Professional Narrative – Practical Exercise

Career Positioning • Professional Narrative — Practical Exercise

Draft Your Professional Narrative in Under an Hour

Career Positioning — Practical Exercise

A professional narrative isn’t something you have or don’t have — it’s something you build. The deep dive this week introduced the three key components: your through-line, your pivot points, and your destination. This exercise walks you through each of those in turn, so you leave with a working first draft you can refine and use in real conversations. Set aside 45 to 60 minutes, grab something to write with, and work through each step at your own pace.

The Exercise

1. Find your through-line (10 minutes) — Look at every role or meaningful experience in your career so far. For each one, write down the answer to two questions: What was I drawn to here? and What was I trying to figure out or solve? Look across all your answers. What pattern shows up? It might be a type of problem (e.g., building things from scratch, fixing broken processes, working with people in transition). It might be a theme (e.g., making complex things simple, building trust in low-trust environments). Write one or two sentences that capture it: “Throughout my career, I’ve consistently been drawn to…”
2. Name your pivot points (10 minutes) — Identify one or two transitions in your career where you changed direction — industry, function, employer, or type of work. For each pivot, write a sentence that explains not just what changed, but why. Not “I then moved into operations” — but “I moved into operations because I realised I cared more about how organisations actually worked than about the strategy that sat on top of it.” Owning your pivots honestly is one of the most compelling things you can do in a narrative.
3. Define your destination (10 minutes) — Describe where your career is pointing right now. This doesn’t need to be a specific job title — it can be the type of work, the kind of impact, or the problem you want to be working on. Write 2–3 sentences: “Right now I’m focused on… because…” The “because” is critical. It’s what connects your past to your future and makes the whole narrative feel intentional.
4. Draft your 90-second narrative (15 minutes) — Using your three pieces — through-line, pivot, destination — write a spoken version of your story. Aim for 150–200 words, which lands at roughly 60–90 seconds at a natural speaking pace. Start with your through-line or your destination (not a chronology). Include one pivot if it’s relevant. End with where you’re going. Read it aloud when you’re done. If it doesn’t sound like something a real person would say, rewrite until it does.
5. Test it on one person (5 minutes) — Share your draft narrative with one person you trust — a colleague, a friend, or a mentor. Ask them two questions: Does this make sense? and What impression does it leave? Their response will tell you more than any amount of self-editing. Note what lands and what creates questions you hadn’t anticipated. Those gaps are your next iteration points.

What to Do Next

Your first draft doesn’t need to be perfect — it needs to be honest and coherent. Once you have a working version, use it in your next professional conversation and notice how the other person responds. Where do they lean in? Where do they look confused? Every real conversation is feedback. Over the next few weeks, you’ll naturally refine the language until it feels completely natural — like you’re just telling the truth about yourself, which is exactly what you’re doing.