Pivot

While blazing her own trail within Google, consultant Jenny Blake describes how she pivoted toward her ultimate goal of self-employment. Determined to help people realize their career aspirations, Blake shares her framework for making planned, incremental progress toward your near-term career goals. Rather than make a reckless leap into entrepreneurship, Blake sensibly suggests taking small steps – which she, showing wise self-branding insight, labels “pivots” – to experiment, learn and iterate toward your larger goals. Her advice seems aimed at and will resonate most with those early in their careers.

In that regard, and others, Pivot proves a natural follow-up to Blake’s earlier book, Life After College, a well-reviewed, practical guide filled with spritely, workable advice like the counsel she offers here. Each manual works best for people at precise stages of their professional lives: the former for recent graduates and the latter for those who have had a taste of the working world and prefer to go their own way.