How many things have you already decided you’re too late for?

A career change. Starting a business. Going back to study. Applying for a bigger role. Putting yourself forward. Starting again.

In this solo episode of Leading You, I explore the invisible deadlines we place around our careers, ambition and reinvention, and how easily we can start treating those self-imposed timelines as fact.

Inspired by my recent conversation with Ani, who began her career at 40, I also share my own experience of leaving a 21-year career in finance and starting my business at 39.

Because starting again doesn’t mean starting from zero. You bring your experience, judgement, resilience, relationships, mistakes and perspective with you. That is leadership capital.

In this episode, I explore:

• The self-imposed career and life deadlines we rarely question
• Why success and competence can sometimes make change harder
• The difference between starting again and starting from zero
• The leadership capital you carry into every new chapter
• Why waiting to be noticed can mean handing someone else responsibility for your next move
• Why we need to consider the risk of staying, not only the risk of changing
• How to take a next step without needing certainty or a complete roadmap

Reinvention doesn’t have to mean blowing up your life. Sometimes it begins with a conversation, an application, an email, a question or simply admitting that what you wanted ten years ago isn’t necessarily what you want now.

Perhaps the question was never, “Is it too late?” Maybe it’s: Who decided there was a deadline in the first place?

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to Leading You
00:30 Annie’s Late Start
00:59 The Timeline Trap
02:41 Success Makes Change Hard
03:49 Surrendering Competence
05:13 Starting Again Isn’t Zero
08:05 Ask for What You Want
10:12 Too Late Stories
11:42 Lead Her Collective Invite
12:38 Sunk Cost and Staying
13:47 The Risk of Not Changing
14:57 Move Without Certainty
16:17 It’s Never Too Late
17:02 Final Question and Wrap