Powrup

We've noticed a trend lately: Powrsuiters sharing that they want to back themselves more when under pressure. Getting the words out is the first step, but it’s the uncertain twenty seconds after, when you’re braced for someone to question you, that stops many of us speaking up at all.

In this ep of Powrup, Nat and Kristen talk through both. They share a four-point sticky note to fill in before your next meeting (your position, what it rests on, any trade-offs, and what would change your mind) and why speaking first beats waiting for the perfect moment. In a Powrsuit LinkedIn poll, half of you said preparation helped most - which supports researcher Herminia Ibarra's point that you can’t think your way into acting differently, so at some point you just have to say the thing!

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💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powrsuit/

The usual advice when a job ends is to work out what you want first, then make a move. Kristen has given that advice to plenty of Powrsuit members, and in this ep of Powrup, Nat and Kristen question it. They talk about the awkward in-between stage after a redundancy, time at home with kids or outgrowing your role (there's even a word for it: liminality).

They draw on Herminia Ibarra's year-long study of 23 career changers, who figured out what they wanted by trying things first. Her advice is to spend a little time reflecting to come up with three ideas, then test them in real life to see which one sticks. That could be a 15-minute virtual coffee where you ask someone what a typical Tuesday looks like for them, or saying yes to an unpaid spot on a local sports club board. Confidence usually turns up after you've started, so you don't need to wait for it.

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More from Powrsuit:

🔗 Podcast: https://powrsuit.com/podcast/

🌐 Website: https://powrsuit.com/

📩 Newsletter: https://powrsuit.com/newsletters/

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORJdS-WlYOWA20mSOGG2ug

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powrsuit

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powrsuit/

Neutrality used to cost you nothing but now it costs reach.

We start with the flashpoints doing the rounds: Ed Sheeran, Sydney Sweeney, Meghan Markle, Jacinda Ardern, return to office mandates, private school vs public school (we could go on).

Then the work version, where you can't mute anyone and the project's still due. Using Jessica Tarlov's new book 'I Disagree' as a frame: leave room for people who choose differently, because if every disagreement is a character test you'll run out of colleagues. Go in to learn rather than to win. Nat's opener is to ask whether someone's open to changing their mind, and if they're not, leave it there.

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More from Powrsuit:

🔗 Podcast: https://powrsuit.com/podcast/

🌐 Website: https://powrsuit.com/

📩 Newsletter: https://powrsuit.com/newsletters/

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORJdS-WlYOWA20mSOGG2ug

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powrsuit

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powrsuit/

Queen bee syndrome is when senior women pull the ladder up behind them. It's real, it's been studied, and the research points to structure rather than personality.

We start with the Sydney Sweeney ad and the pick me girl label, then get to the thing Powrsuiters say in hushed tones on calls: one of my worst managers was a woman.

A few reasons it happens. There's often only one seat, so enter fierce competition thanks to scarcity. Survival mode sets in, because if proving you're not like other women is what got you there, distancing is the strategy that works. And helping really does cost us, since women who champion other women get worse performance ratings for it while white men doing the same don't....(?).

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More from Powrsuit:

🔗 Podcast: https://powrsuit.com/podcast/

🌐 Website: https://powrsuit.com/

📩 Newsletter: https://powrsuit.com/newsletters/

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORJdS-WlYOWA20mSOGG2ug

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powrsuit

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powrsuit/

Are people ruder now, or have the norms just shifted under our feet? Speakerphone conversations in the airport lounge, QR code ordering when you've just paid close to a hundred dollars for a couple of burgers and beers, ghosting meetings and catchups - is this the new normal?

A researcher has been asking people about rudeness since the 90s and the number has climbed every time, with the biggest rise in customers behaving badly towards frontline staff. She also found nobody thinks they're the rude one (ha).

Plus our LinkedIn poll results and the noise violation ticket Kristen dodged at 14.

Got a pet peeve we missed? Tell us. powrsuit.com

Loved it? Share it and leave us a 5-star review!

