Navigating An Unexpected Career Change - Maggie Craddock

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How to Take Control of Your Career in Turbulent Times

Is it time to switch careers? Or perhaps pursue early retirement and create a second career? Savvy career planning requires you to be thinking two steps ahead in the best of times. However, in times like these, your awareness needs to be sharpened. It’s wise to tune in intently to what’s happening, in and around you, that may affect what’s next for you. Maggie Craddock’s new book Lifeboat: Navigating Unexpected Career Change and Disruption, offers a strategy and valuable guidance on how to take control of your next career move in a dynamic and uncertain world.

In this episode of the Retirement Wisdom podcast, we discuss:

What inspired her to write her third book Lifeboat
How a Big Ship mindset can take a toll on you
How to spot Icebergs that may affect your career planning and direction
Why you need to be aware of inner icebergs as well as external ones
Her own Lifeboat experience that spurred a career change to more meaningful work
How cultivating courage, inner wisdom and emotional agility can help you take control of your life & career
Her advice on how to start building a Lifeboat mindset

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Bio

Maggie Craddock is an executive coach who has worked with clients at all levels on the professional spectrum – from people entering the workforce to Fortune 500 CEOs. She has been featured on CNBC, National Public Radio and quoted in national publications including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Maggie is the author of “Lifeboat: Navigating Unexpected Career Change and Disruption”, “Power Genes: Understanding Your Power Persona and How to Wield it at Work”, and “The Authentic Career: Following the Path of Self-Discovery to Professional Fulfillment”.

She has also written several nationally syndicated articles on behavioral dynamics in the workplace, and her work has been discussed in publications ranging from Harvard Business Review to Oprah Magazine. She is a popular keynote speaker at leadership conferences for her corporate clients and industry networking associations.

Before building her executive coaching business, Maggie worked for over a decade on both the buy and the sell sides of the financial services industry. As a Portfolio Manager at Scudder, Stevens & Clark, Maggie managed $3 billion in short-term global assets. She received two Lipper Awards for top mutual fund performance: Best Short-Term Multi-Market Income Fund, ranked #1 by Lipper in a universe of 77 funds, and Best World Income Fund over $1 billion in size, ranked #1 by Lipper in a universe of 7 funds.

She also served as a National Director of Consultant Relations at Sanford C. Bernstein, representing the firm across all asset classes including emerging markets, domestic and international fixed income, and domestic and international equity to major consultants and pension fund clients nationwide.

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Wise Quotes

On the Lifeboat Mindset

“This is about actually tapping into difficult feelings, acknowledging them. If you’re anxious, if you’re envious, if you’re resentful, whatever it is, face it, acknowledge it. And then bring yourself back to the present moment so that you don’t get pulled into a narrative from the past and capsized by the feelings. It’s really about learning to process that emotional energy. And the reason it’s so important to be in touch with what you’re feeling, particularly when the feelings are big, is in situations where you have more questions than answers. You need to notice those red flags because you may need to course-correct. And then finally the Lifeboat process is about what I call this inner alignment of really aligning your thoughts, your feelings, and your intentions in the present moment, and not trying to take these grand actions that assume you have all the answers right now. And you’re just going forward with that. But look for practical, positive opportunities in the moment to do the next right thing, the next row of the oar – and if you do that, you’ll keep moving in the right direction. And eventually, you will align yourself with opportunities. You’ll navigate this period of uncertainty and you’ll be there for positive opportunities when the crisis abates.”

On Wisdom

“I think that wisdom… and accepting reality are very kissing cousins on this one, right? Because the more that I progress through the journey of life – and of course I’ve got good days and bad, like everybody else – the more that I realize my wisest moments are when I’m being authentic with myself, particularly around uncomfortable feelings. So if I feel frustrated with the kids or the grandkids now, I’m not necessarily going to hopefully react to that in the moment, but I need to acknowledge what I’m feeling and I need to be okay with it. I’m not the perfect person. Sometimes I’m frustrated, sometimes I’m short-tempered. And if I can acknowledge that within myself with good humor and perspective, the odds of my being able to respond in a way that’s most effective [increase].”

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Read Maggie Craddock’s New Book:

Lifeboat: Navigating Unexpected Career Change and Disruption

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Related Podcast Episodes You May Like

How to Make a Wise Career Switch – Dawn Graham

The Skill Set for Life’s Transitions – Bruce Feiler

Design Your Life and Get Unstuck – Dave Evans

How to Build a Non-Profit Encore Career – Betsy Werley

Why People Make a Career Change with Purpose Top of Mind – Chris Farrell

Take the Detour – A Second Act Career Story – Melissa Davey

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