Tells the story of author Dan Pink's transition from speechwriter for the Vice President of the United States to independent businessperson - detailing how he left his steady job to start his new life as a free agent and his insights and inroads into the micro-businesses, solo workers and independent professionals he met as he travelled across the US with his family. Pink writes that more employees than ever are abandoning their old jobs and creating new ways to work as proprietors of home-based businesses, telecommuting freelancers, self-employed knowledge workers and independent contractors, highlighting the shift in economic and social power from the organization to the individual.
It has been three years since I embarked on my own "free-agent" journey as a full-time freelance facilitator / corporate trainer. I must admit when I first started it seemed a very daunting task. But by God's grace and hard work, I have managed to carve out a sustainable and enjoyable career that I can integrate work and life into a manageable blend.
I have also had many an individual asking me how I did it? what's it like? and if they could do something like that as well? For obvious reasons, everyone's story is different - arising from financial situation, family committments, career aspirations, time requirements etc.
One advice I give is for them to talk to as many people as they can to sound them out to gain better clarity about their aspirations and secondly, to read this book, which to me, is a compelling read for anyone at their career crossroads and asking what's next?
One of the greats of management thinking Charles Handy coined the term portfolio worker - for someone who worked independently of an organisation and whose living was drawn from a number of differing elements. He expounds this concept of a "portfolio life" in his 2001 book "The Elephant and the Flea".
Are you ready to be a free agent?
