What's Next After Being Let Go After 50

For many accomplished professionals being let go in midlife from a career path they spent years or decades building can be challenging. The loss of identity, significance and routine is the hardest to manage during the transition.

Sometimes we see it coming. Other times it comes unexpectedly. There are many reasons companies use to validate it: we're going through a restructuring, we need to cut overhead, we're heading in a new direction organizationally and your role is no longer needed or the one being used more and more - AI is now taking on that role. Regardless of which you may find yourself on the receiving end of, it's never comfortable or easy to manage. When the shock, surprise or disappointment ends most accomplished professionals will find themselves waking up one day feeling completely out of sorts. The chaos that used to rule your daily routine is now void of any significance. Your calendar is empty. There are no back-to-back meetings, no Slack messages blowing up or countless emails to respond to. Just radio silence. In this wake of silence our nervous systems kick into high gear. We are used to the rush and the adrenaline of having three coffees by 10 a.m. and four meetings already in the books. Our nervous system doesn't know what to do in the silence and calm and so it does what it is trained to do - go on high alert.

This new place you find yourself in seems strange, odd and completely uncomfortable. Your nervous system doesn't like it. It's too quiet. It's too different. It's weird.

Suddenly you find yourself on the outside looking in. This is when the onslaught of questions and doubt creeps in. What did I do to deserve being laid off? Am I too old to be useful and valued in this industry anymore? Was I being unreasonable? Could I have done anything different to avoid being laid off or let go from my career? And then there's the big one - "What's Next?"

Even if the decision to leave a company was your own decision, life on the other side of that decision looks similar. Some of the questions you find yourself asking may be slightly different. What do I want to do now that I'm no longer in my old role? What direction should I consider now that I'm no longer with the company? What do I really want? Who am I now without the role, title or significance?

Reaching the midlife transition point in your life brings with it a deeper reflection of who we are and what matters to us now? You have built up enough credibility and credentials to prove your expertise and value. The question becomes, do you want to continue using it or is there something within you, calling you to something more, something different.

For many of the people I work with and even in my own experience of going through this exact event, the desire to understand "Who I am now?" beyond the version of ourselves that built our success is a powerful, driving curiosity. But it's also one the more difficult questions to ask because the sheer nature of it requires us to decouple who we were, the roles we played and the titles we held with the significance that came with them and see ourselves for who we truly are. This ultimately leads us to an even deeper question - "What. is my purpose?"

I call this phase "Identity Decoupling" and it is a foundation within the program I offer to my clients. I strongly believe the adage of reinventing ourselves is flawed. A main reason why many accomplished professionals feel a sense of identity loss and disruption after a career exit or sale of a business is because their identity was based on what they did, not who they are.

We all do it. We all describe who we are by what we do. We are the CEO, the VP, the designer, photographer, the business owner. Until one day, we aren't.

Most people hold on to the titles and roles they held because it's easier than trying to define who they are now. Quite simply, it's hard to even describe yourself without it. But this is the work that must be explored in order to build a new chapter that gives us a sense of meaning and purpose. Through self-awareness comes self-authority. When you truly know who you are and the values that define you, everything beyond that becomes clear. It becomes the measurement for determining what truly aligns to you. What to do next, what to consider in your next role or next avenue to explore becomes easy to determine if it fits you or not.

What do you do when everything you thought defined you, ends? This was a question I found myself exploring after my nearly three decades of global leadership ended. There was mixed feelings. On one hand I was grieving the loss of an identity I spent decades building. But on the other hand, something within me knew this change was a good thing. Like so many accomplished professionals, I was burnt out. I sacrificed everything for my career. Vacations with laptops and important Zoom calls. Stepping away from the table at anniversary dinners to take an important call. Staying up late every night to just finish off emails. The politics that came with the global leadership role and constantly trying to figure out everyone's ulterior motives. It was all very unhealthy but sacrifices I was willing to make for the salary and significance that came with the role. When it ends, it all ends. People stop calling or texting. The circle of friends gets smaller because you realize many of them were just colleagues. In the stillness, the wake of the exit, there is a void. You're no longer who you were but you also don't know who you are. The most important thing you can do at this point is to take the time to figure it out. Not jumping into the next thing right away allows you to get your bearings. To set intention. To understand what it is you really want and why.

Regardless how and why your last chapter ended, you are standing at the threshold of a new chapter. One where you get to determine how it unfolds. You get to benefit from the experience of all that you've been through and use it shape everything you've dreamed of.

How are you going to write your next chapter? I can't wait to see it. Author: Kevin Simcock