Dorie Clark

Today I implemented something I’ve been talking about for *years*. Starting today, I’m taking Fridays off.

I was immediately tested! A new potential client emailed this very morning asking if I could hop on a call today. The answer is no! And we scheduled it for Monday. From now on, Fridays are my day for learning and personal growth. Right now, I’m studying an online course I purchased in March & hadn’t had proper time to study. Trying to practice what I preach!

What are you doing to build in time for your own learning & development?

#business
#leadership
#selfdevelopment
#worklifeintegration

Celebrating! Thank you so much for your help in making ‘The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World’ a Wall Street Journal bestseller! (It was #3 on the list this week). Grateful!

The Long Game:
https://lnkd.in/e4b5aDdr

#business
#gratitude
#leadership
#management
#strategy

How do you deliver bad news effectively?

It’s never easy, but at times it’s paramount to take control of your time and your schedule. Over the years, I’ve navigated partnerships that didn’t work out—whether due to misaligned schedules or a vision that no longer matched. Here are three principles I’ve found invaluable for making those tough conversations more constructive:

👉 Make it quick 
Don’t draw it out. If someone knows a difficult conversation is coming, their mind is already racing. Deliver the news promptly to ease anxiety and minimize discomfort.

👉Be compassionate 
Put yourself in their shoes. Be honest, but kind. It’s not about sugarcoating—it’s about finding the cleanest, clearest, and most empathetic way to communicate.

👉Don’t over-apologize 
Apologies can confuse the message or make it seem like you’re unsure of your decision. Be calm, clear, and confident.

These moments are challenging, but they’re also an opportunity to show empathy, leadership, and integrity. How do you approach delivering difficult messages?

It’s a wrap! One of my favorite things that I do is travel down to Deloitte University and speak to transitioning military veterans as part of their CORE Leadership Program. This is the 27th time I’ve gotten to speak to these amazing vets about professional reinvention, and I’m so honored to have the chance to do it.

#leadership
#business
#veterans
#management

Schedule time for your mind to relax so you can see the big picture:

A planned walk after lunch
A half-hour of reading before bed
An extra long shower to let your mind wander

When we have time to let our brain reflect, we nurture the creative space we need to come up with our next breakthrough.

#personaldevelopment
#goals
#careers
#bestadvice
#dorieclark

Celebrating being named for the second time to the Thinkers50 top list of business thinkers in the world! On hand to join me for a toast was my great pal Scott J. Miller, who was visiting NYC!

#business
#leadership
#strategy
#management

My new article for CNBC is about identifying what we are truly interested in learning and why dedicating 20% of your time to those interests really does help you win in the long game:

https://lnkd.in/ddQY27XW

#motivation
#careers
#whatinspiresme
#goals

So excited to share my new headshot from Kimberly Butler, an amazing photographer who has shot celebrities including Taylor Swift, Ethan Hawke, Serena Williams, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Yo-Yo Ma!

When I mentioned to Kim that a lot of folks I know are thinking about new headshots (because most of us probably didn't get any done during 2020!), she made an incredible offer - if you contact her through her website (https://lnkd.in/eiN8aKv) and mention that you're a friend of mine, she'll do a headshot for you (in person in NYC or virtual) for $750, which is literally thousands less than her celebrity work.

If you've been thinking about updating your headshot, this may be the perfect opportunity!

#photographer #marketing #branding

What’s the biggest gap between where you are now and where you want to be?

One of the most common questions I receive is, “What’s the number one tip for professional reinvention?”

The answer often lies in identifying and addressing the delta—the gap between where you are now and where you aspire to be.

So let's crack the case:

Identify the Delta:
Understand the gap between your current brand perception and your target professional identity. This could be a skills gap, knowledge gap, or even a perceived credibility gap.

Anticipate the Critique:
Think about the biggest critique someone might have about your background or qualifications. What might make them skeptical about your transition?

Actively Address the Critique:
Develop a strategy to counter this perception by sharing relevant insights, stories, and content that showcase your knowledge and expertise in the new area. Consistently provide evidence that you belong in your new role.

I wrote in Reinventing You about a poet transitioning into management consulting—a seemingly vast delta.

