The Silent Career Stoppers
The call came on a Tuesday morning. Patricia had just walked out of what she described as "the most uncomfortable performance review of my career." Her directness—once her greatest strength—had become a barrier to her team's innovation. Across boardrooms in Tokyo, Singapore, and Frankfurt, I encounter brilliant women whose careers have stalled not because they lack talent, but because they've unknowingly stumbled into silent career stoppers. These aren't dramatic failures; they're the quiet erosions that happen when core strengths calcify into career-limiting behaviors. Three critical derailers consistently emerge, each stemming from the very qualities that initially propelled these women to leadership.
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No One Will Tap You on the Shoulder
She had everything it takes to lead—performance, influence, respect. Everyone came to her when things got stuck. But as she watched senior leaders tighten their grip on operations while competitors adapted faster, a gap was opening. "I think I could be the Country Head," she said in our coaching session, "but I'm not sure I'm ready."
The real block wasn't her capability. It was permission.
She'd been waiting for someone to tap her on the shoulder and say "now's the time." But no one was coming. The role she envisioned? She had to step into it, not wait to be invited.
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The CEO Who Wasn't Needed
What happens when a new CEO arrives to find the organization running smoothly without them? This isn't about crisis management or turnaround strategies - it's about the far more complex challenge of integrating into a team that has already learned to succeed independently. Through a real case study from Japan's medical device industry, we explore why joining high-performing teams often proves harder than fixing broken ones, and what leaders can do about it.
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