This is so important. And especially daunting if you’re trying to change how your *team* has been treated historically. My challenge: stop treating marketing like a fast food counter. Don’t just pull up and “order.”
Nice post, Jennifer. The way work identities get formed under old conditions and then quietly frozen is something I have seen and experienced many times.
One thing I've learned from my experience is that even when someone does this work well, the system does not always update its view of them. Sometimes it is not the company, but a specific team or manager that learned an older version and keeps referencing it.
I have seen people make fundamental changes and only have them fully recognized after moving to a new team or reporting line, not because the change suddenly worked, but because the audience was new. Same behavior, different read.
It does not take away from your message. If anything, it explains why reinvention sometimes leads to renewal where you are, and other times to a move that finally lets the new version be seen.
In all your changes you describe, how did these land for you?
"Sometimes it is not the company, but a specific team or manager that learned an older version and keeps referencing it." Oh, absolutely. I’ve advised people more than once that, in some cases, leaving really is the only way the system will update. Painful, but true.
Where I've seen small changes work is in my current role. I realized I’d brought old habits with me from a previous, toxicenvironment, specifically around holding back ideas and softening my input. I had to stop and really take stock of why I was hired in the first place, what I was being trusted to do, and what value I was actually there to bring.
I started offering ideas as statements rather than questions, which altered how my contributions landed and how others engaged with them.
So I’ve seen both outcomes, and yes, I agree that, unfortunately, sometimes reinvention only fully lands with a new audience.
Thank you, Jennifer, for yet another excellent post. It's really made me consider my own work persona and how it's been shaped by my current work environment and that of working in higher education over the past two decades. I also love the permission that you gave us to make a change without being overly dramatic, and it's definitely something that I'm going to be taking with me into the New Year, along with a Bolo tie, of course. Thank you for the inspiration.
“So here’s my end-of-year wish for you: not a new identity, or a new personality, or a “new you.” Just a more current version of you, one that better reflects who you’ve become.”
🥺 I’ll thank YOU for being a small group of people on Substack who have really helped show me who I really am, not because it’s new but because I’ve been taught to hide. ❤️
Jen this is great advice. It's so easy to get bogged down in routine, it makes sense to step back and reassess what work patterns are actually draining your energy. Some of the changes we can make, but not until we have a better understanding of how we are processing our current work load. Something to think about, thank you!
Once I took a step back and really assessed how I show up at work, I realized that there were quite a few pointless habits holding me back. Not anymore!
The list of things you're allowed to do at work is so helpful! I find that many people (myself included) appreciate the explicit permission to do things. Something like asking for what you need seems SO OBVIOUS, but some of us need the extra push to actually do it!
First, I absolutely had all the different colors of Cross Colours clothing. I swear I thought no one remembered that brand! I even had the “Love Sees No Color” t-shirt (which I don’t subscribe to anymore — I see and embrace color). Those really were the days.
Second, great post as always. When you wrote that “sometimes the only thing that breaks the pattern is a change within the system,” it really landed for me because the thing that broke the pattern in my own life was getting laid off.
Would I have kept self-editing in exchange for authenticity? Honestly, yes, I think I would have. I didn’t fully realize how exhausted I was until the pressure was suddenly gone. In a strange way, they had to make that decision for me to finally wake up (and that waking up is still a work in progress).
Somewhere along the way, I lost touch with my earlier professional self… the version of me that existed before a toxic environment took over. Now, without that constant pressure, I can breathe again… and start rediscovering and reinventing who I am professionally.
Oof. You just hit a nerve. This hits hard when DEI is embedded in HR. You are forced to fit into an age old system that refuses to adapt and that makes any semblance of equity performative and unacheievable. It can be expanded to anyone in the workplace. In my world of the public sector, the city managers are the mediator between the politicians and city staff. But sadly there isnt much leadership in that respect. Im sure its the same between any board, the CEO, and staff. People don't understand how "fit" is mentally exhausting and psychologically unsafe.
Yup. When systems refuse to adapt, people end up doing the adapting instead, and that’s where the exhaustion and psychological risk come from. It's unsafe.
This is so important. And especially daunting if you’re trying to change how your *team* has been treated historically. My challenge: stop treating marketing like a fast food counter. Don’t just pull up and “order.”
