Build your career
agility and thrive

Devendra
India
Picto Battlefield to Boardroom
Battlefield to Boardroom
Devendra
India
Colonel, Indian Army Director /Chief General Manager, Transportation Company

As one of three brothers in an Indian “army family”, Devendra, now CEO of a French multinational, was destined to go into the military. After graduating from the military academy with top honors, he began a thriving career encompassing both combat roles and UN peacekeeping missions in Africa. In 2004, as a young colonel, Devendra was asked to raise a new unit, which he now compares to a start-up business with venture capital funding. Unlike most of his colleagues, who aimed to spend their entire careers in the army, Devendra started to crave a new challenge once he had served the obligatory 20 years. For him, the critical question was “When was the last time you did something for the first time?” When he realized it had been so long that memory failed him, he decided to reinvent himself as a business leader.

Read more
Dek
The Philippines
Picto Lifers
Lifers
Dek
The Philippines
Buying, Account management and General management in Li & Fung
Dek was “given an opportunity to grab” when she joined Swire and Maclaine, which was the buying agency business of the Swire Group, not long after she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in business. How she reached the point at which she could seize it is another story. Having grown up poor, with parents who believed fervently in the power of education to transform, Dek was pushed into a degree in Economics, even though she felt no intrinsic attraction in this direction. Ever since she could remember, she had wanted to work in retail or trading, dealing in the shoes, handbags, jewelry and “pretty, girly stuff” of her dreams. As a child, she used to sneak out of her house in the evenings, to go walking through one of the three malls in Manila, so she could admire and covet these frivolous items again and again. The Philippines of the 1970’s did not offer many opportunities in the retail industry, so Dek struggled to find work in her target area. Read more
Constança
Portugal
Picto Boardroom to Classroom
Boardroom to Classroom
Constança
Portugal
Consultant, banker Assistant Professor (Adjunct) of Mindfulness in Leadership, Nova School of Business and Economics
Constança did not plan to teach professionally at all, even though, from the very first moment that she can remember she was someone who loved learning and was extremely curious about everything from agriculture through building furniture, to tackling traffic jams. Having grown up in a middle-class Portuguese family with a teacher mother and a naval officer father, she became deeply interested early in politics, namely in the Marxist philosophy, in striking contrast to her family background. Naturally enough she studied economics and aspired to creating a fairer system. Constança was always studying, even on the beach, and choosing to help support and teach her fellow students, not so much to earn money or kudos, but so she could learn more and create a win-win situation. Read more
Erik
USA
Picto Show to Business
Show to Business
Erik
USA
Professional actor and opera singer Executive in marketing, ecommerce and digital strategy at public companies
Erik was confident and persuasive from the very beginning, and had his fingers in multiple pies early on. In high school he was the soccer star and the lead in musical theatre while also excelling academically, and his social circle was just as eclectic as his interests. Continuing the same approach, he went to university with a plan to study economics on a Navy ROTC scholarship that would have prepared him to become a naval officer, but pursued studies in acting and singing in-stead. In the summer after his junior year Erik attended a training program for opera singers that fueled his passion for the art, and his decision upon graduation was to pursue a master’s degree in opera singing. Read more

Professionals face many critical crossroads in their careers, sometimes unpredictable, sometimes more expected, but for which they were often not truly prepared.

This book discusses many such career transitions – from leaving a corporation to joining a non-profit, evolving from athlete to executive, or returning to a former employer.

Using the stories of 50 leaders interviewed all over the world, the authors describe what provokes the change, the challenges it creates, how the individual is surviving the transition, and what effective leaders do to navigate and grow from it.

The book offers a simple, easy-to-use framework to help make the most of any uncharted transition.

To thrive, you have to follow a four-stage process of Exploring, Experimenting,
Engaging and Expanding. Drawing on examples of a wide range of companies, Disrupt Your Career also provides recommendations to help organizations better acquire, develop and retain talent.

With both compelling stories and rigorous research, Disrupt Your Career serves as a call to exploit novel ways to approach careers and presents practical advice to help both individuals and organizations better prepare, manage, and make the most of career changes – ultimately leading to more fulfilling careers.

This book brings a fresh approach – based on the stories of a diverse and colorful range of career changers – that will inspire many to explore similar moves. It also provides excellent thinking for organizations, where there is still an enormous need for improved approaches to career management.

Herminia Ibarra
Charles Handy Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School

How often have you wondered if those that leave your organization are doing so for the right reasons? What would you give to know more, and lose less? Disrupt Your Career holds one of the keys to this increasing challenge for leaders, and outlines a series of insights and processes that can lead to better career comfort for individuals and enhanced, more effective career management for organizations. Tirard and Harbour-Lyell tell the stories that illustrate the career transitions with simplicity and empathy, and make it obvious that we can all learn from them.

Åsa Landén Ericsson
CEO of Cygate, Board Member of Grant Thornton Sweden, Formpipe and Rhenman & Partners

For a leader in any substantial organization, one major preoccupation beyond attracting the very best people is also keeping them stimulated, challenged and fulfilled. This book provides invaluable insight, research and strategies for improvement in both talent strategy and career management. The stories are inspiring and authentic, indicating new paths to follow, and innovative approaches to managing career paths for both companies and individuals.

Jean-Claude Le Grand
Senior VP Talent Development and Chief Diversity Officer, L’Oréal

An essential, soul-saving guide for anyone navigating a non-traditional career path, including most women. And for the companies smart enough to attract them – and creative enough to benefit from their adaptive skills.

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox
CEO of 20-first and author of Seven Steps to Leading a Gender-Balanced Business

Disrupt Your Career makes a significant contribution towards the career challenge, by illustrating various uncharted transitions with compelling and insightful stories. The frameworks are strikingly simple, and the book provides invaluable options and strategies for organizations and individuals alike.

Gianpiero Petriglieri
Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD

Career disruption will happen to everyone – and most of us are ill prepared. This captivating book shows how to understand career transitions and gives fascinating and practical ideas about how best to navigate. A must read for anyone embarking on a life change.

Lynda Gratton
Professor of Management Practice at London Business School

Whether you are an individual pondering a big change, or forced into transition by yet another downsizing, or you are leading an organization and hoping to stem the early attrition of your people, there is something here for you. The stories are compelling, and the frameworks for action simple and solid.

Per Heggenes
CEO, The IKEA Foundation

…combines insights drawn from stories of successful career changers with rigorous research and practical ideas that can be put to immediate use. The book beautifully demonstrates that career reinvention is not only possible, but should be embraced in today’s VUCA world.

Kevin Cashman
Senior Partner, CEO & Executive Development, Korn Ferry and bestselling author

Antoine Tirard is a talent management advisor and the founder of NexTalent. He is the former head of talent management of Novartis and LVMH.

Claire Harbour is a coach and global talent expert, the founder of Culture Pearl and a speaker, consultant and writer about all things to do with optimizing talent across borders.

Sign up

Sign up to receive regular insightful news and advice on managing your career and receive a free gift. Inspiration delivered straight to your Inbox!


    By clicking, you agree to receive our newsletter