What we are reading in November
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This month I've deliberately chosen a book to bring attention to the cultural shift and expectations that are happening around careers .
The Squiggly Career: The No.1 Sunday Times Business Bestseller - Ditch the Ladder, Discover Opportunity, Design Your Career Paperback – 9 Jan. 2020
by Helen Tupper (Author), Sarah Ellis (Author)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Squiggly-Career
This book was a lockdown hit but five years on, if you’re leading an organisation and you’ve not read The Squiggly Career, then you might want to, because it’s not another feel-good career guide for the younger workforce it’s a clear signal that the way people think about work has changed, and leadership thinking needs to catch up. I didn't love the format and exercises, as they do seem aimed at people earlier in their careers, however the concept of the book is an important one to grasp.
The core idea is simple: careers are no longer linear. The days of climbing a tidy corporate ladder are gone. People are moving sideways, diagonally, sometimes backward building skills and experiences that don’t fit neatly into a job title or a hierarchy.
The book outlines five areas that help people navigate this non-linear reality:
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Values – being clear on what matters most at work.
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Strengths – focusing on what you genuinely excel at.
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Confidence – managing doubt and inner criticism.
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Networks – building relationships beyond immediate circles.
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Possibilities – seeing options where others see barriers.
For senior leaders, this is a prompt to rethink how you lead and how your organisation treats talent and career progression..
If your systems still reward tenure over impact, or if you equate loyalty with staying put, you will be out of step with how the best people now think and move.
Not every structure can accommodate a squiggly career. Some roles still demand hierarchy and continuity. But that doesn’t excuse ignoring the shift. The smartest organisations are learning how to create space for exploration and internal movement without losing grip on performance.
The takeaway is that ideally your culture must embrace curiosity and movement, with the risk that you’ll lose high potential people if not.
In short:
The Squiggly Career is a useful mirror for any executive serious about keeping their organisation relevant in a world where talent no longer plays by the old rules There is good support offered behind the premise of the book with online coaching aimed at organisations as well as individuals.
