Working Identity, Updated Edition, with a New Preface - by Herminia Ibarra (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Whether as a daydream or a spoken desire, nearly all of us have entertained the notion of reinventing ourselves. Feeling burned out at work, unfulfilled, or just plain unhappy with whatever we're doing, we long to make the leap to a new and different career path. But how do we make this transition successfully? In this update of the much-loved classic, bestselling author Herminia Ibarra presents a model for career reinvention that flies in the face of everything we've learned from "career experts"-and is tailor-made for changing careers in today's uncertain world. Career transition is not a linear path toward some predetermined identity, according to Ibarra; it is a crooked journey along which we try on a host of "possible selves" we might become. Successful reinvention comes not from deciphering and analyzing our past but from inventing and testing our possible futures. Based on in-depth research and updated with new examples of people in different stages of a career transition, Ibarra identifies the three critical strategies-experiment with new professional activities and identities, interact in new networks of people, and make sense of what is happening to us in light of emerging possibilities-that all successful career-changers use. She shows readers how to implement these strategies, with specific advice for how to: Explore possible selves; craft and execute "identity experiments"; create "small wins" that keep momentum going; connect with role models and mentors who can ease the transition; and arrange new learnings into a coherent story of who we are becoming. A call to the dreamer in each of us, Working Identity redefines the process for crafting a more fulfilling future. Where we end up may surprise us"--

Book Synopsis

Strategies that successful career changers use-and how to make them work for you.

Nearly all of us have entertained the notion of changing careers. Feeling burned out at work, unfulfilled, or just plain unhappy with whatever we're doing, we long to reinvent ourselves on a new and different career path. But how do we make this transition successfully?

In this update of the groundbreaking classic, bestselling author Herminia Ibarra presents a model for career reinvention that flies in the face of everything we've learned from "career experts"--and is tailor-made for changing careers in today's uncertain world. Career transition is not a linear path toward some predetermined identity, according to Ibarra, but a crooked journey along which we try on a host of "possible selves" we might become. Successful reinvention comes not from deciphering and analyzing our past, but from inventing and testing our possible futures.

Using new examples of people in different stages of a career transition, Ibarra identifies the three critical strategies--experiment with new professional activities and identities, interact in new networks of people, and make sense of what is happening to us in light of emerging possibilities--that all successful career changers use. She shows how you can use these strategies to:

• Explore your possible selves
• Craft and execute "identity experiments"
• Create "small wins" that keep momentum going
• Connect with role models and mentors who can ease the transition
• Arrange new learnings into a coherent story

Now with action-oriented exercises to help you work successfully through your own career transition, this updated edition gives you the tools to discover a new path and find success in your new career.

Review Quotes

Advance Praise for Working Identity:

"I don't have to predict that this book will become a classic. It already has. Well ahead of its time when first published, Working Identity now finds its sweet spot of ultrarelevance in our tumultuous era of career searching and pivoting." - Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard Business School; author, Right Kind of Wrong

"With a deft combination of story and science, Ibarra both debunks a portion of popular wisdom and demystifies the process of work transition. I've probably recommended this book more frequently than any other, including my own." -- David Epstein, author, #1 New York Times bestseller Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World and bestseller The Sports Gene

"There has never been a better time to understand career transitions--and there has never been a better author to help us navigate these transitions." -- Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice, London Business School; author, Redesigning Work; and coauthor, The 100-Year Life

"Herminia Ibarra's groundbreaking Working Identity continues to defy and disrupt conventional wisdom around career change. Even more relevant than it was two decades ago, this book is a gem for anyone who wants something more. Simply brilliant." -- Whitney Johnson, CEO, Disruption Advisors; Thinkers50 Top 10 Management Thinker; and Wall Street Journal bestselling author

"Herminia Ibarra flips our way of thinking. What we do shifts what we say to ourselves, which shifts our mindsets, which shifts our identity, which then expands what we can do. It's an upward spiral. This book is a new paradigm and pure genius." -- Carol Kauffman, coauthor, Real-Time Leadership

"Whether you're looking to switch industries, start your own business, or find a more fulfilling role within your current organization, this is the book you need to start your change today." -- Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach and New York Times bestselling author, The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won't Get You There

"Sophisticated and savvy, Herminia Ibarra's timeless book challenges much of the conventional wisdom about how and why people change careers--and illuminates the experimentation, struggle, and joy that are essential to the process. For professionals contemplating a career change, Working Identity is essential reading." -- Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author, The Power of Regret

About the Author

Herminia Ibarra is an authority on leadership and career transitions. She is the Charles Handy Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School and is ranked among the top management thinkers in the world by Thinkers50. She is a member of the World Economic Forum's Expert Network, a judge for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award, and a fellow of the British Academy. She is the author of the bestselling book, Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, and she writes regularly in leading publications, including Harvard Business Review, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times.

Connect with Herminia Ibarra on Twitter and at herminiaibarra.com, Thinkers50, and TED.