Working identity : unconventional strategies for reinventing your career

The book would not have been written without the men and women who generously gave their time and shared their career transition experiences with me. While some of them are featured here, many?from whom I learned as much?are not. I deeply appreciate the lessons they taught me and I value the confidence they placed in me by allowing me to tell their stories. I am particularly indebted to Kent Lineback for encouraging me to think of the book as a series of stories. If there was a turning point in the life of this book, it was my first discussion with him. Kent taught me structure and style, helping me to become a better storyteller and, in turn, a better writer. Many friends and colleagues read early versions of my book proposal and chapters and listened to my ideas in seminars or conversations. Some of these people include Jeff Bradach, Fares Boulos, Martin Gargiulo, Pierre Hurstel, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Bruce Kogut, John Kotter, Joe Santos, Barry Stein, Martine Van den Poel, and John Weeks. Jack Gabarro, Linda Hill, Nitin Nohria, and David Thomas watched over me from afar, helping me with this project in more ways than I can enumerate. I am grateful to Ed Schein and two anonymous reviewers for their careful and insightful feedback at a critical juncture. I owe a tremendous intellectual debt to Bill Bridges, Hazel Markus, Ed Schein, and Karl Weick for their groundbreaking work on life transitions, possible selves, career anchors, and sensemaking, respectively. Their pioneering work in these areas provides the conceptual foundation upon which so many of my ideas are built.