Hey friend! Coach Maya here. So, I’ve been thinking about something that came up in a lot of my coaching sessions lately, and I just had to share it with you. You know that awful feeling when you’re stuck in your career? Like, you’re watching everyone else zoom past while you’re just… there?
Ugh, I know. It’s the worst. But here’s the thing – I’ve seen so many people break free from this, and I want to spill the tea on how they did it.
Let me tell you about Hannah. During our first coaching session, she slumped in her chair and sighed, “Maya, I’ve worked so hard to become VP, but my boss still treats me like his assistant. Just yesterday, he dropped another junior spreadsheet on my desk saying, ‘You’re so good at these!’ I mean, shouldn’t I be working on strategy now?”
And then there’s Mark. He came to me looking defeated: “I thought this management role was my dream job, but my boss keeps going straight to my team. Yesterday, she walked right past my office to assign projects to my direct reports. I feel like a ghost in my own department.”
Both of them had this lightbulb moment during our coaching sessions. As Hannah put it, “I can’t just sit here hoping someone notices I’m capable of more, can I?” And Mark chimed in during one of our sessions, “Waiting for my boss to change is like waiting for my coffee to make itself!”
Hannah was nervous about speaking up. “What if he thinks I’m ungrateful?” she asked me. But she gathered her courage and scheduled that talk with her boss. She practiced with me first: “I really appreciate the trust you place in me with these operational tasks, but I believe I can add more value focusing on strategic initiatives that align with my VP role.” And guess what? Her boss’s response? “You know what, you’re right. I hadn’t realized I was still treating you like a junior analyst.”
Mark got creative. Instead of waiting for his boss to include him, he started reaching out. In our follow-up session, he was beaming: “You won’t believe this – I had coffee with the VP of Product yesterday, and she invited me to join their strategic planning committee!” He even found a way to address the situation with his boss: “I noticed you’ve been working directly with my team. I’d love to understand your thoughts on how I can better support both you and them in my role as their manager.”
Here’s what I really want you to take away from this: being stuck is like being caught in a bad relationship – it feels permanent when you’re in it, but it’s actually just temporary. You’ve got way more power than you think. Sometimes you just need to have that awkward conversation you’ve been avoiding. Or maybe you need to build some new relationships, ask different questions, or find another way around the wall in front of you.
So – what’s your story? Have you ever been stuck like this? What did you do about it? What’s holding you back right now? Let’s talk about it in the comments – your experience might be exactly what someone else needs to hear right now.
See you next time!
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