Underneath The Title: When High Achievers Start Questioning the Success They Built
You did everything right. Built the career. Earned the title. Hit the number. And somewhere along the way, you stopped recognizing the person doing it.
Underneath The Title is a podcast for executives and senior leaders who have experienced a significant exit and are starting to ask the questions they've been too busy to ask: Who am I when the role goes away? What was I actually building toward? Is this it?
Host Kevin Simcock spent 25 years leading creative work for some of the world's most recognized brands at global ad agencies like Y&R, Havas and Ogilvy. He was furloughed from a global VP role at 50, turned down the replacement offer, and chose to figure out what success actually meant to him. What he found changed everything.
Each episode goes beneath the surface of professional identity to explore what drives the decisions we make, the success we chase, and the fulfilment we keep expecting to arrive. Kevin draws on his own experience, his work with senior leaders and business owners navigating major transitions, and his framework, The Dance, which holds that your professional and personal identity were never meant to be separate.
If you're in the middle of a transition, questioning what comes next, or simply wondering why the success you've built feels quieter than you expected, this show was made for you.
New episodes bi-weekly. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
Kevin is also the author of Whose Ladder Is This? and an executive advisor working one-to-one with high-achievers navigating identity and transition.
Purchase Kevin Simcock's Book: Whose Ladder Is This?
Available on Amazon Kindle, paperback and hardcover HERE
Barnes & Noble here
Indigo Books here
Visit kevinsimcock.com for more information
LinkedIn Profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-simcock/
Underneath The Title: When High Achievers Start Questioning the Success They Built
The Hidden Cost of Exit: What No One Tells You About Exiting A Business & Executive Leadership
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Everyone talks about the exit. Nobody talks about what comes after it.
If you've recently stepped away from a business you built, a company you led, or an executive role that defined you for decades and something feels off, you're not broken. You're navigating one of the most underestimated transitions a leader can face.
In this episode of Underneath The Title, Kevin Simcock breaks down the three invisible costs of exit that executive leaders almost never see coming: identity shock, status withdrawal, and routine collapse. These aren't soft concepts. They are real, measurable forces that distort your decision-making, strain your relationships, and quietly erode the legacy you spent years building, if you don't address them directly.
Kevin draws on 25+ years of working with Fortune 500 leaders and founder-CEOs to explain why even the most accomplished executives are blindsided by exit, and what to actually do about it.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN:
Why identity fuses with your role over decades and what happens when that role disappears
The three danger responses to status withdrawal that lead smart leaders into bad decisions
How to design a new operating rhythm when the institutional structure that organized your life is gone
The 90-day rule Kevin uses with every client post-exit
Three conversations every leader needs to have before making any major next move
WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR:
This episode is for founders and executives who have exited, or are preparing to exit, a business or senior leadership position and are navigating the identity, purpose, and direction questions that follow. If you've ever thought "Who am I, if I don't have my title anymore?" after a successful exit, this one is for you.
CONNECT WITH KEVIN:
Website: kevinsimcock.com
Purchase Kevin Simcock's Book: Whose Ladder Is This?
Available on Amazon Kindle, paperback and hardcover HERE
Barnes & Noble here
Indigo Books here
Interested in working with Kevin visit kevinsimcock.com for more information.
Check out more episodes of Underneath The Title on YouTube
https://youtube.com/@kevinsimcock
Host: Kevin Simcock
LinkedIn Profile https://linkedin.com/kevin-simcock
