Are you secretly wanting to be seen? But don’t quite know how to.
So, you stay in the background, behind the scenes, allowing others to take centre stage. Maybe you’ve been doing this since you can remember. Your own best kept secret.
Maybe, like me, you grew up having über-modesty drummed into you – Made to feel ashamed of showcasing your true strengths and abilities, particularly as a girl. Back when I was growing up, confident boys were thought of as assertive, girls as bumptious or boastful.
For me, staying quiet, meant that I didn’t get hit at school.
You might have also felt that watching from the sidelines was the safer or more comfortable option. Easier not to put yourself out there in the spotlight. Under scrutiny. Wide open to judgement and perhaps humiliation. So, you find yourself both craving and scared of success at the same time.
The problem is that you’re no longer feeling comfortable about it! In fact, you’re absolutely fed up with it. Something has changed along the way: You realise you actually want to be seen and heard. Contrary to what you thought you believed. Contrary to what others told you to believe.
You know your worth and you’re utterly sick of invisibility!
Of concealing who you are from behind a curtain.
Of secretly and hungrily wanting the opposite.
Of downplaying your full value.
That’s not who you are!
It never was!
You deserve to be seen.
And there’s no need to apologise.
Maybe you’ve been through this journey?
Maybe you have friends or colleagues who are still holding back?
We all know amazing people who are experts at hiding in the shadows, eager to shout HERE I AM from the rooftops and show who they really are. The first step is allowing yourself to be seen and heard by someone, so that you can see and hear yourself. And that’s what I do.
If members of your team are struggling with confidence and self-realisation, then let’s talk.
It’s time to shine. And not secretly.
