Career Clarity Newsletter - August Edition
You Don't Need More Confidence. You Need Permission.
Happy August!
I hope you're finding moments to enjoy the slower pace that summer can bring — whether that's taking time off, travelling, or simply creating space to recharge.
I recently spent a month working remotely from Trinidad while visiting family. Watching my one-year-old niece take her first solo steps reminded me of something I'd forgotten.
Children don't worry about looking like beginners.
They wobble, fall, get back up and try again — without questioning whether they're “good enough” yet.
Somewhere along the way, many of us lose that freedom.
The more experience we gain, the more pressure we feel to get it right — and we start protecting that instead of learning. But growth requires us to stay curious.
This month, I'm exploring what happens when we stop protecting the image of being competent and give ourselves permission to become beginners again.
1 | WHAT’S NEW 🌟
Permission to Be a Beginner: A Leadership Reflection Guide
When we're used to being capable and relied upon, being a beginner can feel uncomfortable. We may worry about making mistakes or being seen as someone who doesn't have all the answers.
This month's reflection guide invites you to explore what might become possible when you loosen that pressure.
Inside, you'll reflect on:
Where you're holding back because you don't feel ready
Where protecting your image may be quietly limiting your growth
What you're afraid others might think if you don't have all the answers
One question to sit with: Where would I be willing to experiment if I didn't need to prove I already knew what I was doing?
👉 Download the reflection guide here.
I'd love to hear what comes up for you.
2 | SPOTLIGHT 💬
When Did Looking Competent Become More Important Than Learning?
Being experienced is an asset. But what happens when we become so attached to being the person who knows that knowing becomes part of how we measure our own worth?
For some of us — particularly when we've had to work harder to establish our credibility or prove we belong — being visibly uncertain can feel like giving other people evidence that you don't belong.
And this has a cost.
The stretch role gets passed over. The pivot gets postponed. The opportunity stays just out of reach — not because you're incapable, but because you're waiting to feel completely ready.
But continued growth asks something different of us.
It requires curiosity. It requires asking questions. It requires tolerating the moments when you're not yet good at something. And that can be surprisingly difficult when you've built a career around being good at what you do.
The goal isn't to abandon your expertise. It's to stop confusing expertise with having nothing left to learn.
You can know a lot and still be curious. You can have years of experience and still have moments of uncertainty. You can be highly competent without needing to demonstrate competence at every turn.
So what are you protecting — and what is it costing you?
3 | PODCAST RECOMMENDATION 🎧
Give Yourself Permission. Permission to be a beginner, to not be liked, to go be great.
Elevate with Erica
What if being new to an area isn't the risk — but staying stuck is?
In this episode, host Erica unpacks three permissions she had to give herself to build the life and career she wanted — and why the permission we're waiting for may be permission we can give ourselves.
A few lessons I took from this episode:
Permission to be a beginner. Sometimes progress begins with being willing to make an imperfect first attempt. Erica talks about looking back at her first videos and posts, cringing at how rough they were, and still being proud of herself for hitting "record" anyway.
Permission to not be liked by everyone. Trying to earn universal approval can mean staying in a box rather than actually being yourself. Erica describes pursuing jobs, titles and income in search of approval, only to realize that liking herself mattered more than being liked by everyone else.
Permission to go be great. It's okay to be grateful for your life and still want more. Someone else having it "worse" doesn't cancel out your own feelings, or your right to want to make your life better. Sometimes the biggest obstacle isn't what's possible — it's the story we tell ourselves about why we shouldn't try.
Taken together, they're about giving yourself room to move forward before you have everyone's approval, before you have all the answers, and before you know exactly where it will lead.
As Erica reminds us — the risk isn't in trying and looking foolish. The risk is in never trying at all.
4 | COACHING REFLECTION 🤔
Insight is powerful — but it only creates change when we put it into practice.
So instead of simply noticing where you might be holding back, over the next week, choose one small way to practice being less certain.
Raise your hand for the project that will stretch you.
Apply for the stretch role even if you don't check every box.
Ask the question you've been sitting on instead of figuring it out alone.
Say, “I don't know, but I'll find out,” instead of feeling like you need to have the answer.
The goal isn't to make a dramatic leap. It's to interrupt the habit of waiting until everything feels safe or certain.
Then notice what happens.
What did you learn?
What turned out to be less uncomfortable than you expected?
What became possible once you stopped trying to get it perfect?
You may find that confidence doesn't always come before the action. Sometimes it grows because of it.
5 | LET'S STAY CONNECTED! ☕
If this month's reflection has highlighted something you're ready to stop postponing, I'd love to support you.
In a 60-minute Strategy Session, we'll explore what's next for you, what's getting in the way and what you need to move forward with greater clarity and confidence.
Book your Strategy Session here.
Here's to staying curious and being willing to step into what's next — even when you're still learning how to navigate it.
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