In my conversation with Doug Thorpe on the Leadership Powered by Common Sense podcast, we got into something I see all the time with mid-career professionals, and something I lived through myself, what happens when your identity is tied too tightly to your job.
When that job goes away, whether it’s a layoff, a bad boss, or just a wrong fit, it doesn’t just feel like a career setback. It feels personal.
One idea we kept coming back to is this: in order to invent your future, you have to reconcile your past.
That means taking an honest look at the moments you’d rather avoid, the bad exits, the embarrassing situations, the decisions you wish you hadn’t made, and actually making peace with them. Not spinning them, not hiding them, but understanding them.
Because if you don’t, they follow you into every conversation. They show up in interviews. They shape how you present yourself. And they quietly erode your confidence.
But when you do that work, something shifts. You stop trying to “recover” what you lost and start moving forward with a clearer sense of who you are and what you bring.
That’s where better conversations come from. Not more applications, better conversations.
If you’ve ever had a career moment that still sticks with you, this one might resonate. Take a listen to the full conversation with Doug Thorpe.
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