In my previous article, I shared that ‘Many of us underestimate what we are capable of.’ This talked about the ‘competence gap’ and how for many people, their level of confidence is below their level of competence.

Part of the reason why we underestimate ourselves is we often hear the comment: “Just be yourself.”

While this may sound good and helpful, it may hold you back from becoming who you could be. My feedback to people is to be yourself AND who you are becoming.

Personally, 30 years ago when I started working (I was an economics graduate), I never thought I’d be who I am now. When I started Quietly Powerful 8 years ago, I never thought ahead to where it could end up. I started QP as an experiment with a few small breakfast sessions, and never thought I would:

• Speak to 1400 people in a room;
• Be invited to speak in Hong Kong and London in-person, or virtually all over the world;
• Receive two awards for my book;
• Become a ‘LinkedIn Top Voice’.

I now have multiple organisational clients approach me to use the Quietly Powerful work to help with their leadership development and DEI efforts. They see the approach of ‘appreciate yourself fully’ and ‘adapt purposefully’ as a way to not try to ‘fix’ people, but to enable their best authentic selves to emerge.

With who I am becoming, I feel like I’ve embraced more of myself rather than trying to fit into what’s expected. At the same time, I am letting go of aspects of myself that were unhelpful, like excessive worry about what others think of me. Of course, there’s always more to learn, but it’s good to be on the journey to who I am becoming.

Do you think about who you could become?

If part of your vision includes career development, you may want to try the 3 minute quiz: What’s the best career development strategy for YOU, as a quiet achiever? Take the quiz here: https://bit.ly/3VXF9xE.

This article is Lesson 2 in a series on ‘8 lessons from 8 years of Quietly Powerful’. View the other posts at hashtag#QP8thbirthday.

Written by Megumi Miki, with Anna Reeve and Leigh Gassner, co-founders of Leaders who Listen. We aim to develop leaders who create a listening environment of safety and space within their organisations to enable better decision making, drive growth and innovation, enhance collaboration and inclusion, and manage risk. If you’d like to understand how your leadership team can engage in productive disagreements, contact us about our Leaders who Listen assessment tools, presentations, masterclasses and development programs.