For years, I rode the wave of corporate success. The stages were big, the applause was constant, and the accolades seemed to stack up endlessly. My obsession with workplace experience and corporate culture led to the label "Mr.
Employee Experience," being applied to me—a title that catapulted me to international stages and boardrooms. My books, talks, and ideas on employee experience made an impact globally, positioning me as a thought leader in the field. To most, I'd made it.
But that's only part of the story. What most people don't know is that, in the middle of the whirlwind, I hit a wall. I still remember the period of time that rocked me, and it just so happened to be one of the most successful periods of my career.
In 2021, I was recognized by Thinkers50 —dubbed the " Oscars of Management Thinking" by The Financial Times as one of the world's top emerging management thinkers. I was also a finalist for the Distinguished Achievement Award, which was won by Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix . I'd finally broken through as a top management thinker, and then finally, I started to get some recognition from my chosen profession—human resources—after being named one of HR's Most Influential Thinkers by HR Magazine with the awards taking place at one of the most famous historical buildings in the world, St.
Paul's Cathedral in London, U.K. Yet, all of this felt like something of a culmination of a journey—an ending of sorts.
Instead of trying to shake this feeling off, I .
