Why create a launch plan?

The career reinvention process is full of twists and turns, so putting a plan in place can give you a sense of structure and guidance. It can also accelerate your progress by highlighting key areas where an investment of energy will bring solid returns.

Your launch plan is the framework in which you will conduct your search, and it will also help you organize yourself as you move ahead. By creating in advance a strategy plan, you will make sure that you cover the key areas affecting your career reinvention so that you are able primed to make the strongest launch possible.

You don’t have to know all the details — or even exactly what it is you want to do — in order to create a reinvention launch strategy. This is not a test where you have to have all the answers in order to get an ‘A’. In fact, you won’t have all the answers, ever, until the end—because it is impossible to know in advance how your career reinvention will play out.

This plan—much like your reinvention as a whole—is a work in progress and should be used as an ongoing tool to help you figure everything out.

Here are the hallmarks of a good reinvention strategy plan:

1. It is flexible. Your plan is NOT meant to be rigidly set in stone! A good strategy is fluid; it evolves based on changing circumstances, situations and information.
2. It is open to change. It is nearly impossible to know in advance all the roads to which your reinvention will point; you may go down one path that isn’t ultimately right for you but which steers you to a more interesting offshoot that you hadn’t previously considered. A successful strategy allows you to change courses midstream if necessary.
3. It acts as a benchmark. Much of the confusion during career reinvention stems from not knowing what actions to take or how to evaluate new information and opportunities. Without a yardstick, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. A good launch strategy plan, made in advance, acts as a point of reference for helping you keep sight of your ultimate goals and desires.

Think of your reinvention launch strategy in terms of a business plan—you are in the“business” of getting a new job!

Coaching Action Steps

Click on this link to download the Strategy Action Guide for some tips and exercises to help you create your own Reinvention Strategy.