New Book Explores How Executives Over 40 Can Reclaim Leadership and Influence

New Book “Regaining Your Voice When You’re On Mute” Helps Executives Over 40 Reclaim Relevance, Confidence, and Respect in a Rapidly Changing Workplace

PHOENIX, AZ, UNITED STATES, December 14, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Televised and internet media thrive on chaos and strife from political rancor to road rage to school shootings, with occasional breaks to cover natural disasters. One would think everyone is armed and cowering, barricaded in their homes. But fiction (even the much-maligned romance novel) dominates book sales. In non-fiction, self-help, and books about relationships, not history or current events, keep Amazon and Barnes and Noble going. Americans are motivated to study and share findings about why people are acting the way they are (e.g., NYU Professor Scott Galloway's latest book--Notes on Being a Man--which assesses the regression of males and gives advice on how to stem it).

People are anxious to learn how to cope with the abounding public insanity. In the self-help arena, there are local efforts, such as educator Jon Bui, who leads the Negotiated Apology Project in Arizona to help people earn forgiveness. While there was a lot of attention to the impact of the pandemic on young people (from missed proms to people of color seriously falling further behind in scholastics). However, a new book has been released that focuses on groups that were most seriously impacted, physically and emotionally, but have received the least sympathy. Regaining Your Voice When You Are On Mute describes the accelerating expulsion of Gen X and Baby Boomers from the mainstream and the potential impacts on America.

On December 9, 2025, long-time government and business consultant and author Denise Meridith announced the Amazon.com release of her new e-book and paperback: Regaining Your Voice When You’re On Mute: How Executives Over 40 Can Reclaim Resilience, Relevance, and Respect. Written for seasoned professionals navigating layoffs, restructuring, technology shifts, hostile work environments, and generational disconnects, Regaining Your Voice When You’re On Mute addresses a growing but often unspoken reality: experienced leaders feeling sidelined, unheard, or invisible in today’s fast-moving, tech-driven workplace.

“Being ‘on mute’ isn’t about losing your talent,” Meridith says. “It’s about losing the stage— the confidence, the credibility, the audience, and the platform you once had. This book is about turning the volume back up.”

Drawing on more than four decades of leadership experience across government, academic, and entrepreneurial sectors, Meridith blends real-world stories of her own experiences, sample fictional scenarios, practical frameworks, homework assignments, and sharp insight to help readers identify why they’ve gone quiet — and how to reclaim their voice without pretending to be someone they’re not.

Inside the book, readers will learn how to:
o Navigate generational divides without losing authority or authenticity
o Rebuild confidence after layoffs, restructures, or career disruptions
o Translate experience into relevance in a digital-first environment
o Speak up strategically — without sounding outdated or defensive
o Handling hostile and/or embarrassing confrontations
o Lead again with clarity, presence, and earned confidence

Meridith collaborated with Gerran Bettison-Clark, a young man she has mentored who just completed his own book The Baby Boomers Blueprint. Meridith describes the current generational differences not as a "generation gap," but a "Generation Canyon." There was an incredible clash between Boomers and Seniors during the '60's and '70's over civil rights, women's lib, Vietnam, music, and the environment.

"The difference," says Meridith, “Is that the two groups loudly and openly argued about the issues, and progress was made. Though it was a popular Simon and Garfunkel song in 1969, the "Sounds of Silence" is much more in play now." Homes, school lunch rooms, and parks are quiet as Gen Zers seldom have their eyes off their phones or ears without their headphones, which the Boomers themselves invented and now complain about. There is a lot that the generations could and should learn from each other. Meridith and Bettison-Clark are promoting it from both sides.

Unlike traditional career advice books, Regaining Your Voice When You’re On Mute does not offer gimmicks or quick fixes. Instead, it provides a grounded roadmap for professionals who still have value — but are struggling with new ways to express it. The world desperately needs their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Most of all America, needs their spunk, courage, conviction, and ambition. Yet they are being furloughed, RIFed, and forced into retirement; they are getting stuck on mute. Baby Boomers and Gen X were not perfect; but were both warriors and cultural innovators in many ways. Meridith, who will be speaking about these issues around the country and encouraging people through webinars, podcasts, and masterminds, can be engaged via denise@denisemeridith.com.

Knowledge of what has and has not worked in the past is important. As the saying, originated by philosopher George Santayana, goes, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." "Dropping the mic" was a popular expression, implying one has won the battle of words and can just walk away. But civilization is deteriorating, and 6-7ing it, is cute, but not helpful. Elders need “to pick up the mic.”

Denise Meridith
Denise Meridith Consultants Inc
denise@denisemeridith.com

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