Her task was to show that she understood business deeply, which she did by deliberately studying and sharing insights about her new industry.

Reinvention isn’t just about adopting a new skill set; it’s about guiding others to recognize you in your new capacity.

It’s about helping people believe in your new path as much as you do.

And that only happens when you address the distance with intentional, strategic steps.

We often look for obvious signals of high performance, like who's working the longest hours or delivering the fastest results.

But those signals can be misleading.

In my experience, the strongest performers are playing a different game. They make decisions based on where they want to be years from now, not what gets attention this week.

They choose the work that builds real skill, invest in relationships early, and trust that the payoff will come later. At first, it may not stand out. They might even look like they're 'lagging' because they're not optimizing for short term wins.

But over time, everything they’ve built begins to compound.

If you’re thinking about your own growth, it’s worth asking:
What am I doing today that will matter five years from now?

➡️ Follow Dorie Clark for more

Career security is dead.
That may sound extreme, but the recent Tufts University lawsuit tells a larger story.

The university lost a $4 million case after trying to cut the pay of tenured faculty, despite tenure traditionally being viewed as one of the safest forms of employment.

If even an institution like Tufts (I used to teach there) is trying to roll back its promises, we all have to take this seriously.

Long-term job security is becoming harder and harder to count on, even in historically stable institutions.

That’s why it’s increasingly important to:
→ Keep your skills sharp
→ Keep your network warm
→ Build additional income streams before you need them

Increasingly, career security comes from adaptability, not permanence.
➡️ Follow Dorie Clark for more

The advice to "perfect your elevator pitch" is incomplete.
That's why your networking events end in awkward silences.

Most networking experts say: Have one clear elevator pitch and be concise.
Make sure to stick to your main focus.

Here's the thing: That approach is actually making networking harder for you.

When you say "I'm in marketing," you've just created a conversation dead end.
The other person nods politely and you both stand there in awkward silence.

If you're already uncomfortable at networking events, this conventional advice makes it exponentially worse.

Christian Busch, who studies serendipity at USC, has a completely different approach: serendipity hooks.

Instead of giving people one thing to remember about you, give them five things to connect with. This isn't about being scattered—it's about being strategic.

Here's what this looks like in practice:

❌ Conventional: "I'm Joe and I'm in marketing."

✅ Serendipity hooks: "I'm Dorie and I split my time between Miami and New York. I write business and career books, and also do a lot of speaking - I just got back from a talk in Dubai. I also write musicals and I'm organizing a concert performance of my new spy musical."

Notice the difference in what you've just created?

The other person now has multiple pathways into a real conversation. Maybe they're fascinated by musicals, have connections in Dubai, want to write a book, or used to live in New York.

They can grab onto whatever resonates and suddenly you're both relaxed and actually talking.

People don't need to remember you for one perfect thing.
They need to find one thing that they can relate to.

Once they do, the conversation becomes effortless.

We've been approaching networking backwards. Instead of being memorable for one thing, be relatable in multiple ways.

💾 Save this post and send it to someone who dreads networking events
➡️ Follow Dorie Clark for more

Most people don’t struggle because they lack ambition.
They struggle because they don’t have systems that make progress sustainable.

It’s easy to think effectiveness comes from working harder or finding the perfect productivity hack. In reality, it comes from the small, consistent choices you make every day and whether they actually align with where you want to go.

That’s why I created my new LinkedIn Learning course: Personal Effectiveness Habits.

It’s designed to help you take a more strategic approach to your time, your decisions, and your long-term growth.
We focus on how to build habits and systems that compound over time, so you are not just busy, but actually moving forward.

Inside, we explore how to integrate long-term thinking into your daily routines, how to design repeatable systems that reduce friction, and how to use tools like AI to clarify priorities and streamline execution.

We also talk about the often-overlooked pieces, including emotional resilience, adaptability, and how to build relationships that support your work over the long term.

For a limited time, I’m opening access so you can explore the course.

If you’ve been feeling busy but not as effective as you’d like, this may be a useful next step.

Share this with someone who is serious about improving how they work, not just how much they work.