Dorie Clark

I help individuals and organizations think more strategically about reinvention, visibility, and long-term success. I also run Recognized Expert®, the world's leading community for thoughtful professionals who want to get their ideas heard &amp; recognized in a noisy world. I’m a strategy consultant and keynote speaker who has worked with clients including Google, Microsoft, FedEx, Fidelity, Yale University, the IMF, and the World Bank.Since 2010, I've written regularly for the Harvard Business Review, and I’m the author of multiple books on strategy, professional reinvention, and long-term thinking — including The Long Game (WSJ &amp; USA Today bestseller), Stand Out (named Inc.'s #1 book of the year); Reinventing You, and Entrepreneurial You. For more than a decade, I taught executive education for Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School, and have also taught at business schools around the world including IE Business School (Spain), HEC-Paris, Fundação Dom Cabral (Brazil), and more. I also hosted a weekly interview show for Newsweek for three years.I’ve been named one of the Top 50 Business Thinkers in the World 4x times by Thinkers50; one of the Top 50 leadership experts by Inc. magazine; the #1 Communication Coach in the World by the Marshall Goldsmith Leading Global Coaches Awards; and cited by The New York Times as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.”Earlier in my career, I worked as a journalist, a presidential campaign spokesperson, and a producer of a Grammy-winning jazz album — experiences that continue to shape my perspective on influence, narrative, and credibility. I also write musical theater. If you’re thinking about how to amplify your impact and get your ideas heard more widely, I’ve created a free Recognized Expert® self-assessment: https://dorieclark.com/toolkit/

Author, Reinventing You

I'm the author of "Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future" ((Harvard Business Review Press, April 2013). Reinventing You talks about personal branding, professional reinvention, and how to take charge of one's reputation in the workplace. It has been translated into Russian, Chinese, Arabic, French, Polish, and Thai. 

Most people say they want to think long term.

But their calendars say otherwise.

We get pulled into urgent emails, last-minute requests, and daily firefighting. 

By the end of the day, there’s little space left for anything that compounds.

One simple shift can change that.

Ask yourself: what’s one small favor I can do for my future self today?

It doesn’t have to be dramatic. 
Five minutes is enough.

5 minutes reading about a topic that sharpens your expertise.
5 minutes reaching out to someone you want to stay connected to.
5 minutes building a skill that will matter more a year from now than it does today.

These are compound habits.

The return may feel invisible at first. 

But over time, the gap opens up between those who react all day and those who quietly invest.

Long-term thinking doesn’t require a massive life overhaul. 

It requires protecting a few intentional minutes.

➡ Share this with someone who’s feeling stuck in short-term urgency and needs a reminder that small actions compound.

＋ Follow Dorie Clark for ideas on building habits and reputations that grow over time.

WSJ & USA Today Bestselling Author, 4x Top Global Business Thinker | HBR & Fast Company Contributor | Fmr Duke & Columbia exec ed prof | Helping You Get Your Ideas Heard | Follow for Posts on Strategy, Brand, Marketing

If you feel behind in your career, read this.

You know that voice in your head that whispers 
"Everyone else has it figured out"?

I've heard it too.

The summer after college, I thought I'd cracked the code.
I landed an internship at a prestigious PR firm in Washington, DC.
Princeton Review called it one of the top 100 internships in the country.

Finally, I was on track.

Or so I thought.

Reality: Three months of making cold calls to reporters for $6.25 an hour.

Eight hours a day of "Hi, I'm calling about..." followed by dial tones.

I learned plenty, but most days felt like I was spinning my wheels.
Everyone around me seemed to know something I didn't.

That feeling of being behind? It stuck with me for years.

Fast forward two decades.

An email appears in my inbox from a PR firm.

They represent an Ivy League business school and want my help developing content.

They're reaching out to me as an expert.

I'm curious about the firm, so I check their Twitter handle.

It's the same company. 

The same organization that had me making those soul-crushing cold calls twenty years ago.

They'd rebranded through mergers, but it was them!

The intern who couldn't get reporters to stay on the line was now the consultant they wanted to hire.

That moment should have felt like pure victory.
Instead, I almost missed it entirely.

We do this all the time, don't we?

We're so busy looking at the gap between where we are and where we want to be.

So focused on who's ahead of us.
We forget to turn around and see the ground we've covered.

It took me 2-3 years before my blog writing created real opportunities.

Years of wondering if I was wasting my time.

But those seeds were taking root the whole time.

You're not behind.
You're building.
Even when it doesn't feel like it.

