Stop under-owning your work
Over the years, through many deep, honest conversations, in coaching and beyond, I’ve noticed a pattern that keeps repeating.
It shows up in leaders who are doing objectively well. People who are respected, well-compensated, and who have worked hard to be where they are.
And yet, they’re holding back. Not because they lack confidence, but because they’ve learned to discount their accomplishments, minimize their role in successful outcomes, and downplay the skills and leadership they’ve already demonstrated.
This isn’t impostor syndrome - which is the fear of being exposed as inadequate. Under-owning is the habit of minimizing real competence to stay safe.
I found this tendency within myself, too. For years, when people asked me how I came to the U.S., I would say I got lucky, that I happened to be approved for a one-year post-college internship at a large corporation in New York.
That story was true, but incomplete. It left out acknowledging the work I put in to get good grades, the effort it took to prepare, and the way I showed up in interviews.
Under-owning isn’t humility.
It’s a fear-based adaptive strategy, one that kept us safe, liked, and included. I see it often in people with strong people-pleasing tendencies, myself included.
Shrinking your contribution creates a lack of coherence between what you know to be true and what you say. Over time, it limits not only for you, but for the people and systems that rely on your strengths.
Now imagine something different.
What if, when reflecting on a project or role, you could say: “This is what I did. This is what I contributed. And here is where I’m still learning.”
Owning your work is indeed a leadership practice. It creates an inner foundation of integrity that allows you to hold both strengths and development areas with authenticity and vulnerability.
I feel very lucky to work with leaders who do this well. I remember being struck by one particularly bright leader I worked with years ago, who had this clear authority over her own career story. It was so refreshing. I loved how she showed up and I remember saying to myself, I want to be able to show up like that too.
Something we don’t talk enough about is that organizations respond to how leaders see themselves. When your light is dimmed internally, it’s mirrored externally.
Here’s what begins to shift when you reclaim authority over your career narrative:
You step into expanded scope and meaningful opportunities with less hesitation
You signal readiness through grounded decisions, clearer communication, and stronger influence
You reduce burnout because you’re no longer carrying everything to prove your worth.
The question that opens all of this is simple, yet not easy:
What story do I need to let go of in order to fully own my contributions and my strengths?
Letting go of that disempowering story creates fertile ground for deeper courage and confidence.
To support you with this process, drumroll please… I’m excited to officially announce the launch of the newly redesigned…
✨ Inside Out Leadership Accelerator (IOLA) 2026 ✨
Inside my signature 9-week program, the work is to transform how you see yourself, how you relate to your work, how you make decisions, and how you show up when the stakes are high.
In the very first module, we begin at the root: telling a truer story about yourself, reclaiming authorship of your career, and moving from operating primarily in your zone of excellence (where you’ve been rewarded to stay) into leading from your genius zone.
We start February 27th. More details coming soon.
