Hi Reader,

This week is about an update on my encore career chapter. To say the least, it's been a winding road. But, there's a twist I didn't see coming, and I want to share it with you.

For context, this year I've taught Fulfillment Centric Leadership™ to oncologists, healthcare administrators, college faculty, general managers, VPs and senior HR leaders.

The core message hasn't changed, but the use cases have. I began by focusing on employee engagement with a simple idea. Fulfilled employees are more engaged. Engaged employees perform better, so the organization benefits from fulfilled employees.

Then, I was asked to apply these principles to help leaders address AI adoption, which led to The Human Dividend™. Then, I was asked to offer leaders personal and professional development which led to Leading Self, Leading Others, Leading through Change.

Then, I was asked to apply the same core principles to help small business owners sell more effectively, which led to Self Aware Selling.

And, the through-line for all of it is one principle.

It all starts with self-awareness.

Back to the winding road thing. The road to my encore career began in South Bend, Indiana, where I learned what it means to be in an encore career chapter.

In episode 308, you'll hear my story of how I first shared my hypothesis for fulfillment-centric leadership based on the five life pillars when I had the privilege of speaking at the Inspired Leadership Initiative (ILI) at the University of Notre Dame.

The ILI program is for individuals in search of an encore chapter. This is where I learned the significance of "encore career" and laid the groundwork for mine.

​Episode 308 is part one of a two-part series where I reveal how the foundational framework of my training has evolved to address different needs.

The beneficiaries are different, but the common need is the answer to this question:

𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆?
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The only way to answer this question is to be self-aware.

Whatever journey you're on, it's likely to be a winding road. The turns you didn't plan for are often where your work finds its next purpose.

Next week, in episode 309, I'm digging into what happens when self-awareness meets selling, and why the most effective sellers I know aren't always the most polished. They're the most self-aware.

What's a turn in your road you didn't see coming?

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In this week's episode 308 the main point is this.

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Did you know that you can watch each week's episode on my YouTube channel? 👇🏼

Each video is produced with visual elements to help bring the story alive beyond the audio. If podcast consumption on YouTube is new to you, give it a try! 😎

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Download The Human Dividend White Paper: A Leader's Guide to Human-Led AI Transformation

​https://fulfilledatworkacademy.com/services/human-led-ai-transformation/​

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You Can Catch This Week's Episode:

Listen on Apple​
Listen on Spotify​
Listen on Overcast​
Listen on our Website​
Watch on YouTube​

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40 Years In, I Walked Away. Then the Road Started to Wind.

Have you ever reinvented yourself? Not a tweak, a real reinvention. After four decades in B2B marketing, including almost 20 years running my own agency, I walked away. I was burned out and I wasn’t fulfilled. In episode 308, part 1 of 2, I’m sharing the unfiltered story of my encore career chapter: the vote of confidence that told me to go for it, the moment the road started to wind, and the one thread that’s connected every turn since. That thread is self-awareness, and it matters whether you’re reinventing your career or simply trying to lead the people around you a little better.

Who This Is For

• Professionals who’ve been good at something for a long time but feel it no longer feeds them
• Leaders thinking about a reinvention or an encore career chapter
• Managers who want to lead themselves, lead others, and lead through change with more intention
• Anyone navigating change at work or at home, including AI that nobody asked for
• Anyone who suspects they’re less self-aware than they think

Five Key Takeaways

1. Reinvention rarely follows a straight line. I walked away from four decades in B2B marketing, launched Fulfilled@Work Academy in 2025, and then watched the road wind as audiences asked me to apply my Fulfillment-Centric Leadership program to AI adoption, personal growth, and selling.
2. Most of us overestimate our self-awareness. Research by organizational psychologist Dr. Tasha Eurich found that 95% of people believe they’re self-aware, while the real number is closer to 10 to 15%.
3. Self-awareness is neurological, and it’s a muscle. Neuroplasticity means the thoughts you repeat become the roads your brain defaults to. You’re never neutral when you walk into a room, but you can build better pathways deliberately, the same way you build a habit.
4. Leading others starts with noticing the unseen work. Most of us save recognition for big wins. A few seconds of specific, timely recognition for the prep, the follow-up, and the quiet advocacy behind those wins tells people you’ve seen them.
5. Change gets worse in silence. Watch for the three silence traps: staying quiet because speaking up feels like it’ll make things worse, avoiding the conversation until you have all the answers, and assuming it’ll pass on its own.

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Is Your Team Ready for AI?

Stay fulfilled,
Bernie Borges
Founder: The Fulfilled@Work Academy™
Host, Life Fulfilled Podcast

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