Hello and welcome to the aligned achiever podcast. I’m your host, Siobhan Barnes, and today we’re diving into the three biggest career myths that hold women back from their next level leadership. 

Let me ask you this, have you ever felt stuck in your career, but told yourself, “Oh, I just need one more qualification before I can go for that next level role, or before I can make a move.” Or “it’s too late for me to pivot now, I’ve been doing this for insert number of years, it’s too late for me to make a change.” Or “if I were really good at what I do, I wouldn’t feel this uncertain.”?

If you’ve had any of these thoughts and they sound familiar, please know that you are not alone. Many high achieving women hold themselves back from stepping into their next level leadership because of these myths. And when I say next level leadership, I mean whatever that next stretch is for you. I believe that if you’re listening to this podcast, you are somebody who wants to do great work. You want to expand and evolve and make an impact, and you’re continually growing, and that’s going to require a different level of leadership and a different level of capacity to be able to hold more. 

For some people, next level leadership might look like going for that next role, like going for that title in your organisation, or leading a team or leading a high profile project. For others of you, it might look like backing yourself to transition into a different industry or a different company, or perhaps do something completely different entirely. 

The truth is, if you’ve ever felt one of those thoughts around, I need one more qualification, or it’s too late for me, or why do I feel so uncertain? If you’ve felt that, just know that these beliefs, they’re not facts, they’re stories that we’ve actually absorbed from society, workplace culture, and even our own inner critic. And I’ll put my hand on my heart to say I have fallen guilty and fallen prey to these myself. 

So today, we’re going to bust these myths wide open so that you could start making bold moves with confidence, and if you’re looking for a structured support in making your next career pivot a reality, I’ll be sharing how you can join the Pivot Pathfinders Collective to get the clarity and strategy that you need a little bit later. But for now, let’s dive into this episode. 

So what are these three biggest career myths that hold women back from their next level leadership?

Myth number one, and it’s the one that I see happening time and time again, is I need more qualifications. 

This is one of the biggest myths I hear from ambitious women, this idea that you need another degree, another certificate, another credential, before you’re ready to step up. And I’m creating this podcast based on my lived experience of living in Asia, and I think more than some places, this is one of those places where people are overqualified. They have so many degrees, so many certifications, that it’s kind of a myth, right? 

Sometimes, yes, you do need to skill up and you need the knowledge, right? Like, if you’re a doctor or you’re a lawyer or an accountant, of course, you need the qualifications, but for many of us, we don’t need those. So why do we believe this myth that we need more learning? 

Well, society has conditioned us to think that success is about checking all the boxes before we take action. Women in particular, are socialised to be perfectly prepared before we put ourselves out there. A key statistic actually done by Hewlett Packard. They had an internal report, and they found that women apply for a job only when they meet 100% of the qualifications, while men apply when they meet just 60. That means women wait for full certainty while men bet on their potential. Of course, there is nuance, but that’s an interesting statistic, right? 

So as a result, women can tend to hold back, not because we aren’t capable, but because we think we need more proof before we act. This is something that I have fallen prey to in my own career. When I left my corporate career, I thought I wanted to start an organic skincare business. What did I think was my first step – taking a cosmetic science diploma. Random fact, people, I have a diploma in cosmetic science. It’s very, very random. It’s chemistry, which is something I studied at A level and was not my strong suit, but I thought I needed that in order to start a skincare business, and I realised that that wasn’t the answer. 

I would have been better served to test out what it takes to create a successful business there. What is the practical how to make it a reality, rather than thinking that I needed to come up with the formulations myself, which is one of the principles that I teach in the Pivot Pathfinders, because I have made many, many mistakes, so I don’t want you to make that yourself. 

The truth is you likely already have the skills and the experience needed to step into your next level leadership, whatever that might look like and be for you. What matters most isn’t another piece of paper. It’s your ability to own your value and position yourself strategically. 

I actually think that’s why, when you hear stories of people like Richard Branson or, you know, Anita Roddick who started the Body Shop, like people who haven’t necessarily had the formal training, but created success, that feels really exciting, because you think, “Oh, I thought you needed an MBA to be able to do that.” Well, the truth is, you don’t. 

So here’s a mindset shift. Instead of asking yourself, do I have enough qualifications to go for that next role or to pivot into another company or industry or to start that business, try asking instead, “how can I leverage what I already know?” Think about how you can leverage the strengths that you already have. 

