Hi Reader
As I've been writing my book this last week, I’ve been reflecting about a client I worked with who, on paper, had every reason to feel confident.
She had built a successful career over many years, progressed into senior leadership and had led through some significant organisational challenges. She was respected, experienced and had plenty of evidence that she was good at what she did.
But that wasn’t how she felt when we started working together.
She had left her organisation without another role to go to, was recovering from burnout and had begun questioning herself in a way she hadn’t before. Part of her wanted to continue progressing, but another part was quietly wondering whether she was still capable of doing so.
What struck me was that she didn’t need more evidence to prove her capability, she already had years of it.
What she had lost was her connection to that evidence.
So instead of immediately focusing on CVs, interviews and the next job, much of our early work involved going backwards. We looked at what she had actually achieved, the situations she had navigated, the impact she had made and what all of that told us about the leader she had become.
Over time, something shifted.
She stopped looking only at what she thought she was missing and started recognising what was already there.
But perhaps the biggest change came later, when she began questioning something else entirely, which was her definition of success.
For years, progression had meant a bigger role, more responsibility and a higher salary. Yet as we talked, it became clear that family, balance, meaningful work and being part of an organisation that aligned with her values now mattered just as much, if not more.
This wasn't driven by a lack of ambition, instead it was a clearer understanding of what she wanted the next stage of her career and life to look like.
By the end of our work together, she hadn’t suddenly become someone who never doubted herself, nor had she secured the “perfect” next role. What had changed was more fundamental.
She trusted herself more.
I’ve written more about her story, and about why confidence can fall even when capability hasn’t, in my latest article:
When Success Stops Feeling Like Success
Read the full article →
I think this experience will resonate with a lot of experienced leaders because sometimes the problem isn’t that you have become less capable, it’s that, somewhere along the way, you have stopped trusting what you already know about yourself.
Hope you find the article interesting, and if it resonates, I'd love to hear your story.
Niki
