293: Navigating Career Grief: From CBS Executive to Moonshot Mentor with Laverne McKinnon

Send us a text What do you do when a dream job ends in heartbreak? In this eye-opening episode of The Mid-Career GPS Podcast, host John Neral sits down with Laverne McKinnon, former Senior VP of Drama Development at CBS, to talk about a rarely acknowledged experience: career grief. After leading CBS from last place to first with mega-hits like CSI and Criminal Minds, Laverne was unexpectedly fired at the height of her career. What followed was a silent, decade-long struggle with emotional fallout that society often tells us to ignore. Laverne introduces the concept of disenfranchised grief—a powerful term for the emotional pain professionals feel after job loss or career disruption that isn’t socially validated. Through her LEARN Framework (Look, Explore,  Address, Reframe, Nurture), Laverne shows how we can move from heartbreak to healing, reconnect with our values, and reclaim agency over our careers. Whether you"re facing layoffs, mid-career stagnation, or preparing for a major transition, this episode will help you understand how to grieve the professional losses we’re told to "just get over." In This Episode, You’ll Learn:Why career grief is real—and why ignoring it is harmfulThe emotional impact of sudden job loss after career successWhat disenfranchised grief means in the workplaceHow to use the LEARN framework to process grief and regain clarityThe connection between unprocessed failure and blocked resilienceRituals like writing a "career eulogy" to create closureHow grief reveals your core values—and points you toward your next moonshot Connect with Laverne McKinnon Website | LinkedIn | Substack Support the show Thank you for listening to The Mid-Career GPS Podcast. Please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts here. Visit https://johnneral.com/resources to get The Mid-Career Job Search Jumpstart and join The Mid-Career GPS Membership Community. Visit https://johnneral.com to join The Mid-Career GPS Newsletter, a free, twice-weekly career and leadership resource for mid-career professionals. Connect with John on LinkedIn here. Get John"s New Mid-Career Journal on Amazon here. Follow John on Instagram @johnneralcoaching. Subscribe to John"s YouTube Channel here.