Stop Letting Fear Dictate Your Career Moves
Let’s talk about something that keeps coming up in my conversations with brilliant professional women who are unhappy in their careers, yet somehow can’t seem to make a move: fear.
Not the healthy kind that keeps you from walking into traffic or accepting clearly terrible job offers. No, I’m talking about the sneaky kind that masquerades as “being realistic” or “waiting for the right time.”
Here’s what I see happening time and time again in my executive career coaching for women:
You stay in roles that drain your soul because the future feels unsafe. Can you really handle all the responsibilities of that bigger role? Will your life turn into complete chaos if you make this move?
And so you choose the known unhappiness over the unknown possibility. (Spoiler alert: this is just your cavewoman brain doing what kept your ancestors alive – choosing the “safe” cave over the potentially better but unknown one.)
And then there’s that other fear, my darling.
The absolute dread of having to engage with the traditional recruitment process.
Just thinking about uploading your CV into yet another portal, writing another cover letter that will likely never be read, and going through countless rounds of interviews with people who truly think they’re doing you a favour by allowing you to speak with them at all… makes you want to crawl into the foetal position and cover yourself with a blanket, right?
Trust me, I get it. I’ve been there.
Neither Fear Needs to Keep You Stuck
But here’s the thing: neither of these fears needs to keep you stuck. And I mean that with my whole heart.
That first fear – the “can I handle it?” one – that’s what I call a confidence issue masquerading as a capability issue. This is where women’s career negotiation advice becomes critical. When you’re rock solid on what you bring to the table (and I mean really solid, not just interview-speak solid), the future stops feeling so scary. Because you know that whatever comes up, you’ll be able to handle it. Just like you’ve handled every other challenge that’s come your way so far in your life.
And that second fear – the recruitment process one?
Here’s a little secret: you don’t actually have to play that game.
How Senior Professional Women Actually Make Career Moves
The most successful career moves I see women make in our women’s career coaching programme happen through real conversations with real people at companies they actually want to work for. Not through some soul-crushing recruitment process.
Instead of applying to 100 jobs online, they reach out to people in roles that interest them. They have genuine conversations about challenges and opportunities. They explore how they might be able to help through role co-creation. And wouldn’t you know it – positions get created, offers get made, and everybody wins.
This is strategic career negotiation in action. It’s how executive women in leadership build careers on their terms, not on the terms dictated by outdated recruitment systems designed to filter rather than discover talent.
Is this simple? No. Is it possible? Absolutely.
The Way Forward: Career Negotiation Coaching That Works
But – and this is crucial – none of this happens by accident. You need a strategy. You need support from a women’s negotiation coach who understands the specific dynamics mid-to-senior level women face. And most importantly, you need to decide that you’re done letting fear call the shots in your career, and in your life.
At Women of Agency, we teach negotiation strategies for women that go far beyond asking for more money. We help you negotiate your worth in every conversation – from that first networking coffee to the final contract discussion. Because women in leadership deserve compensation and opportunities that match their value, not their fears.
This is about building real agency. The kind that lets you wake up Monday morning and actually look forward to the work ahead. The kind that means you’re creating your career, not just responding to whatever opportunities happen to land in your inbox.
Ready to stop letting fear run the show? That’s exactly what we do at WOA – we give you the frameworks, the strategy, and the support to negotiate your worth and build a career that actually fits your life.
