Identity Reinvention.
The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past.Edition 306.
Have you been thinking about reinventing your career?
Are you at a stage of life that you find yourself either climbing the wrong ladder or have found there are no upward rungs available to you? Are are beginning to realize that time is running out as you get older? Or that meaning has drained from your work?
Or you may be thriving and yet the time has come for something else but you do not want to retire or cannot retire. A time where an internal feeling or a voice is speaking truth to you but also leaving you confused and a little scared. You are concerned about if and what and how to move forward?
A majority of people in middle to late career are also grappling with these questions more now than ever before. A combination of tectonic shifts driven by a) work and jobs uncoupling, b) the rise of AI, c) the struggle to manage and lead teams across generations and time zones, d) the need to take care of aging parents or children are leaving many overwhelmed, stressed and directionless.
On “ The Rethinking Work Show ”, I had the opportunity to have a discussion with Julie Fedele who after 15 years of being a successful corporate leader reinvented herself. Today Julie has a multi-income stream career including being a work strategist and coach for women. Julie and I had a conversation sharing and comparing learnings and insights on reinventing one’s work identity. You will learn from someone like Julie herself who created a new identity mid-career. You will gain insights and findings she has compiled while guiding her clients. And you will learn from my own experience as someone who began a different second chapter after a very successful multi-decade first chapter. We share both the good and the bad. Take advantage of our experience so that you do not have to scrape your knees when learning to cycle.
After listening to our conversation I am convinced that there are few places where in less than 45 minutes without any cost that you will learn more about the real challenges of career reinvention. We provide practical and realistic advice. We share the nuanced moves one needs to make. Expect to be fired up with actionable inspiration about plotting your future career moves. And because we discuss all the benefits of one’s existing job while giving you the ability to start planning options, we may leave you embracing your current role with greater fervor and clarity versus just muddling along.
I have shared just 10 of many take-aways from our conversation below. And here are the links so you can listen to the entire conversation:
YouTube.
Spotify (also on Apple as The Rethinking Work Show):
10 Takeaways on Identity Reinvention.
1. Climb the right ladder or ask if you wish to climb a ladder at all: In time many of us may discover that we are climbing a ladder that we no longer want to climb. For some of us we realize we do not want to climb any ladder!
2. Few people understand or care about our job titles outside our company or industry: Too often we describe what we do by sharing out title versus what we deliver and what are skills are. The way we present ourselves on LinkedIn may not be the way to present if we want to reinvent. There is a translation problem in that we speak about what we do and what we are expert at, rather than what others want to hear which is how we can help them or solve their issues.
3. It was not us who were important but our budgets and companies: Too many people realize that nobody calls when they no longer have their old title or a budget. Many of our close “friends” were friends of our budgets and companies and not us. Be generous and helpful and stand for something that is separate from a work title. Learn to operate like a company of one even when in a company of thousands by building expertise, reputation and networks that are about yourself versus just the firm. One of the most popular pieces in this Substack is called “ A Company of One” and it is here:
A Company of One.
It is projected that in 2027, 86.5 million people will be freelancing in the United States making 50.1 percent of the population.
4. Three keys to the new work and identity are a) excavating evidence, b) “light you up” energy and c) market need: We should do an archeological dig in our past to find evidence of our expertise, look for work that “lights us up from inside” versus impressing those outside and focus on addressing a market need.
5. Successful moves require phases and patience: It is critical to realize that moving from one career to another will take time and one needs Plan B’s to address income and health care needs. The best time to plan for next is when one has a job. And if one does not have a job when looking for work it is critical to be realistic about the time it will take and not give up.
6. Change is uncomfortable: Moving from a corporate career to something different and more aligned with what one wants presents challenges beyond money and health care. There are struggles with a lack of identity, an absence of structure with an empty calendar, and a feeling that one is no longer needed. Many people will not believe you are taking a different path and expect you to announce a big new role! Others might speculate about your reasons for moving in not so pleasant ways.
7. Portfolio careers no longer occur only at the end of a career: Very often people who finish a full time job begin a portfolio career of board seats, volunteer work, writing and other activities. These days one can and should think of launching a portfolio career early or mid-career. The key is to create optionality. Today 70 percent of GenZ folks have a side gig or hustle while holding a full time job.
8. Untie versus cut: Increasingly if you are well regarded in your firm you can work with your management to loosen your ties with your company without cutting them. Even if you have to leave completely do so with as much elegance and grace as possible. Where you worked, the people you worked with and the learnings you gleaned will always be a part of you.
9. Companies are starting to look for talent in new ways: As AI and demographic changes of aging population make more and more experienced people work outside of a firm, smart HR teams are focussing on connecting to and leveraging external talent as much as internal talent. In an agentic age the crystalized intelligence, seasoned judgement and new cutting edge AI expertise is likely as available outside a firm as they are inside a firm.
10. It is more up to us than we think: The future does not adapt to us. We have to adapt to the future. We have agency not just agents. Over time people regret “the errors of omission” more than “the errors of commission”.
The chances we did not take.
The choices we did not make.
The changes we did not let happen…
One Single Thing.
It’s not just our careers but also communications, marketing and leadership that are being reinvented! Come and learn from these leaders in Chicago on July 16 and 17 at the Velocity Conference:
Northwestern’s Medill School of Communications where Integrated Marketing Communications was invented ( in part by the late Professor Don Schultz) and The Athena Project on Modern Leadership ( which Drew Ianni and I co-founded) announce the first annual Velocity Conference where some of the most amazing leaders and pioneers will convene. The annual Don Schultz award will be part of the program and the 2026 honoree is Wendy Clark.
Above are some of the speakers. Tickets are very limited for the conference on July 16 and 17 in downtown Chicago. You can see agenda, request tickets, and much more at https://velocitychicago26.com/
I’m in the middle of professional reinvention right now, and this resonates so much.
I was in a room recently where a very senior person described their role for ten minutes and never once said what problem they actually solved. They described the structure around them. The team size. The budget. When that structure disappeared, so did the answer to the question "what am I for."
The point about budgets and titles being proxies for identity is the one most people don't confront until it's too late. The excavation work you describe, finding evidence of actual expertise separate from the org chart, is something very few companies help people do. And almost none do it before the moment of crisis.