In what
can only be described as a changing workplace literally tens of thousands of
people have gone through a dramatic change in their careers through no choice
of their own as their jobs were eliminated. Many have transformed their former
careers into new businesses, working as freelancers or starting their own
company.
It may
seem hard to believe, but there are folks who have made that choice, on their
own. That’s where former NPR host Tess Vigeland, allegedly comes in with her
book, Leap: Leaving a Job with No Plan B
to Find the Career and Life You Really Want. Vigeland, apparently
frustrated by her work situation and a career ceiling she was experiencing,
decided to walk away from what she describes as a “dream job” and take the leap
into an “uncertain” future.
If you
are pondering taking a similar “leap” and you turn to Vigeland looking for
advice in the pages of this book, you’re likely to end up deeply disappointed. You
won’t find much in the way of actionable guidance or insight into steps you can
take once you take the plunge. While the book alludes to such guidance, it
reads more like part memoir and part journal, a pseudo-psychological run down
of the thoughts and feelings Vigeland experienced post leap, and reads like so
much self-indulgence.
Based on
her own words, while Vigeland experienced a lifestyle change, she really never
had to worry about the roof over her head or food on her table, given that her
husband was there to play safety net for her leap. I think I would find greater
value in a book written by someone who was displaced from a career and successfully
reinvented themselves.
Call me a
commercial radio snob, but I built a successful career behind a microphone,
without the aid of a team of producers to do the heavy lifting or the relative
security of having taxpayers to fund the operation of my broadcast company.
Sorry, but Vigeland comes off like a whiner who couldn’t get what she wanted so
she took her ball and bat a left. When the broadcast industry changed, I
reinvented myself and changed careers without the luxury of a safety net to
protect my family.
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