Own Your Hybrid Professional Identities

the difference with hybrids is they combine identities together.

Hybrid professionals are individuals who have figured out how to add their professional identities together and work from the intersections of multiple professional identities. Not only have they discovered points of integration between their identities, they’re able to access these integrations and use them to their advantage. This can appear as unique skills, ideas, habits, approaches, and insights that others do not typically have. Oftentimes, these qualities are what make a hybrid more effective or valuable at their work.

While many people move from one career to another, acquiring a list of jobs and job titles, the difference with hybrids is they combine job experiences together. For instance I know an office manager who decided to leave his job, go to cooking school for fun, and afterwards became a life coach. He is a hybrid because he applies a culinary mindset with office management to create easy to follow “life recipes” for his clients. I’ve also met a lawyer with an MBA who has an appetite for adventure and outdoor expeditions. He spends his time consulting with entrepreneurs but uses extensive outdoor analogies to help them understand how to solve business problems.

Instead of a string of past roles and responsibilities, hybrids are masters of combining multiple professional identities together into a robust recipe. Whereas non-hybrids are a list of ingredients, hybrids are a dish full of flavors that meld together.