Having a diverse work portfolio

In recent months, I had been pondering whether I should continue to maintain a diverse work portfolio. In the past few years, I have written freelance articles (some more tech-oriented, like what I wrote for TechVibes, some focused on coworking like what I’ve published with The Network Hub blog), taught university-level and college-level, coached clients (business strategy), undertaken consulting assignments.

My recent consulting projects have spanned a broad variety of fields, including social media implementation, public and environmental policy analysis and business and corporate strategy. Moreover, I have continued to do the rest of what traditional academics are expected to do: conduct research, write grant proposals and grant-funding reports, mentor undergraduate and graduate students.

For a while there, I had considered not taking on more coaching clients. Not adding any more students to my roster. But to be quite frank, I like a diverse work life. I enjoy being an academic while I am at the university, an instructor when I am at the college, a consultant when I am in meetings with clients, and a researcher when I am in non-traditional-yet-still-scholarly settings.

I think that there is enormous value to diversifying your work portfolio. Not to spread yourself thin, but to make the best use of your training. After all, as I explained yesterday to the academic folks who were at my workshop on social media to advance our research – I started out in the natural sciences and engineering, went to business school for my MBA and now have a PhD with multidisciplinary (public policy, geography, planning, environmental policy-social science) focus. I kind of like it that way.

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