When change hits organisations – a restructure, a redundancy, a role shift – it doesn’t just disrupt the way people work. It often shakes something deeper: people’s sense of identity. For many of us, job titles and roles become shorthand for our value and status. So when those are threatened, the reaction can be intense: resistance, anxiety, even grief. If you’re a leader navigating change, understanding what’s underneath that reaction is key, as is finding practical ways to respond with empathy and impact, says Steve Rabson Stark.
Beyond Job Titles: How Leaders Can Support Identity in Times of Change
Photo by Resume Genius / Pexels
Photo by Resume Genius / Pexels
Who would you be if you didn’t have your job?
Years ago I was the managing director of a radio station in Brighton. At the time, the station was being sold, and I busted a gut to help make that happen.
Some people became millionaires.
I didn’t – I didn’t have any shares.
I was given a nice bottle of wine. So swings and roundabouts.
I thought the sale would fix everything. The new owner had deep pockets, and for the first time in ages, we had enough money to pay all the bills. That felt like a relief.
Then they fired me.
Technically they moved me into another role and brought somebody else in as MD. (It didn’t go well. The new person was a disaster.)
But for me, it triggered a collapse of identity. I’d been “the guy who ran the radio station,” and suddenly I wasn’t.
I remember the moment I had to change my voicemail. It used to say, “You’ve reached Steve at Surf 107.2”.
Deleting that message really hit home.
My whole sense of value had been tied up in that job.
It was a turning point.
I made a decision: never again will I define myself solely by what I do for a living.
Because I am not my job. I’m me.
Who are you if your job disappears?
I ran into an old friend this week. His role is at risk of redundancy. The company offered him a different role, one they wanted him to do. He told me, “I think I won’t. I think I’ll go.”
So he did. And then immediately had a mini crisis.
Who was he going to be now?
In a Gallup survey of over 18,665 US workers, nearly 70% said their organisation experienced disruptive change within the last year – and half of them report burnout and disengagement as a consequence.
In the context of the current financial pressures facing Higher Education in the UK, a lot of people are facing similar challenges.
Why job loss or role change shakes us to the core
When your job is at risk or your role is changing or no longer needed, it’s no wonder people feel anxious, or even betrayed.
Years of discretionary effort. Loyalty. Hard work. It suddenly counts for nothing when deep cuts are being made.
If it’s your job at risk, it’s not just the fear of losing an income that affects you; it’s the sense of betrayal and the self recrimination for surrendering so much of yourself. And all those hours focused on work instead of friends and family, turned out to be a poor investment.
Alongside all that, troubling questions bubble up:
- What is my status here?
- Am I a victim or do I have agency?
- As a professional services person or as a junior academic – do I have any power?
Talking about this in our HELP group recently, one person asked, “I’m the Director of projects – if I’m not that, what am I?”
That’s the thing. For so many of us, identity gets wrapped around our role. Our job title becomes shorthand for our worth.
That person went on to reflect, “I’m also really good at directing projects, which is a skill I can apply in many different domains.”
The point: identity isn’t fixed. It’s multi-layered. It’s not one thing – it’s the sum of lots of things including what people know, love, and respect about us.
This matters organisationally.
Identity and belonging in organisations: a leadership challenge
We recently worked with a faculty at a London university, asking people which parts of the institution they identified with. Unsurprisingly people identified most with their immediate teams – a strong indicator of engagement, satisfaction and belonging. Interestingly, where we expected the sense of belonging to diminish when we looked further out from the local team, something else was happening. People identified with their department and the wider institution, but not with their school or faculty.
The reason? The study found a leadership vacuum at school and faculty levels, driven largely by unclear expectations of leadership roles. No one saw the value of them or the importance of shaping a collective identity at that level. When the inevitable faculty restructure happened people felt threatened by the change, their sense of belonging torn up by a part of the system they did not feel connected to or safe within.
Building identity beyond your job title: a personal journey
Someone asked me what advice I would give for not over-investing in one identity?
