Table of Contents
Ready for a Career Pivot? How to Master Personal Branding and Self-Advocacy for Long-Term Success
Stop drifting through jobs and take control of your professional future. Learn actionable strategies from Kimberly Brown’s Next Move, Best Move to audit your skills, refine your personal brand, and execute a career transition that secures lasting fulfillment. Your ideal career path is waiting, but it requires a plan to reach it—continue reading to discover the four essential moves that will bridge the gap between your current role and your ultimate professional vision.
Genres
Personal Development, Management, Leadership, Career Success
Introduction: Discover how to make your next professional move your best yet.
Next Move, Best Move (2021) is a practical guide for professionals who want to carve out a rich and rewarding career – not just a string of jobs. It emphasizes understanding your past and present to inform your future, navigating transitions strategically and intentionally, and playing the long game for lasting success.
Your career is one of the most significant investments you’ll ever make. Yet, too often, professionals find themselves drifting – floating from one job to another without a clear sense of purpose or direction. Instead of strategically shaping their careers, they simply react to opportunities as they arise. But what if you could take full control of your professional journey? What if, instead of hoping for career growth, you could plan for it, execute it, and confidently step into roles that align with your long-term aspirations?
Building a fulfilling career starts with understanding where you’ve been, what you value, and where you want to go next. It’s about more than just landing the next job; it’s about making well-considered moves that align with your long-term vision. Whether you’re aiming for a promotion, transitioning into a new industry, or simply seeking greater purpose in your work, having a strategic plan ensures that every step you take moves you closer to your ideal career.
This summary is all about how to take ownership of your professional journey.
So, if you’re ready, let’s begin.
Move 1: Review
Many people leap straight to new goals and bigger responsibilities without taking stock of what they’ve already learned about themselves, their work style, and the environments in which they thrive. But it’s difficult to pave a truly fulfilling path forward if you’re not fully aware of your unique gifts and how to leverage them. Acknowledging key skills, lessons learned from previous roles, and the meaningful connections formed along the way makes it far easier to chart a course ahead that aligns with your deepest aspirations.
A simple but illuminating exercise is to create a detailed record of every position you’ve held, from your first internship to your current job. Next to each role, jot down the skills you developed and highlight which ones you love using and which you’d happily leave behind. Honoring all the ways you’ve grown lets you focus on tasks that energize you and clarifies where you might need to deepen your knowledge. The result is a clearer picture of the valuable, transferable strengths that shape your contribution to any role. These insights also empower you to talk openly about what you bring to the table, reframing self-promotion as communication of your value-adds rather than the uncomfortable practice it otherwise can be.
For those with an eye toward senior roles, looking at leadership as a privilege rather than simply the next rung on the ladder will set the tone for intentional growth. Leading people isn’t about handing out tasks and scoring quick wins; it’s about carefully nurturing others’ potential while staying true to your own values.
This approach means staying curious about how you can manage up – strategically guiding your relationship with those above you – just as much as you manage down. Asking questions like, “Which skills should I strengthen?” or “Which relationships might accelerate my development?” ensures you’re making the most of the expertise around you. Learning to advocate for your needs also boosts your ability to lead with empathy and vision, making it more likely you’ll earn trust and foster collaboration within any team you manage.
Remember, every career is a sum of its experiences, and each new position emerges, in part, from what came before. The more cognizant you are of how your past informs your present, the easier it will be to steer yourself toward opportunities that support your deepest aspirations.
Move 2: Plan
Here’s some professional development advice you won’t find everywhere, but that’s powerful all the same: Identifying the values that matter to you in the workplace lays a strong foundation for your next career moves.
By pinpointing the principles that most resonate with you and aligning your choices with them, each professional step will feel more meaningful – and foster more peace in your personal life. If you aren’t clear on your career values, reflect on your proudest wins and stickiest disappointments in the workplace. This simple reflection can offer revealing insights into what naturally energizes you – teamwork or shared purpose, for instance – and what will always feel off. Crafting and refining your unique professional compass will help you avoid drifting into roles that may seem shiny on the surface but lack the elements that will keep you satisfied.
Another way to stay focused on what matters most is balancing a bold, long-term vision with shorter, achievable goals. It can be inspiring to imagine where you see yourself in five years, but it’s often the more immediate milestones that push you to keep learning and growing. Spacing out these objectives in manageable intervals – perhaps three to six months – creates checkpoints where you can decide if you’re still on course or if life’s unexpected twists and turns require you to adjust. Since most companies are primarily invested in how you serve their current needs, having your own plan keeps you in control of building the leadership roles, experiences, and networks that will support your broader ambitions.
It’s critical to recognize that bridging the gap between where you stand now and where you want to be won’t simply be a matter of waiting for time to pass. Those who progress purposefully acquire knowledge, build deeper expertise, and nurture supportive relationships that elevate their credibility. They also appreciate that this growth is holistic, investing in personal development such as communication skills or emotional intelligence, not just hitting performance targets. This blend of professional know-how and personal insight will position you as one who can execute and empathize – a combination that will be prized regardless of where your next move takes you.
