You’re Not Lacking Skills. You’re Lacking Strategy.
You’re Not Lacking Skills. You’re Lacking Strategy.You keep thinking everyone else has it figured out. Their titles sound more important. Their confidence is out of this world. Their words are more sophisticated and land sharper. And so you shrink. You tell yourself that you’re not quite ready yet. Not good enough yet. You keep waiting until the day you finally feel like you’re polished enough. You tell yourself you’ll eventually get there. That you just need to do more self-work and gain more experience. Time to call BS. The ProblemA lot of us live inside horribly distorted mirrors. We see our flaws in 4K resolution and everyone else’s strengths in perfect highlight reels. That silly distortion keeps you underestimating your own ability and overestimating theirs. You end up playing small. Too f*cking small. You hold back in rooms where you should be taking up space. You don’t speak up, not because you don’t know, but because you think someone else knows more. And while you’re second-guessing yourself, someone with half your competence is putting themselves forward. And getting rewarded for it. It’s a massive trap my friend (and exactly how careers stall). Building Your ConfidenceYou need to smash that distorted mirror. “How?” you ask. By putting hard evidence in front of yourself & others. Not in your head. Not someday. In practice. In plain sight. Now. Here’s how you do it: Power Move I: Owning Your WinsWhen you talk about your work, stop hiding behind “we.” In meetings, in an interview, in casual conversations, etc. Use this 3-part framing: I led → This happened → Here’s what’s next. Example: Instead of “We redesigned our intake process.” Say something like: “I led the redesign of our intake process. We’re getting back to clients 30% faster than we did just a month ago. Next, we’re going to make our internal knowledge base public to reduce the number of inquiries.” This is surgical. Zero bragging. But it clearly attaches your name to the work and demonstrates immense value in one clean sentence. Another leader hears that and immediately sees your impact. Power Move II: Speaking UpI’ll never advocate for you to try and dominate the room. But showing up means being seen. Before each meeting, prep one question that ties directly to your expertise. Example: “How do we ensure this work is tied to our long term strategy?” That’s it. Just one. A single thoughtful question per meeting builds your reputation as the quiet assassin. No need to do more. And it’s enough to shift you from passive to recognized contributor. It’s one of the simplest levers that builds visibility fast. Power Move III: The Success BankDon’t commit sh*t to memory. Especially the things you do well. So track them. A running list of wins you can scan in 60 seconds. Keep a live document with 3 columns: Date | Win | Impact. Update it weekly or monthly. Example: “Sept 13 | Re-negotiated vendor contract | Cut turnaround time by 40%.” You’re not journaling (there’s nothing wrong with journaling). It’s your own little bank of evidence. And it becomes your script for performance reviews or even interviews. It also rewires your brain to be less insecure. When review season hits, you’ll have receipts. When doubt creeps in, you’ll have evidence. Closing ThoughtsThe business world isn’t going to slow down to notice you. Organizations are moving at the speed of light. Leaders make decisions faster than you think. They’re scanning for signals: who delivers, who speaks up, who is ready.. If you keep waiting for someone to validate you, you’ll stay invisible. And if you keep seeing everyone else as more equipped than you, you’ll keep playing small. The problem isn’t skill. You’ve had that all along. The problem is strategy. Stop hiding your wins in plain sight. Start showing them. Once you do, the world will never underestimate you again. Enjoy your weekend, Alain H. |