I could only say what happened for me. When I left radio I became a freelancer. I had no plan and no safety net. With a young family, that felt risky. (And it would have felt impossible if not for my wife’s salary).
But it worked out. I found work. I stayed busy.
At the same time I broadened my sense of who I was:
- I volunteered as a scout leader and enjoyed being part of a team.
- I joined the board of the local play group, and
- I picked up new skills: I took up knitting and woodwork.
By saying yes to more things and putting myself out there I reconnected with a friend and we started a business together that lasted five years. It was the precursor for ThenSomehow.
All of that came from letting go of a fixed idea of myself.
How leaders can support people through identity-shaking change
In my coaching work I am often asked to help people reframe the negative stories they tell themselves – the ones that hold them back.
And that feels like a key skill for a manager or a leader: demonstrating that you believe in a person even when they don’t believe in themselves.
Especially during change, which can be really traumatic. A reorganisation can break apart teams and communities, roles and titles. It can destabilise your sense of who you are. Especially if you have overinvested in your work identity.
It’s no wonder people often respond negatively to change.
That’s where leaders can help.
Not by giving life advice – but by noticing the signs of overinvestment and creating new kinds of opportunities:
- Encouraging people to connect outside their silos.
- Supporting people to take on projects or roles that stretch them, including outside of work.
- Highlighting skills and strengths that go beyond their current job.
- Involving everyone affected by a change in the conversation so they feel heard.
And perhaps most importantly: by modelling that yourself.
It’s a key leadership skill: helping people see that their identity is bigger than their job title.
Because change is easier to face for all of us when we know who we are beyond our roles.
So if you’re going through a restructure, it might feel like the ground’s shifting – but the truth is, you’re still you.
The work might change. The title might change. But your value doesn’t.
A case study: making change smoother through listening and clarity
One HE leader – a dean of a faculty – created a lot of space to hear people out during a change, in a really effective way:
They arranged 15-minute meetings, with a ‘no meeting without an agenda’ rule, plus a requirement to summarise the purpose in three bullet points ahead of the meeting:
- What’s this about?
- What do you want to achieve?
- What do you need from me?
This meant they could spend time with lots of people without getting swamped. This approach was critical to understanding what was really going on during the change programme.
It helped everyone feel heard, their needs recognised.
And it reduced the sense of done-to helplessness that so often drives much of the anger and frustration felt by people whose sense of self worth and agency is denied.
There was an added benefit too: their EA had enough clarity to triage meeting requests and be able to protect their time. For projects that were clear, the EA could say “yes, go ahead” without needing a meeting, or “no, it’s not thought through enough, come back with something clearer.” The EA also grew in confidence and purpose – no longer just ‘managing a diary’ but being an integral partner for the dean.
At the end of the process, the leader got a surprising compliment: “This was the smoothest reorganisation I’ve ever been part of.”
No bloodletting. Just listening, clarity, and a shared sense of agency.
Four ways leaders can help people through change
Four things you can do to lead more effectively through identity-shaking change:
- Spot signs of over-identification – in yourself and others. When someone’s self-worth seems tightly wrapped around their job, open up space to explore what else they bring. Encourage them to broaden their network, do a secondment, take a developmental course.
- Create small openings – low-risk, high-trust moments where people can show up as more than their role: peer learning groups, cross-silo projects, mentoring others, enabling volunteering.
- Model a multi-layered identity – if you are comfortable, talk openly about what matters to you beyond your job. It gives others permission to do the same.
- Take time to actively listen to people – help them feel heard, help them find what agency they can. Show them their concerns and contributions are valued and that you believe their motivations are good.
If this resonates – with you or your team – and you’re navigating change, a culture shift or have questions about identity at work, get in touch here, we’re always happy to chat.
At ThenSomehow we help universities and other HE organisations build emotional literacy, increase empathy, and help you see the world differently, giving you practical tools to shift the stuff that’s stuck.