I’ll tell you, in my own career, because I made that mistake with thinking I needed a cosmetic science diploma to start my cosmetic science business, and when I realised that actually coaching was where I was better served to spend my time and energy, I actually started not by getting my coaching certification. So what I did to test out my idea instead, I was pregnant with my second child, and I was part of an online business community to learn how to grow an online business. And I said in the community, look, I’m thinking of changing it up. I don’t think I want to start a cosmetic science business. I actually think I want to coach, and I’m not a formal coach by training. I’ve had some mentoring experience and done, you know, some informal things and I want to see if this is something that I want to pursue as a path. Does anybody want to be a guinea pig and do four weeks of one hour coaching with me so that I can test this out? I found three clients, one was in Brazil, one was in LA and the other was in the UK. 

And I remember these three women were very, very different, and I managed to support them with one small goal over the month, and I was pregnant with my second child, and I remember staying up late at night, right? Like two of them were on the East Coast. I’m in Hong Kong. That’s like a 12/13 hour difference, and at the time, I was willing to stay up late to be able to do these calls. And you know what happened? I followed my nose, I trusted my intuition, and my clients got results, and I felt the excitement and energy of following that path, and that is when I realised, okay, there’s enough about this that makes me feel good and that makes me know this is the path for me. Okay, now I’m gonna go and get that study, because I validated the idea. 

So I share this example with you, not to talk about myself, but just to share the power of what can happen when you don’t let qualifications get in the way, because qualifications can be a form of hiding. So rather than do I have enough qualifications, ask yourself, “How can I leverage what I already know?” Maybe you already have all that you need to take on that next leadership position, maybe you have enough to be able to figure out what your next step is to pivot into something else.

Myth number two, another common belief I hear, is it’s too late to make a change. 

I hear this from clients when they say, “Oh, I’ve been in this career for too long. I can’t just start over now.” And that’s kind of the sunk cost fallacy, right? We assume that because we’ve spent so much time and energy on this one thing, that it’s a waste, and I’m putting like inverted commas here, a waste to move and do something else. 

Why do we believe this myth? Well, we’re told that career paths should be linear, and that once you’ve invested years into a field you should stick with it. The fear of wasting time and experience keeps so many women from making a move. 

But the truth is, pivoting doesn’t mean you’re throwing away your past. It means you’re repurposing your skills in a way that feels more aligned. A study by the American Institute for Economic Research found that 82% of workers who attempted a career change after the age of 45 were successful in their transitions. 82% after the age of 45. Let that statistic set in. 

What does that mean? It means that career pivots are possible at any age, and in many cases, they’re even more successful when you bring years of experience to the table. Again, for myself, I remember when I left the corporate world, I was in my late 20s, so fully appreciate it wasn’t a huge percentage of my working life, because I plan to be working well into, you know, my 60s, maybe my 70s, because I really enjoy what I do. But you know, even at that time, I had done my masters in real estate, I had worked really hard, and I was wondering, hmm, am I wasting everything that I’ve done here? 

But I just knew that there were many years ahead of me, and that I didn’t necessarily want to climb that ladder. So it was time to make a change. So I would argue that was probably easier for me back then, but I will tell you, even now, after 10 years of running my business, there are times when I have pivoted and made minor changes. I’ve worked as a Master Coach and Trainer at a coaching school. I’ve worked as a consultant with another business partner. I am partnering with Elaine Champion, who, by the way, if you want to hear more about, I’ve interviewed her on my podcast, and we collaborate and do day retreats here in Hong Kong. So I’ll pop a link to that in the show notes if you want to hear more. 

But you know, I have pivoted, and if I were to say, Oh, it’s too late, I’ve just got to keep my nose to the grindstone and do my one thing, I would miss out on a lot of opportunities. 

So why am I sharing this? Well, the truth is, it’s not too late. In fact, this might be the perfect time, with the right clarity and support, you can transition into a role or a leadership style that aligns with who you are now, not who you were 10 years ago. So a core mindset shift that I invite you to think about is, instead of thinking it’s too late, try asking, “What if this is exactly the right time?” 

That linear career path, that model is very outdated. The number of people who stay in one linear career path is becoming less common. The future of work is drastically changing. Trust me, I’m raising three kids and thinking about their subjects they need to learn at school, and it really has me thinking about the future of work and what’s the core skill that we need? We need to be able to understand ourselves, self-mastery. What are we good at? What do we value? How can we apply our skills and our strengths and our interests to a problem? Right? That can make an impact in somebody else’s life, and how can we get paid for that? 

