August 2004

THE PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS WOMAN'S JOURNAL                         

Page I

Leverage Passion, Expertise for Next Fit   

           By Erika Alvarez
 
     The inevitable career transition, while potentially difficult, doesn’t have to be devastating – far from it, in fact, if the search for the next step is done methodically, with optimism, in tune to personal values and with plenty of patience. Just ask Jane Swift, Teri Cavanagh and business partners Sarah Harris and Beth Miller.  All four have successfully moved ahead by leveraging their skills and their passions to their advantage.
     “Nobody really cares you’re leaving anywhere,” says Cavanagh, who’s in her fifth career transition. “They just want to know what you’re going to do next.” 		  Many people rush this stage, Cavanagh points out. To maximize the possibility that your next move will be a good one, it’s best to spend a good amount of time here, exploring and discovering more about yourself. “You have be your own way,” she says. “That is part of being successful. What most people do is try to get from pain to solution too quickly.”
     Giving the transition time, Swift agrees, “will help you identify a really good fit that may not have been immediately apparent. Try to keep from getting too narrow in your focus. Cast a wide net.” 
     And there’s the rub – figuring out and then finding the right fit. Take heart, it can be done.
     Today Swift is a partner at Arcadia Partners, Boston, where she’s parlaying her successful efforts to improve the state’s educational system as Massachusetts acting governor, lieutenant governor and state senator to the venture capital firm that helps fund the for-profit education industry.
     Cavanagh, who recently left FleetBoston, where she was senior vice president and

Over time, Swift observes, her "priorities became more cohesive.” She realized it was important to her to work in an industry or sector she cared about, and education was at the top of that list. Another goal was to have an enjoyable work arrangement that offered her the flexibility she needed as a mother of three, and was also intellectually challenging and stimulating, which she knew would be a tough combination to find. Finally, she wanted to transfer the skills she had built
director of the Women Entrepreneurs' Connection,

Sarah Harris and Beth Miller
in her 15 years of public service.
is taking the entrepreneurial route
by launching TLC Connections in
Pocasset. With her new consultancy, she’s capitalizing on her experience and expertise to help corporations and nonprofits target and serve women in business.  
     Former HR senior execs Harris and Miller worked out their next step together after each lost her job around the same time. After methodically conceptualizing their “dream job,” they incorporated GoodDeeds, based in Newton, in November 2003, and now provide personal assistance services to, as they say, “highly competent but overscheduled women.”
     All four can now look back at their careers and recount the logical and obvious trajectory that led them to their current roles. But that clarity went missing for a while as they transitioned into selecting a new direction.
     Borrowing from William Bridge’s book, “Transitions,” Cavanagh refers to this stage as the “neutral zone,” that uncomfortable period between the end of one career and the beginning of the next. Transitioning herself from banker to consultant to owner of a small retail business to, until recently, advocate for women entrepreneurs through FleetBoston, she’s a pro at handling what can be a troubling gray area.   		       Swift says she never would have considered venture capital had it not been for this exploratory phase, when she scheduled the numerous informational interviews that provided her access to "lots of interesting things going on in the industry and society that even the best-schooled person wouldn't know."
     As for the informational interview itself, Swift cautions, “Clearly articulate your goals for the meeting just as you would for any important meeting. You need to exhibit the same level of discipline and focus as you did in your prior job. I would never go to a lunch meeting without doing homework and having specific goals for the meeting.” Miller and Harris found themselves at loose ends at the same time. They’d met 11 years earlier while working at a human resources consulting firm in Boston and had kept in touch as they went on to leadership roles at different companies. In their most recent corporate roles, Miller was VP of HR contract services at K-Force, running a $13 million staffing practice until her division was closed. Harris was the VP of HR and a member of the executive team at publicly traded Primix Solutions until it was sold.
     Already friends, the GoodDeeds partners made sure they were aligned on other matters before
   

Contnued