Next Level Leader w/ Julien Godbarge

Julien Godbarge spent 15 years rising through a private equity-backed company before becoming CEO of a Dubai-based platform company. The first four years were a textbook private equity success story: process improvements, rebranding, tech upgrades, and an industry roll-up that made money and felt exhilarating. Then it unraveled. A flawed ERP dashboard inflated his EBITDA projections, post-pandemic supply chain issues forced him to buy equipment he'd planned to rent, debt covenants tightened, competitors turned hostile, and a new product launch dragged on. Within six months, he went from "top of the world" to breaking down in tears at an airport, unable to think clearly.

Julien and Jon unpack the blind spots that turned a run of external pressure into a full collapse: the "Atlas Syndrome" of believing you alone have to carry every burden, tying self-worth to performance and outcomes rather than process, and the danger of building an entire identity around a job or title. They also cover the "denial tax" - the cost of not processing hard things as they happen - and why resilience, not just raw talent or work ethic, is the trait that actually protects high performers. Julien now writes and coaches on this through his book, Crash and Learn, and his 10 Blind Spots assessment.

About Julien Godbarge: Former CEO of a private equity-backed platform company, author of Crash and Learn, and executive coach. After his own burnout and recovery, he built a framework around 10 leadership blind spots to help executives spot and avoid the same collapse.

Get in touch with Julien

Julien's Website - The 10 Blindspots

Connect on LinkedIn

Key Topics & Timestamps

• 00:02 — Julien's background: 15 years in a lower-middle-market PE-backed company, then CEO of a Dubai platform company

• 06:00 — The first four "great" years: process improvement, rebranding, tech stack overhaul, industry roll-up

• 07:38 — The first crack: a flawed ERP dashboard inflates EBITDA projections

• 09:00 — Compounding crises: supply chain shortages, forced equipment purchases, tightening debt covenants

• 10:10 — Fallout from the roll-up: competitors turn adversarial, one poaches half his sales team

• 11:32 — The six-month slide: stress → sleep loss → anxiety → depression → breakdown at the airport

• 16:16 — Why it's "lonely at the top" — isolation as both circumstance and self-imposed habit

• 18:08 — The "Atlas Syndrome": believing you alone must carry every burden

• 19:01 — Identity fused with job title/performance, and why that's fragile

• 22:19 — Performance-based self-worth, and how it starts in childhood (grades, rewards)

• 23:52 — Julien's bonus-negotiation story: linking family provision and self-worth to hitting an EBITDA number

• 26:14 — Why resilience — not just talent — is what coaches and scouts actually look for

• 32:20 — McKinsey's shift toward recruiting for resilience, not just pedigree

• 33:35 — Psychological safety as a prerequisite for talking about resilience without it turning into "participation trophy" mockery

• 41:04 — Reframing work-life balance as harmony measured over months/quarters, not days

• 41:38 — The "denial tax": the compounding cost of not processing setbacks in real time

• 42:52 — Process over outcome — judging effort and fulfillment, not just results

• 46:22 — Where to find help: 10blindspots.com and the 10 Blind Spots assessment