➡️ Share this if you know someone who needs the reminder that they're not behind - they're building.

⊕ Follow Dorie Clark for more insights on what it truly means to play the long game.

A while back, I spent an entire day setting up a new laptop.

8 full hours.

2 hours at the Apple store. 
6 hours transferring files, downloading from the cloud, re-entering passwords on dozens of websites.

At the time, it felt completely wasteful.

Every minute away from emails, meetings, and "real work" had me mentally calculating lost productivity.

But something unexpected happened.

That "wasted" day turned out to be one of the most productive days of my year.

Not because I got things done.

Because I stopped carrying invisible weight.

Acting sooner saved money - trade-in values decline by the day.

The new laptop solved a problem I'd been lugging around for months. 
The old one was too heavy for constant travel.

But the real revelation came when I chose NOT to transfer my old hard drive.

Instead, I started completely fresh.

For the first time in years, I had a clean system.

No accumulated files I'd forgotten about. 
No background processes I didn't know were running. 
No digital baggage quietly slowing everything down.

That's when it hit me:

I'd been faithfully moving the same junk from computer to computer for a decade.

Like packing dirty clothes into a clean suitcase and wondering why it still smells.

This is why I thought I needed massive amounts of memory. 
The problem wasn't capacity - it was clutter.

We do this everywhere. 
We think productivity means staying busy with urgent tasks.

But sometimes the most productive thing you can do looks completely unproductive.

Stephen Covey said you have to sharpen the saw. 
Most people think it's metaphorical.

It's literal.

Your computer is your saw. 
Your phone is your saw. 

Your workspace, your processes, your daily systems - they're all tools that either help or hinder.

If they're bogged down, you're bogged down.

The baggage compounds invisibly until everything feels harder than it should be.

Ask yourself:

Is there a reason to handle this now rather than later?

Will doing this impact me every day going forward?

Am I carrying forward "digital baggage" that's slowing me down?

What systems need a fresh start, not just an upgrade?

The most productive day of your month might be the one where you step away from all your "productive" work.

🛟 Save this if it changes how you think about time well spent.

📩 And if someone you know keeps saying they don't have time to reorganize their life, send this their way. 

They might need permission to "waste" time productively.

One of the most common things people tell me is this:

"I just don't have time."

It sounds reasonable. Most of us are overscheduled. 
The meetings multiply. The emails keep coming. 
The urgent always feels louder than the important.

But here's the hard truth:

Time doesn't magically appear.

It gets claimed.

And if you don't claim it intentionally, someone else will claim it for you.

We tend to treat commitments to other people as sacred. A client meeting? Of course you'll show up. A board call? Non-negotiable.

But the time you set aside to think? To reflect? To plan your future?

That's often the first thing to go.

Over time, this creates a pattern of constant reactivity. You're busy. You're productive. You're responsive.

But you're not necessarily moving forward in a meaningful way.

Short-term responsiveness is useful. It's part of being a professional.

But it can't be the only way you operate if you care about long-term impact.

That's why I'm such a believer in protecting what I call "white space."

White space is time deliberately left open.

For strategic thinking. Deep work. Relationship building.

Or advancing projects that won't get done unless you make them a priority.

If you wait for your schedule to "calm down," you'll be waiting a very long time.

Protecting that space can feel uncomfortable. 

You may have to say no. Or "not now." 
Or disappoint someone in the short term.

The good news? You don't need to block out entire days to start.

Yesterday, I talked about finding just 5 minutes for one small compound habit. 
The same principle applies here.

Even 5 minutes of protected thinking time is better than zero. 

And once you prove to yourself that you can claim that time, you can expand it.

Here are three simple ways to start:

First, treat your thinking time like any other meeting. 
If it's on your calendar, it's real.

Second, practice strategic refusal. 
Not every opportunity deserves your time, even if it's appealing.

Third, use that time intentionally. 
Not for inbox cleanup, but for work that compounds over time.

When I was writing The Long Game, I realized how much blocking white space had changed the trajectory of my career. 

Even one afternoon a week made a measurable difference.

It's rarely dramatic.

But it's powerful.

Because in the end, the professionals who shape their careers aren't the busiest ones.

They're the ones who protect time to think.

And that's a decision no one can make for you.

If this is the reminder you needed, save it.

And if someone you care about keeps saying they "don't have time" for the work that matters most, send it to them.

They might not get the time back on their own.

Is your brand strong enough to attract people who don't already know you?

Referrals are wonderful.

But they're not the same as reach.

Most professionals build a solid business inside their network.

