explore what’s next

Small, intentional moves compound over time. A well-executed pivot can open doors no straight-line career could. But to seize that opportunity, you have to stop treating change as an interruption—and start seeing it as a platform for growth.

Stop Performing and Start Practicing

When I entered executive coaching, I brought the same mindset that had served me in every chapter before—disciplined, over-prepared, eager to “get it right.”

I spent months immersed in certifications and training—studying frameworks, processes, and conversation models. By the time I started working with clients, I felt confident in the tools I had at my disposal.

Yet my first client sessions were filled with quiet doubts. Could I really help the senior executives I’d been assigned—leaders from companies like Nike, Jordan, and Bolthouse Farms?

Early on, I believed my job was to deliver solutions. I leaned heavily on the frameworks, trying to create value by the book. Without a corporate background, I felt the pressure to overcompensate—rigidly following tools, scripts, and checklists to prove I belonged.

That’s where the tension began. Clients were getting value, but something still felt off.

The turning point came when a client I deeply respected gave me feedback from a perspective I never considered:

“The value here isn’t in your tools. It’s in the space you hold.”

That one line shifted everything.

I realized I was trying to perform coaching instead of practicing it. My greatest asset wasn’t a toolkit—it was my ability to listen deeply, challenge thoughtfully, and help people access their own clarity by drawing on my own diverse lenses and experiences.

This shift helped me embrace the ways I was already equipped to serve. I wasn’t becoming a coach; I was repackaging my experiences—bringing forward the adaptability, resilience, and pattern recognition I’d refined in earlier chapters and applying them in a way that transformed others.

Playbook for a Successful Pivot

A pivot isn’t about reinvention—it’s about repositioning your edge:

• Inventory Your Assets: What are you carrying from your past that others in your next space don’t have? For me, it was resilience under pressure, adaptability, and the ability to cut through complexity. Take stock—you’re carrying more leverage than you realize.

• Stop Performing, Start Aligning: In my early coaching days, I fell into the trap of “performing.” The breakthroughs came when I showed up aligned, not rehearsed. The same applies to any pivot—people don’t need you to be perfect; they need you to be real.

• Sell the Space, Not the Script: Whether you’re stepping into consulting, leadership, or entrepreneurship, people are drawn to the space you create, not just the tactics you deliver. Show up with presence, not just credentials.

• Build Adaptive Capacity: Successful pivoters aren’t fearless—they’re flexible. They hold curiosity and conviction at the same time. That’s the real differentiator in times of change.

Transition Without Losing Momentum

The biggest mistake people make? Burning it all down before they build the next thing. Here’s a more tactical approach:

• Audit Your Commitments: Where are you overextended? Where are you under-leveraged? Before I stepped fully into coaching, I quietly trimmed back activities that no longer aligned. Create space to build new capacity before you expect to build momentum.

• Test Before You Leap: Transition is rarely a giant leap. It’s a series of smart, intentional experiments. I didn’t launch a full coaching practice overnight—it took time to find a groove. Experiment. Listen. Iterate. Then scale.

• Anchor to Purpose, Not Position: What drives you? What do you want to make possible for others? When you lead with purpose, the uncertainty of a pivot becomes creative tension—not chaos.

Why This Matters to Me

Every chapter of my life—athlete, entrepreneur, coach—has been anchored in one truth:

You don’t need to erase who you are to succeed in a new space. You need to apply who you are in a new, aligned way.

If you’re standing at a crossroads, don’t ask: “How do I start over?”

Ask: “How do I bring the best of who I am into what’s next?”

Because pivots aren’t about discarding the past—they’re about carrying forward what matters most and building from there.

This mindset is the foundation of my Performance Partner Program—a space where I help athletes, entrepreneurs, and executives navigate new professional seasons with clarity and alignment that becomes momentum.

Ready to take the next step?

Whether you're pivoting careers, scaling your business, or redefining your next chapter, I help growth-minded professionals and organizations turn potential into sustainable success.

🚀 Learn more about my Performance Partner program →
Work with me 1:1 to uncover blind spots, build clarity, and create a personalized game plan that positions you for uncommon performance.

🛠️ Book me as a speaker or facilitator for your organization →
Looking to energize your team or leadership group? Book me for a custom session that delivers real results that move the needle.