The Mastery of Multiple Job Ventures
In the modern professional landscape, a portfolio career has emerged as a strategy for ambitious individuals seeking autonomy, intellectual variety, and resilience. This approach, which involves curating a mix of part-time roles, consulting engagements, and entrepreneurial ventures, is gaining traction among professionals who value flexibility and diversification.
Marian Evans, the Managing Director at Elevate BC Ltd, offers valuable insights into managing a successful portfolio career. According to Evans, a portfolio career requires a balance of strong internal systems, clear external boundaries, and the discipline to prioritize impact over activity.
The Importance of Mornings
Mornings are crucial for tackling cognitively demanding work in a portfolio career. Protecting time for sleep, movement, and reflection is as important as attending board meetings or making investment decisions. Everyone has a different rhythm, and identifying the most productive window is essential to defend it.
Prioritizing Energy, Attention, and Recovery
In a portfolio career, managing energy, attention, and priorities is more important than managing time. Designing one’s week with intention can help prevent exhaustion and ensure sustainable output. Prioritizing recovery and reflection is crucial for high performance.
The Four Key Disciplines
Evans outlines four key disciplines for managing a successful portfolio career: teaching, performing, entrepreneurship, and advocacy.
- Teaching: Developing educational skills to share expertise is essential. This could involve mentoring, speaking at conferences, or writing articles.
- Performing: Cultivating proficiency and presence in one’s professional craft is key. For example, a musician might hone their performance skills, while a writer could focus on their writing craft.
- Entrepreneurship: Applying business and innovation skills to create and sustain career opportunities is crucial. This might involve starting a business, investing in a venture, or advising a start-up.
- Advocacy: Engaging in promoting one’s field or causes related to the profession is important. This could involve advocating for change in the industry, supporting a cause, or lobbying for policy changes.
These disciplines help individuals navigate the complexities of a portfolio career by combining income streams and professional identities effectively.
The Role of Cross-Pollination
Cross-pollination of skills and insights from one sector can strengthen performance in another. For instance, a musician might apply their creative skills to a marketing role, or a consultant might use their analytical skills in a tech startup.
Embracing Change and Redefining Success
A portfolio career demands a continual recalibration of what success looks like, not just in financial terms but in personal fulfillment and contribution. Saying "no" is an important skill for prioritizing effectively in a portfolio career. Clarity rarely comes in chaos, and stepping back is a strategic pause.
In conclusion, a portfolio career, when done well, is intentional, not chaotic. It offers the opportunity to diversify skills, income, and impact, while navigating the complexities of a varied and evolving career landscape.
[1] This framework is designed for people who juggle multiple roles simultaneously and seek fulfillment and sustainability through varied but complementary activities across their careers.
- The Managing Director at Elevate BC Ltd, Marian Evans, emphasizes the importance of teaching in a portfolio career, which includes sharing expertise through mentoring, speaking at conferences, or writing articles.
- In her outline of key disciplines, Marian Evans include the practice of performing, where individuals focus on honing their professional craft, such as a musician refining their performance skills or a writer working on their writing craft.
- The four key disciplines proposed by Marian Evans also encompass entrepreneurship, where people apply business and innovation skills to create and sustain career opportunities, such as starting a business, investing in a venture, or advising a start-up.