So it’s never too late to make a change. I believe that you are smart enough. And the real issue is, do you back yourself? Do you trust yourself to be able to figure it out? And if you didn’t listen to last week’s episode or the last episode on self trust, I’ll link to that in the show notes, because that’s super important to navigate your next level leadership. 

All right. Myth number three. If I was truly good enough, I wouldn’t feel stuck. 

Now, this one’s a little bit more sneaky, because it feels so personal. Why do we believe this? Why do we believe that if we’re good at something, then we’re not going to be stuck. Well, high achieving women often tie their self worth to external success, so if you get that title, oh, I value myself or Oh, if I’m earning a certain amount of money, I am good enough, when things start to feel misaligned or unclear, we can take it as a sign that we’re failing like something has gone wrong. 

But here’s what’s actually happening. Feeling stuck is a sign of growth. I really think that when you feel like you’re stuck, that means something has to change. You’re evolving. You’re growing. And that is a good thing. That means you are alive.

A 2022 LinkedIn survey found that 77% of working women have experienced imposter syndrome at some point in their careers. What that means is that every woman you admire has felt that way too. Every successful woman that you see that’s like making a mark doing really well, they’ve felt uncertain. So if you feel uncertain, it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It simply means that you are evolving. 

The truth is, success isn’t about never questioning yourself. You will doubt yourself. You will question yourself. It’s really about learning. How do you navigate uncertainty with self trust? The best leaders aren’t the ones who never feel doubt. They’re the ones who take action anyway. 

So instead of thinking, why am I stuck? Try asking, “What is this stuckness trying to tell me about my next step?” “What is the piece that needs to shift or change?” Is it your role? Is it your organisation? Is it a pattern of behaviour within you that you’re being called to look at. 

I often say to my clients that it’s not the organisation, the role, the environment, that’s always the challenge here. Most of the times, there’s something within us that we need to look at and look when I say that, this does not apply to toxic workplaces and traumatic events like that is not what I’m saying. What I am saying is that sometimes we attract certain situations so that we can resolve it and we can move forward. 

So the example I often give on this podcast is, again, when I was in my corporate career because I felt like I had to work harder than everyone else. To prove I belonged in the room. I overworked and I burnt out. And what did I do when I changed to starting my own business? I burnt out. I overworked. I would stay up late to do coaching calls as I as I shared when I was testing out my idea when I was pregnant and I created that same reality for myself, because there was something within me, that belief that I need to work hard to be successful, that was running the show. 

So the stuckness, it might not necessarily be something that you need to change within your workplace, because let’s be honest, sometimes we can’t control those sorts of things, right? You can’t control your boss’s behavior. You can’t control the clients that you work with necessarily. You can’t control your colleagues or you know what your organisation structure is going to deem the right structure right?

None of that we can control, but the thing we can control is what’s within us. So what is the stuckness trying to tell you about your next step or tell you about yourself again? I’m not saying that if you are experiencing a traumatic work experience, or you’re dealing with toxic people that this is all on you. There’s absolutely roles that other people play. 

The reason why I say look within is that there’s sometimes an opportunity for us to see how we can find that fire in our belly, right, and say, “You know what? This is not okay” And start to hold those boundaries and to hold ourselves to our highest standard of what we’re willing to accept or not accept. 

All right, let’s recap the three common myths that hold women back from their next level leadership. 

Number one, qualifications. You don’t need more qualifications. You need clarity on how to leverage your strengths. 

Number two, the myth of it’s too late. The truth is, it’s never too late to make a change. 82% of career changes over 45 succeed. 

This other myth. Third myth, feeling stuck means that you’re not good enough. This is absolutely not true. If you’re feeling stuck. It has nothing to do with your worth and how good you are. It simply means you’re ready for the next level. 

If this episode resonated with you and you’re ready to make a strategic and supported career pivot, I invite you to join the wait list for the Pivot Pathfinders Collective, and you can find the link to that over in the show notes, over atsSiobhanbarnes.com/127 that’s the number 127, this is my signature group experience for high achieving women who want to transition into their next level leadership without burning out or starting over from scratch. Join the wait list now for early enrollment and exclusive bonuses. And if you know someone who’s been doubting themselves and who’s in this position, send them this episode. 

Sometimes all it takes is a shift in perspective to change everything until next time, keep trusting yourself. You are closer than you think, and as always, please, remember you are here for a reason beyond merely hustling, grinding and merely surviving, you matter.