Friends refer friends, former colleagues send work, past clients return, and yes, that's stability.

But it's not expansion.

A member of my Trajectory Mastermind, Kathryn Landis, tracks a metric I've come to love:

At least 25% of her business each year must come from people she didn't previously know.

✔ No warm introduction.

✔ No shared history.

✔ Just discovery.

Why does this matter?

Because referrals prove you're trusted.

Discovery proves you're visible.

When strangers find you through your writing, speaking, or ideas, your brand is doing real work in the marketplace.

Your message travels without you.

Your reputation scales beyond your reach.

If 100% of your business comes from your existing circle, you can build something steady.

But if 25% or more comes from outside it, you're building something that grows.

So here's the question:

What percentage of your business comes from people who found you cold?

That number might tell you more about your future than your revenue does.

➡ Share this with someone building their platform.

＋ Follow Dorie Clark for more ideas on creating a brand that compounds over time.

We’re living through a strange shift.

More information than ever.

More “connection” than ever.

And yet more professionals quietly feeling alone.

That’s why I’ve been thinking about what actually matters now.

Community - real, in-person, opt-in community.

For the past 10 years, our Recognized Expert® community has helped thoughtful professionals make their ideas travel further.

https://lnkd.in/e4VFrqBp 

This year we doubled down on something old-fashioned. 

Local leadership.

We now have 65 city captains across 18 cities, from San Francisco to London, New York to Auckland, and Chicago to Singapore. 

Volunteers who have raised their hands. 

Busy professionals.

People with full calendars who are choosing to host gatherings, convene peers and create space for meaningful conversation.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a planning call for our city captains, to meet and trade ideas. 

How can we show up best for our community? 
How can we truly make someone feel welcome? 
How can we turn acquaintances into friends? 

What struck me wasn’t the logistics.

It was the generosity.

In a time that rewards self-promotion, these people are building something pro-social.

They’re creating rooms where collaborations get forged. 

Because AI can help you produce.

But community helps you refine - and persist. 

Community helps you believe your thinking is worth continuing.

And when people feel less alone in their ideas, better work gets built.

To our city captains and everyone who showed up on that call: thank you.
A hat tip to the folks on this particular call - Ren Saguil, Miki (Michal) Feldman Simon, Julia Phelan, Ph.D, Lynn Wong, NBC-HWC, Michael Kern, Patricia Carl, Prina Shah, Janine MacLachlan, Clare Kumar, AuDHD HSP 🌻, Niha Wunnava, MHSA, Fellow ACHE, Deepak Gupta, Bhavna Toor, Gena Scurry - OverCoffeeGames - Meaningful Connections., Mallory Roth, PCC, Linda Popky, Valerie Black, MBA, CWC, Melissa Palmer, MS, CPC, Suzy Burke, PhD, Nathalie Chan King Choy, PMP, Dr. Sunita Merriman, Craig Pritsky, MGM, Tara Piazza, Jenny Lisk - and more than 40 other city captains. 

What you’re building isn’t just a meetup series.

It’s infrastructure for courage.

If you believe strong ideas deserve strong communities behind them, you’re our kind of person.

➡️  And if someone in your world is craving more meaningful professional connection, send this post their way.

It’s hard to make real friends as an adult.

Not casual networking connections.

Peers you respect. People you can build with.

Shared projects are one of the best ways I know to form those bonds. 

When thoughtful professionals:

→ Test ideas with each other
→ Challenge each other’s assumptions
→ Combine distinct lenses on the same problem
→ Stay in the conversation long enough for something original to emerge

That’s where innovation actually happens.

That's why I was so thrilled to see this recent Harvard Business Review article co-authored by Darcy Eikenberg, PCC and Tony Martignetti, MBA, PCC. 

https://lnkd.in/et9P4NXi

Darcy and Tony are both members of the Recognized Expert® community and alumni of the Trajectory Mastermind that I run.
https://lnkd.in/e4VFrqBp

They each had deep expertise long before they met.

But collaboration expanded the work.

It sharpened the thinking.

Over the past decade inside Recognized Expert®, I’ve seen this pattern again and again:

People join to amplify their ideas.
They stay because of the relationships.

And increasingly, in a world where content is abundant and trust is scarce, that community becomes the real asset.

Darcy and Tony's collaboration is a powerful example of what’s possible when smart people choose to build together.

If you’re curious how ideas actually spread — and why community matters more than ever — I explore that each week in my newsletter. 

You can subscribe here:
https://lnkd.in/gV3yKqKX

“Too busy to think” might be the most dangerous phrase in leadership right now.

