Have you ever looked around and thought, “I should be further ahead by now”?

In this solo episode of Leading Well with Steph Edusei, Steph explores leadership, self-worth, comparison and the imaginary timelines we use to judge our lives and careers.

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So many of us carry an unspoken timetable for what our lives and careers are supposed to look like. We imagine where we should be by a certain age, what we should have achieved by now, and how quickly we should have progressed.

In this episode, Steph reflects on her own experience of joining the NHS National Graduate Training Scheme, where the idea of becoming a chief executive within ten years became a powerful internal yardstick. When her career path stopped following that neat upward trajectory, she began to feel as though she was falling behind.

Steph explores how comparison, social media, organisational expectations and our own self-imposed milestones can distort the way we see ourselves. She shares how stepping away from one version of success helped her find work, leadership and impact that felt more aligned with her values.

This episode is an invitation to question the timelines you have absorbed, notice where comparison may be shaping your choices, and trust that your own pace may be wiser than you think.

In this episode, Steph explores:

• Why so many of us feel we should be further ahead
• The imaginary timelines we create for our lives and careers
• How comparison can make even successful people feel inadequate
• The difference between career progression and leadership development
• Why success is not always a straight line
• How detours, setbacks and changes of direction can shape us
• The danger of judging your whole life against someone else’s visible highlights
• Why later does not necessarily mean late
• How trying to catch up can lead us into lives we do not really want
• What it means to trust your own pace without giving up on ambition

Leading Well is a podcast for people who want to lead with clarity, care and integrity, without losing themselves in the process.

Leading Well - leadership support: https://www.stephedusei.co.uk/leading-well

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