Nice post, Jennifer. The way work identities get formed under old conditions and then quietly frozen is something I have seen and experienced many times.
One thing I've learned from my experience is that even when someone does this work well, the system does not always update its view of them. Sometimes it is not the company, but a specific team or manager that learned an older version and keeps referencing it.
I have seen people make fundamental changes and only have them fully recognized after moving to a new team or reporting line, not because the change suddenly worked, but because the audience was new. Same behavior, different read.
It does not take away from your message. If anything, it explains why reinvention sometimes leads to renewal where you are, and other times to a move that finally lets the new version be seen.
In all your changes you describe, how did these land for you?
"Sometimes it is not the company, but a specific team or manager that learned an older version and keeps referencing it." Oh, absolutely. I’ve advised people more than once that, in some cases, leaving really is the only way the system will update. Painful, but true.
Where I've seen small changes work is in my current role. I realized I’d brought old habits with me from a previous, toxicenvironment, specifically around holding back ideas and softening my input. I had to stop and really take stock of why I was hired in the first place, what I was being trusted to do, and what value I was actually there to bring.
I started offering ideas as statements rather than questions, which altered how my contributions landed and how others engaged with them.
So I’ve seen both outcomes, and yes, I agree that, unfortunately, sometimes reinvention only fully lands with a new audience.
Thank you, Jennifer, for yet another excellent post. It's really made me consider my own work persona and how it's been shaped by my current work environment and that of working in higher education over the past two decades. I also love the permission that you gave us to make a change without being overly dramatic, and it's definitely something that I'm going to be taking with me into the New Year, along with a Bolo tie, of course. Thank you for the inspiration.
2026 will be known as the year of the bolo tie. I hope.
Something we can all get behind. 😂
“So here’s my end-of-year wish for you: not a new identity, or a new personality, or a “new you.” Just a more current version of you, one that better reflects who you’ve become.”
🥺 I’ll thank YOU for being a small group of people on Substack who have really helped show me who I really am, not because it’s new but because I’ve been taught to hide. ❤️
❤️ I’m so fortunate to be connected to you.
Jen this is great advice. It's so easy to get bogged down in routine, it makes sense to step back and reassess what work patterns are actually draining your energy. Some of the changes we can make, but not until we have a better understanding of how we are processing our current work load. Something to think about, thank you!
Thanks, Mack.
Once I took a step back and really assessed how I show up at work, I realized that there were quite a few pointless habits holding me back. Not anymore!
The list of things you're allowed to do at work is so helpful! I find that many people (myself included) appreciate the explicit permission to do things. Something like asking for what you need seems SO OBVIOUS, but some of us need the extra push to actually do it!
First, I absolutely had all the different colors of Cross Colours clothing. I swear I thought no one remembered that brand! I even had the “Love Sees No Color” t-shirt (which I don’t subscribe to anymore — I see and embrace color). Those really were the days.
Second, great post as always. When you wrote that “sometimes the only thing that breaks the pattern is a change within the system,” it really landed for me because the thing that broke the pattern in my own life was getting laid off.
Would I have kept self-editing in exchange for authenticity? Honestly, yes, I think I would have. I didn’t fully realize how exhausted I was until the pressure was suddenly gone. In a strange way, they had to make that decision for me to finally wake up (and that waking up is still a work in progress).
Somewhere along the way, I lost touch with my earlier professional self… the version of me that existed before a toxic environment took over. Now, without that constant pressure, I can breathe again… and start rediscovering and reinventing who I am professionally.
Thank you for helping me self-reflect. 💗
Oof. You just hit a nerve. This hits hard when DEI is embedded in HR. You are forced to fit into an age old system that refuses to adapt and that makes any semblance of equity performative and unacheievable. It can be expanded to anyone in the workplace. In my world of the public sector, the city managers are the mediator between the politicians and city staff. But sadly there isnt much leadership in that respect. Im sure its the same between any board, the CEO, and staff. People don't understand how "fit" is mentally exhausting and psychologically unsafe.
Yup. When systems refuse to adapt, people end up doing the adapting instead, and that’s where the exhaustion and psychological risk come from. It's unsafe.