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Music I'm Muriel Wilkins, and this is Coaching Real Leaders, part of the HBR podcast network.

I'm a longtime executive coach who works with highly successful leaders who've hit a bump in the road.

My job is to help them get over that bump by clarifying their goals and figuring out a way to reach them so that hopefully

they can lead with a little more ease. I typically work with clients over the course of several months,

but on this show, we have a one-time coaching meeting focusing on a specific leadership challenge

they're facing.

Today's guest is someone will call Rachel to protect her confidentiality.

She's been at her company for a while and has moved quickly up the ladder.

My growth path has been very steep. I started as an

individual contributor, moved very quickly into managing a small team, and now I manage a larger team,

and I manage managers. So I constantly find myself thrust in these new spaces, like I'm playing catch up in terms of,

okay, I move into a role probably before I was a little bit ready. And so I feel like I'm in the

role while I'm figuring out what that role is and what you were supposed to do at that level.

I tend to feel less like I'm catching up and more comfortable when I have conviction

around my priorities and my approach.

Like every once in a while I will get to a point where I know where I can add value.

While Rachel hasn't always felt like her footing was steady in new roles, she does feel like

there's been some data to show that she's done a good job so far. She's gotten direct team

feedback and the aforementioned promotions, including most recently to be a manager of managers.

...