Multiple careers are better than one

By Luke Johnson
Published: February 15 2011 21:41 | Last updated: February 15 2011 21:41

I have always been transfixed by those who lead multiple careers. They are the ones who refuse to be typecast but instead break convention by embracing a variety of roles, sometimes simultaneously, more often consecutively. To me they are among the most impressive businesspeople, switching vocations and accumulating new skills as they go, achieving great feats across different disciplines. Undoubtedly one of the true joys of being an entrepreneur is that you are not trapped in one stifling occupation but are free to roam.
There was much less prejudice against such wholesale reinventions in previous eras. Characters such as Benjamin Franklin were not seen as dilettantes, despite the fact that he was an author, inventor, printer and politician – among myriad other activities. Above all, he was a man who believed one should make one's mark in the world and not waste time. I have a poster on my wall from the RSA, where he was a fellow, with a marvellous quote from him: "If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing."
These sorts of legendary polymaths must be human whirlwinds, forever in motion, leading three lives while the rest of us struggle to make progress in just one. But there is no good reason why anyone should be obliged to stick neurotically to a single work trajectory for half a century. We shall probably all have to earn a living until the age of 70, so why not plan to convert to a different field of endeavour in midlife? It is the way to avoid the boredom of sticking to just one discipline.
A more recent renaissance figure is John Freeman. Face to Face, his pioneering series of television interviews from 1958 to 1962, has just been re-released on DVD by the BBC. He pursued an astonishing variety of trades. After university he served as an officer in the second world war, became a Labour MP for 10 years, then worked as a broadcaster, edited the New Statesman magazine, served as British ambassador in Washington, then as chairman of television company LWT, finally becoming a university professor in California. It is his 96th birthday this week. Could someone in the 21st century shift professions so seamlessly? I fear they would be dismissed as amateurish or lightweight. Yet surely the experience accumulated across a range of crafts can be immensely valuable. If you focus for decades on one narrow speciality, then you risk becoming blinkered and stale. I accept that "domain knowledge" is essential to excel in any calling. But 20 years must be sufficient to become truly expert. What then? Clearly, casting aside all that training, those qualifications, networks and reference points, is a scary step. Yet where is the excitement in an existence of routine and predictability? We should all attempt to pursue life-long learning in pastures new as a fundamental goal.
Ronald Reagan is another great example of defiance towards those who would pigeonhole you. Initially he enjoyed reasonable success as a Hollywood actor, served in the US Army, and then became a union boss, as president of the Screen Actors Guild. Subsequently, he worked as a spokesman for General Electric and was later elected governor of California. In the 1980s, he was twice elected US president and is considered by many of his countrymen to be the most successful holder of that office in modern times. Reagan skilfully used his early jobs to gain public recognition, master the art of public oration, understand leadership and develop an appeal to ordinary citizens. A rather more interesting way to gain judgment and credibility than working as a party hack, which so many of today's politicians appear to do as their form of apprenticeship.
Not everyone can afford to make wholesale changes to their livelihoods while in their prime – but many actually fail to do it through fear or laziness. Yet even cautious individuals can enjoy renewal once they are notionally retired from a first career. Everyone possesses a range of talents; and we should all aim to have second or even third acts in our working lives.