3 Life Tools to Think About When You're Pivoting
So you're in transition. You're looking for that next pivot -- whether it's a pivot into a new job, a new position within your current company, or even pivoting the way you think about your role. How's your mindset during this challenging time?
Three female leaders joined our sister brand, Women in Retail Leadership Circle, at an event in New York last month to talk about their most challenging career pivots. They shared how they navigated the crisis, what happened when that self-doubt started to creep in, and how they made it through stronger than before.
Most importantly, they shared tips on how to ensure you're taking care of yourself during any major transition.
Manage Your Own Energy
Danielle LaFleur, president of Bandier, loves of good pivot. She spent much of her career at Tommy Hilfiger, and her most significant pivot happened in two parts: First, she realized after 12 years with the company that she needed to shake things up; she was weary of becoming stale and wanted a new challenge, so she went to work for Calvin Klein. She pivoted again when she realized she needed to be in a role that was more entrepreneurial in nature and wasn't giving 100 percent to her team.
"I used to put so much energy into the biggest problem that was very difficult to fix," she said, adding she would look for the tiniest measure of change that didn't necessarily equate to all the energy she was putting into making that change.
"Managing your own energy is super important, especially if you're in a place where you're figuring out how to pivot," she said.
Practice Self Care
Parinda Muley, senior vice president of digital at Beautycounter, said we are often our harshest critic. She said leaders -- particularly women -- usually have eight lists going on in their head of problems to solve. When it comes to a pivot, we tend to try to have a plan to solve for the pivot on day one, laying out priorities and trying to achieve them immediately.
"It's this running list that gets bigger and bigger and bigger ... and one pivot has a trickle effect on all the other things that you're trying to do and that balance gets completely out of whack," she said.
In times like these, she recommends taking a step back, taking a deep breath, looking away from the screen and into the distance to get the perspective of, "You are this little dot surrounded by this big world."
Put Your Needs First
Mara Sirhal, chief merchant and brand officer of Saks OFF 5TH, spent much of her career at Macy's before pivoting to Bed Bath & Beyond in January 2021. While initially recruited to run the company's Harmon Beauty business, she was asked about a year later to run merchandising. Little did she know the company would soon dismantle, filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy and shuttering all physical stores.
"I had to pivot and quickly think, 'What impact can I have in this role at this time knowing that there were very big unknowns and likely some writing on the wall?'" she said, adding it gave her the opportunity to deeply practice servant leadership by putting her team first and fostering an environment of care, authenticity and transparency. She worked on giving her team "brave spaces" -- spaces "for those who were experiencing a very traumatic time in their career to show up every day and be OK talking about it, be OK showing those emotions."
Sirhal noticed that as executive women, we tend by nature to put others' needs before our own. She said there came a point during her own career pivot at Bed Bath & Beyond that she needed to put her and her family's needs first.
"You can sacrifice a lot for your time, but at the end of the day you have to look and say, 'What are my values, my integrity, what do I need to make sure I'm preserving to keep myself healthy?'" she said. "It's really hard to constantly have to put yourself in front of the train for everybody else."