TRANSITIONING EXECUTIVES How to Effectively Transition from Corporate America to Business Ownership by Marilyn Imparato, Senior Consultant - The Franchise Consulting Company
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hange is an inevitable fact of life. It is also fraught with resistance. Whether it’s a diet, fitness regime or career change, the initial reaction from 80% of people is resistance. So how do the successful 20% move past the inevitability of change? Particularly when it comes to a career life decision to change from Corporate American Executive Leadership to Business Ownership? For the last decade I have personally spoken with over a thousand Senior-Level Executives and assisted approximately a hundred
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Executives into business ownership and the key characteristic I see in those successful transitions always starts with the ability to overcome their fear, anxiety and insecurities with regards to change. There is not a single Executive that I have ever worked with that did not recognize that the transition would take effort, change and intestinal fortitude to forge ahead. It is precisely how I made that transition as a former C-Level Executive in Technology over 15 years ago. Interestingly, the Top Successful Executives that transitioned to Business Ownership actually embraced and welcomed the
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change by securing a new and exciting business venture that they could be passionate about and/or utilize their experiential skills, hobbies or interests that superseded and conquered their fear of the transition. Like most changes in life that are positive, impactful and eventually stabilized, the embracement of change with a positive resolve is critical. Ironically, if you have been an Executive, to achieve the accolades and pinnacles in your corporate career you had to bite your tongue until it bled and had the discipline