Welcome to another episode of the Identity Work podcast! This week we welcome CEO, career journeyman, long-time friend, and super fan Brendon Marks. Brendon is the CEO of Capture H2O, a company that provides water treatment services to some of the largest companies in the world. He joins us from San Diego, CA to discuss his career journey and the challenges he's experienced along the way.

Our conversation covers Brendon's advice for the podcast, the impact of life challenges on work, reflections on work pressure, being the boss, establishing company culture, career pivots, entrepreneurship, trends in heating/cooling, and more.

Takeaways

• Life challenges reset our capacity and align our priorities, but overcoming them doesn't always bring a lasting perspective shift
• Dream jobs are still going to be 10% great days, 80% meh days, and 10% bad days. Shifting your mindset from expecting 100% amazing days to a more realistic perspective is key to experiencing meaning at work.
• Meaning in work can be found, created, or shared, and it often comes from the people you work with and the mission you're trying to achieve.
• Skill building in your twenties leads to meaningful work in your 30s

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction
• 06:16 Brendan's Advice and Reflections
• 13:11 Work Structure and Time Tracking
• 17:54 Reflections on Work and Pressure
• 24:01 Being the Boss and Company Culture
• 29:00 Career Pivots and Entrepreneurship
• 37:30 Long-Term Career Perspective
• 48:09 Effectiveness of LinkedIn Ads

In this week's episode, Lexi Reiff joins us for a conversation on self-perception and identity. It's a dense but fun one! We discuss the impact of work on personal identity, exploring the evolving self-concept and the question of 'Who Am I?'. We reflect on the challenges of identity shifts and the cultivation of a sense of self, providing insights into the complex relationship between work and personal identity.

The conversation covers identity across a range of ideas, delving into the exploration of personal identity and self-perception, discussing the concept of additive vs. subtractive identity, shifts in financial identity, LinkedIn identity and perception, and the intertwining of political identity and partisanship.

Topics

• The impact of work on personal identity and self-perception
• Shifts in personal identity over time. Are they good or bad? How do we manage them?
• AI (as always)
• Artists who's personal life ruin their music

Chapters

• 04:54 Exploring the Impact of Work on Identity
• 10:00 Re-evaluating Identity and Evolving Self-Concept
• 16:48 The Question of 'Who Am I?'
• 22:08 Cultivating a Sense of Self
• 27:01 Additive vs. Subtractive Identity
• 32:46 Art and Identity
• 39:56 Political Identity and Partisanship

Ever felt outside of the 'room where it happens?' We have.

This episode dives in to the power of the inner circle based on C.S. Lewis's article on our insatiable desire for joining increasingly exclusive groups. We discuss the power of inner circles, the struggles pursuing them, and better substitutes for that desire. We also delve into the challenges of managing a large quantity of work, the impact it has on individuals, and our evolving roles in the age of AI.

Join us for another great episode of the Identity Work Podcast!

Takeaways

• Desire for inclusion in the inner circle can be a chief motive in work life
• Anchoring identity in the task itself rather than in external recognition is important for contentment Managing a large quantity of work can be overwhelming and challenging, leading to burnout and a sense of constant pressure.
• The future of work and consulting is evolving, with a focus on managing AI agents and the changing nature of job roles.

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction
• 07:41 Desire for Influence and Approval from Others
• 19:14 Anchoring Identity in the Task and Contentment in Work
• 26:24 Managing a Large Quantity of Work
• 32:39 The Future of Work and Consulting