Who Am I Now — The Question Waiting Behind Every Job Title

When the Job Title Goes: rebuilding professional identity and self-worth after a role ends

Julian Reeve spent his career being introduced by his job title, first as the music director of Hamilton on Broadway, until a stress induced heart attack at 43 and an injury two years later took the role away. He argues that most people answer the identity question with a job description, which works right up to the moment the work changes, and that AI is now forcing that reckoning on whole professions at once. Drawing on the years he spent shaping the careers of thousands of performers and, later, C suite leaders and their organizations, he separates what somebody does from the qualities that made them worth hiring in the first place. He is the author of Captain Perfection and the Secret of Self-Compassion, and he uses his own rebuild to show how confidence returns when self worth stops depending on a role. Listeners leave able to describe their value without naming their job, which is the answer that survives the next restructure.

About Julian Reeve

Julian Reeve, podcast guest

Author and International Keynote Speaker on Unmistakable Identity™ and Human Advantage in the Age of AI.

20+ Broadway productions worldwide7 Productions in London's West EndTEDx Speaker On perfectionism and sustainable performance3 methodologies Perfect Equilibrium®, Unmistakable Identity™ and Intentional Synthesis™

Julian Reeve is an international keynote speaker helping leaders and organizations create Human Advantage in the age of AI. He works between Los Angeles and London.

Born and educated in Cambridge, England, Julian spent 25 years in elite performance, working on more than 20 Broadway productions worldwide including seven in London's West End. After moving to the United States he became music director of Hamilton, winning the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Music Direction, conducting record-breaking productions in San Francisco and Washington D.C., and leading the Puerto Rico production alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda.

In 2017, after conducting a performance of the Broadway phenomenon Hamilton, Julian suffered a stress-induced heart attack. He was 43 years old. Two years later, a repetitive strain injury ended his performing career altogether.

These events provoked a profound re-evaluation of the relationship between achievement, burnout, identity, and work design. His findings formed the foundations of his Perfect Equilibrium and Intentional Synthesis frameworks, and informed his TEDx Talk on perfectionism, his children's book Captain Perfection and the Secret of Self-Compassion, and articles for major media outlets including The Hill and Fast Company Magazine.

Today, Julian's work is built around one powerful idea: Unmistakable Identity will become the foundation of human advantage as AI redefines work and human value.

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204. Julian Reeve. Unmistakable Identity.
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The Future Of The Future· Listen to Julian Reeve on air