A seasoned C-suite executive sat across from Lewis C. Lin, convinced he was on the right track but baffled why only a handful of people—none with real power—recognized his worth. Despite decades of experience and unwavering belief in his abilities, "John" found himself caught between jobs, frustrated that his industry seemed blind to his value.
In this podcast episode, we unpack Lewis C. Lin's coaching insights from his Dear Lewis newsletter "Is my self-confidence holding back my career?", where he reveals how excessive self-confidence can become a career saboteur. We explore the psychological traps that keep high-performers stuck and the practical interventions that transformed John's professional trajectory:
The External Focus Trap — Why blaming luck and algorithms keeps you powerless
The Validation Addiction — How social media craving signals deeper insecurity
The Inflexibility Problem — When "my way is best" becomes career suicide
The Listening Deficit — Why feedback resistance kills executive advancement
We discuss how John's transformation plan—cutting social media time, writing thought leadership content, practicing active listening, and shelving his ego—led to colleagues praising his "teamwork and maturity" for the first time in his 25-year career. The episode explores the fine line between healthy confidence and self-sabotaging arrogance, and why true recognition comes to those who focus on the journey rather than the rewards.
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