So What Exactly Is A "Hybrid Professional"?
How I Embraced The Intersection Of My Professional Identities
Hello & welcome back fellow Hybrids!
If you want to know why I keep calling my readers “Hybrids,” today’s issue is for you.
I’ll review the definition of hybridity and share a quick story of how I built my hybrid professional identity.
(Today’s issue takes ~3.5 minutes to read)
Let's face the facts. The days of your "day job" completely defining your identity are long gone.
The idea of picking one area to focus on for your entire career is too daunting in today’s world. At least, it is for me.
Like most people, you are probably pursuing multiple professional objectives & occupations at the same time. As a matter of fact, that’s what makes you unique.
If this sounds like you, you may be a "Hybrid Professional."
So what exactly is a "Hybrid Professional"?
In Sarabeth Berk's book, "More Than My Title," she provides an excellent definition:
"A hybrid professional integrates multiple professional identities together and works at the intersection"
In Berk's framework, she poses that there are three types of professional identities:
Singularity: People who have one professional identity.
Multiplicity: People who have many professional identities, such as people who freelance their skills on the side.
Hybridity: These people integrate their identities together. In other words, they aren't switching back and forth all of the time.
Hybridity is a differentiator in the modern workforce.
For a long time, I invested in real estate on the side, using small pockets of time between my day job and personal obligations.
By Berk’s definition, I was operating with multiplicity. To be clear, there is no problem with this method. Some people prefer this.
But what I didn’t realize was that by keeping my real estate investor identity completely insulated from the rest of my life, I was leaving value on the table.
It took a pandemic and a forced career change to bring my hybrid professional identity to light.
In 2020, my 10+ year career in the concerts industry came to a screeching halt and abruptly left me seeking a new career path.
I suddenly had to lay out all my skills on the table and chart a new path.
Here are some of my professional identities:
Concert promoter
Real estate investor
Settlement accountant
Office administrator
Each identity involved specific skill sets, but the combination of my real estate experience with my previous career skills is what made me unique.
There was no reason to hide my real estate investing from the public eye.
I started writing about my hybrid professional identity and sharing my experience online.
Not only did this help me break into a fruitful new career in the consulting industry, but it allowed me to openly expand my professional network across multiple domains at the same time. Talk about time leverage…
It took a feeling of desperation and soul-searching for me to realize that I actually did have unique skills at the intersection of these professional identities.
So why not embrace the other professional identities in your life and make them known? What do you have to lose?
Do you consider yourself a hybrid professional? What are the unique intersections of your own professional identities that make you special?
If you’d like to discuss your unique situation, feel free to book a call with me at the link below.
Until next week,
-Aaron