Making a career transition is hard at the best of times. And it’s likely that more of us will make them, either by our own making or by necessity as we live longer. It can be even harder when you’ve operated at an elite level.
How do you take the best bits of your performance and use them in a new field? How do you reposition yourself, recreating your brand and establish credibility in a new space when people know you for something else? And when you have a new career and you’ve established yourself with a strong brand, and following, how do you work out which opportunities to pursue and which ones to turn down.
Matt Dawson MBE has faced these shifts in his career, and challenges. In this illuminating podcast he shares his own journey from being a rugby World Cup winning player to a business career and media career after he retired from sport. He opens up about how it felt when making these transitions and how he made wise decisions along the way.
The best bits of these conversations are captured in my newsletter Flashes+Sparks.
Further resources
Matt Dawson MBE is a TV and radio personality, strategic sales consultant and former England rugby player.
- Matt’s profile.
“My strategy for filtering opportunities is to be clear on what I enjoy doing and on where I shouldn’t play.”
Matt Dawson MBE, strategic sales consultant and former England rugby player
VIEW RUNNING ORDER
| 02.40 | The biggest challenges entering the corporate world (after elite rugby). |
| 05.15 | His strengths in business. |
| 06.57 | How he manages situations when people want to focus on his past rather than the present. |
| 10.58 | How to prioritise opportunities in his portfolio. |
| 15.58 | How to manage the ups and downs of elite performance. |
| 21.08 | What it takes to create high performing teams. |
| 25.55 | The leadership attributes of Gareth Southgate, England football manager. |
| 28.38 | What he would tell a much younger Matt Dawson about career transitions. |
| 30.44 | Best advice he’s received from his business mentors. |
| 32.55 | What he learnt in his experience of his son’s meningitis. |
Alex Edmans: Dealing with lies
Pia Lauritzen: Connecting through questions
Frances Frei: Fixing hard problems fast
Aga Bajer: Cracking the code on culture
Holger Nils Pohl: Tackling complex problems using visual thinking
Paolo Gallo: Mastering your inner journey
Herminia Ibarra: Mastering career transitions
Alison Taylor: Taking the Higher Ground
