The physical reason you stay quiet when you have the answer
The physical reason you stay quiet when you have the answer
Hi,
You are sitting in a high-level leadership meeting.
An issue comes up, and you spot a critical bottleneck everyone else in the room is missing. The solution is completely obvious to you. You have the experience, the organisational wisdom, and the exact answer they need.
But instead of speaking up, a familiar pattern takes over.
You feel a tight, nervous butterfly flutter in your chest. You hunch your shoulders forward, make your body a little smaller, and choose to stay unseen.
Later, you go home with a quiet wave of resentment. You resent yourself for staying quiet, and you dread the moment you will inevitably have to step in and fix the exact mistake you saw coming.
If you are a senior Executive Assistant, this loop is incredibly familiar.
Here is the truth we rarely talk about in corporate spaces: Most EAs are excellent coordinators. Very few are trusted with judgment.
When you hesitate to speak up in those moments, it is rarely because you lack the capability or the right information. It is a physical, historical habit of shrinking.
For many high-performing EAs, this instinct was formed long before entering the corporate world. If you grew up in a environment where you learned that the best way to be “good” was to be low-maintenance, you likely learned to suppress your voice to keep the peace.
When you carry that pattern into your career, it manifests as a default fear of standing out, asking for more, or claiming your space. You choose the familiar safety of staying silent over the perceived risk of speaking up.
But you cannot expect the Executive Leadership Team to advocate for your career progression or your compensation if you are actively making yourself smaller in their presence.
To shift from a coordinator who executes tasks to a strategic partner who is trusted with judgment, you have to break the habit of silence.
You have to learn how to express yourself unapologetically, stand firm in your worth, and align your compensation with your actual strategic value.
I have written a deep-dive article that maps out exactly how to make this transition, both professionally and somatically.
Inside the article, we explore:
Why the instinct to stay quiet is a physical, nervous system pattern, not an intellectual one.
How holding back your voice physically impacts your body, and how to open up that restriction.
The practical steps to rectify your Position Description and stand firm in your grading.
What it actually looks like to express yourself unapologetically in your career.
If you are ready to stop shrinking, stand taller in your authority, and be recognised for the strategic partner you already are, this article is for you.
Jacqueline
P.S. If you are ready to do the deeper somatic work to clear the old patterns of silence, let’s talk. Send me a DM on LinkedIn with the word LEAD and we can discuss how to get you trusted with judgment, regraded, and fully compensated.
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