Not because people aren’t working hard —
but because constant urgency crowds out our judgment.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how leaders can reclaim focus without adding more work, tools, or meetings.

One simple shift: how we decide what to say no to.

In my latest newsletter, I share four questions I use to evaluate commitments.

4 questions that help cut through busyness and refocus on what actually matters.

I’m also previewing what I’ll be speaking about at WorkHuman Live in April on this topic. 

If you don’t decide what deserves your attention, urgency will make the decision for you.

For weekly insights, subscribe to my LinkedIn Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/esJ4Bztd

Lately, I keep hearing the same phrase from senior leaders — especially in HR. “I’m just too busy to think.” We’re operating in a moment defined by di

Open article: Too Busy to Think? Reclaiming Your Focus Without Adding More Work by Dorie Clark • 2 min read

Too Busy to Think? Reclaiming Your Focus Without Adding More Work

If you want to successfully navigate career reinvention, stop rushing to settle on the first path that feels safe.

I learned this after getting laid off early in my career.

The pressure to have an answer was intense. Friends kept asking what I was going to do next. I felt like I needed to sound confident and decisive.

So I almost took the first decent offer that came along.

That would have been a mistake.

Over the past 12 years working with Deloitte's CORE Leadership program, I've helped hundreds of transitioning military veterans navigate major career changes.

The pattern is always the same.

The people who struggle most? They grab the first opportunity that feels familiar.

The ones who thrive do something counterintuitive: 
They get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Here's what I've discovered from writing Reinventing You and working with professionals in transition:

1️⃣ Don't rush for an answer

There's existential comfort in knowing where you're headed. So most people settle on a path too soon just to quiet their nerves.

But sitting in the discomfort of uncertainty to find a better, more accurate answer is where the real value lies.

The best opportunities often reveal themselves when you're patient enough to explore properly.

2️⃣ You don't have to get it right the first time

Most people worry they'll look foolish if their new job or industry doesn't work out.

Here's what they don't realize: It's rare for the first attempt to be perfect.

You need to jettison the idea of "failure" and focus on "data gathering" instead. Every move teaches you something crucial about what you actually want and where you truly fit.

3️⃣ Comparison is the enemy

It's easy to focus on what we don't have and overlook our unique experiences.

But you're only at a disadvantage if you view yourself that way.

That colonel transitioning to corporate? 
Their leadership under pressure is irreplaceable.

That nonprofit director moving to tech? 
Their mission-driven approach is exactly what companies need.

Your background isn't a deficit to overcome. It's an asset others can't replicate.

With AI and economic changes accelerating, reinvention isn't optional anymore.

The professionals who master this skill now will have a massive advantage over those who resist change.

🛟 Save this post for when you face your own transition moment for this reminder- or when someone you know does.
➕ Follow Dorie Clark for insights on career strategy and long-term thinking, drawn from real work with thousands of professionals navigating change.
📥 Get a free Reinventing You self-assessment here: https://lnkd.in/eTSsYa6H

I've raised my rates over the years and here’s  what I finally figured out:

The hardest part isn't finding the "right" number.

Doing market research. Calculating my worth. Running spreadsheets.

But that wasn't the problem.

The problem was the moment of truth.

When you have to look someone in the eye and say the number out loud.

I've watched brilliant consultants stumble over their words. 

They apologize before they even ask. 

They quote fees they know are too low.

Why? Because saying the real number feels impossible.

My good friend 📚Michael Bungay Stanier figured out the solution.

He built a successful training firm and authored The Coaching Habit, which has sold well over a million copies.

But in his early days, he was charging $200 for four one-hour coaching calls per month.

He knew he needed to raise his rates. The thought made him physically sick.

His mentor gave him this framework:

"Your going rate should be whatever scares you, plus 10%."

Then comes the part most people skip.

Stand in front of a mirror. 

Say that new number out loud.

Then say it again.

And say it again.

Do it 20 times—or however many times it takes until you stop cringing.

"At first, you'll feel like an idiot," he told me. "But the phrase loses its power through repetition."

Here's what happens:

When you can say your price with complete authority, clients take their cues from you.

If you sound confident, they assume you're worth it.

If you sound apologetic, they assume there's room to negotiate.

The real insight?

We reject ourselves more than clients reject us.

Most of us never find out what we could have earned because we never gave anyone the chance to say yes to our actual price.

📩 Save this if you've been putting off that pricing conversation.
And if someone you know keeps undervaluing their work, send this their way.

➡️ Follow Dorie Clark for more strategies on building the income you actually deserve.

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