If you’re clear on your guiding principles, outline realistic short-term milestones, and actively address any capability gaps, you’ll be prepared to seize the moment when new possibilities arise. Such intention ensures you don’t leave your career to chance. Instead, you carve a path that honors your values, highlights your unique strengths, and moves you steadily closer to the professional life you’ve imagined.
Move 3: Brand
Your professional brand is so much more than the title on your résumé – it’s the reputation that precedes you, shaping how others perceive your skills, work ethic, and leadership potential. By being intentional about how you present yourself and how others experience your work, you can build an authentic, compelling presence that attracts all the right career moves.
As underscored throughout this summary, no one is responsible for your success except you. This truth is also the foundation of crafting a smart career strategy. While managers and mentors can offer guidance, it’s ultimately up to you to identify the skills you need, the milestones you want to achieve, and the professional “experience” you wish to cultivate. A well-rounded plan will include the transferrable skills you pinpointed in section one, the short- and long-term goals you defined in section two, and now, consideration of your professional identity.
Your brand is constantly speaking on your behalf – before you enter a room, before you log into a Zoom call, and even before you apply for a role. To gain a clearer picture of how others perceive you, study past performance reviews or seek feedback from colleagues, managers, and mentors. Don’t be afraid to ask probing questions about what you do well, what you could improve, and how they would describe working with you in a few words. After all, these responses will help you refine your professional image, strengthen your reputation, and position yourself for greater opportunities.
Yet a strong brand isn’t just about external perception; it’s also about ensuring your skills and experiences match the roles you’re aiming for. Take a look at professionals who currently hold your dream job. What do they do differently? What skills or leadership qualities set them apart? Instead of feeling discouraged by any gaps, use this information as a roadmap for your own development. Speaking with recruiters can also provide valuable insight into what hiring managers look for in top candidates, helping you hone in on the right areas for growth.
Your professional brand is a living, evolving reflection of your expertise, values, and ambitions. And the truth is, whether you’re conscious of it or not, you already have an “experience” associated with you. The more intentional you are in shaping your professional identity, the more likely you are to attract the right connections and opportunities. By refining how you present yourself, gathering honest feedback, and actively bridging any skill gaps, you can create a powerful professional brand that sets you apart. The goal isn’t merely to be seen – it’s to be seen as the ideal candidate for your next best moves.
Move 4: Execute
Now it’s time for the rubber to hit the road. Taking action is what separates career aspirations from career progress. It’s not enough to simply reflect or set goals – you need to put your plan into motion and advocate for yourself every step of the way.
At this point – the point of starting to make moves – you can easily be tempted toward the shiniest or most convenient opportunities that come your way. But since you’ve chosen to engage with this summary, you likely care about making your next professional move your best one, not just another one. Here, keeping in mind the career values you identified earlier will stand you in good stead, as will the professional brand you began exploring in the last section. Seeing as you spend so much time working, it’s wise to ensure your job supports your growth and your happiness.
Throughout your career journey, one of the most powerful actions you can take is to speak up for yourself. Self-advocacy isn’t just about addressing conflicts – it’s just as much about ensuring your contributions, ideas, and career goals are recognized. Like any skill, using your voice requires practice. If asserting yourself feels daunting, start small. Try role-playing conversations with a trusted friend or mentor, or jot down your key points before important discussions. The more you do it, the more natural it will feel. Not every conversation will be easy, and not everyone will respond the way you’d like, but speaking up is about honoring your worth and your work.
Before you jump straight to smashing out job applications, consider that self-advocacy also extends to salary and role negotiation. If these things matter to you – and they should – consider setting aside time to practice how you’ll respectfully assert yourself in these conversations. Reflecting on how you’ve responded in similar moments previously can further highlight ways you, specifically, could prepare.
To return to the rallying call of this summary, your career journey is your responsibility. No one will drive your growth or progress more than you. A career strategy isn’t something you create once and forget – it’s a dynamic plan that evolves with you. And, for all the emphasis on planning, leave a little room for unexpected opportunities. Often, the most exciting career moves come from doors you didn’t even know existed. But by continuously developing your skills, building strong relationships, and learning how to articulate your value-adds, you’ll be prepared to seize them when they appear. This is when your career truly starts working for you – not the other way around.
Conclusion
In this summary to Next Move, Best Move by Kimberly Brown, you’ve learned that career success isn’t about luck – it’s about being intentional, strategic, and proactive.
The most fulfilling careers belong to those who take control of their journey rather than waiting for opportunities to come to them. By reflecting on past experiences, defining your values, and setting clear goals, you create a roadmap that aligns with both your strengths and aspirations. A strong professional brand then helps you stand out, while self-advocacy ensures your contributions are recognized and rewarded.
Remember, your career is in your hands. No one will champion your growth more than you, so it’s up to you to set the vision, do the work, and make those next best moves. The more you do, the richer and more rewarding your career – and your life – will become.