More from Powrsuit:

🔗 Podcast: https://powrsuit.com/podcast/

🌐 Website: https://powrsuit.com/

📩 Newsletter: https://powrsuit.com/newsletters/

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORJdS-WlYOWA20mSOGG2ug

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powrsuit

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powrsuit/

Your brain has a default time zone: Past, present or future. Kristen found out about it at a dinner party, went home and got AI to test her, and ran a shorter version on Nat. Someone more junior gets the promotion you wanted and it's 9pm, what are you doing?If you're past focused you work out how something happened, which is great for spotting patterns and for backing yourself based on your track record, though you can get stuck diagnosing when you should be deciding. Present focused means you go on how it feels right now, which is a lovely way to live but no help for a five year plan. Future focused means today is always a step towards something, and it comes with skipping your wins and comes with a worrying version.

We figure it’s useful to be able explain yours to the people you work with, which is why we did this out loud - so give it a go. 

Loved it? Share it and leave us a 5-star review!

More from Powrsuit:

🔗 Podcast: https://powrsuit.com/podcast/

🌐 Website: https://powrsuit.com/

📩 Newsletter: https://powrsuit.com/newsletters/

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORJdS-WlYOWA20mSOGG2ug

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powrsuit

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powrsuit/

Your calendar probably isn't a plan. It's a receipt for everything other people asked you to do.

We've heard a few common ways people run a calendar. As a receipt, where it's just a record of what you're delivering for everyone else. As a watch list, where you accept everything and then triage it on a Sunday night. Or as a Tetris board, where the blocks are constantly moving around because they have to fit the hours you've actually got.

Some of our do's and don'ts:

• Deliberately end meetings 5-10 mins early. 
• Stop defaulting to 60 minutes! Start at 15 and make yourself justify more.
• Put the agenda in the description field - most agendas are one question or one decision anyway.
• Block your travel time and be honest about how long it takes.
• Block the prep before a meeting, and a block for the work that comes out of it.
• Name your blocks, personal ones too, so people can see what's movable.
• Put a three month end date on recurring meetings, so you've got a natural excuse to kill them.

Plus an expensive Japanese pot, a helpful husband, and three op shops.If this was helpful, we've got mini masterclasses on calendar hacks, taking back your time, and the art of prioritisation inside Powrsuit. Reach out and we'll sort a discount for your first month.

Loved it? Share it and leave us a 5-star review!

More from Powrsuit:

🔗 Podcast: https://powrsuit.com/podcast/

🌐 Website: https://powrsuit.com/

📩 Newsletter: https://powrsuit.com/newsletters/

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORJdS-WlYOWA20mSOGG2ug

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powrsuit

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powrsuit/

Networking is the thing most of us dread, so here's how to actually work a room without wanting to hide in the women’s toilet. We start with the liking gap - the research showing people walk away thinking they tanked terribly while everyone else rated them an A. Then in Powrsuit fashion, Nat and Kristen get practical: the walk-in plan, why heading straight for the drinks table gives you a job to do, how to read which groups are safe to join, and graceful ways to exit a convo. In a male-dominated field? What to do when banter feels designed to exclude you, and why the fix is curiosity.

Loved it? Share it and leave us a 5-star review!

More from Powrsuit: 🔗 Podcast: https://powrsuit.com/podcast/ 🌐 Website: https://powrsuit.com/ 📩 Newsletter: https://powrsuit.com/newsletters/ 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORJdS-WlYOWA20mSOGG2ug 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powrsuit 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powrsuit/

Quiet quitting is back - and it makes no sense. Jobs are at an all time low, unemployment all time high, and yet work disengagement is off the charts? Nat and Kristen dig into why people are checking out when you'd most expect them to cling on. They cover what’s going on (poor management, burnout and broken promises), and why Gen Z are more likely to quiet quit than boomers.

Plus the difference between disengaged and actively disengaged and whether this is all about boundaries and why it’s all pretty bad for our mental health. Also - eclipse tourism, and how wedding-spend correlates to divorce rates.

Loved it? Share it and leave us a 5-star review!

More from Powrsuit:

🔗 Podcast: https://powrsuit.com/podcast/ 🌐 Website: https://powrsuit.com/

📩 Newsletter: https://powrsuit.com/newsletters/

📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORJdS-WlYOWA20mSOGG2ug

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powrsuit

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/powrsuit/

There's a difference between feedback and criticism, and often what we get is the latter dressed up as the former. So we pull the two apart: feedback is clear, actionable and comes from someone who wants you to win, while criticism can be someone venting and making it your problem. We also dig into why women often get judged on personality rather than work (abrasive, strident, 'too intense'), and why 'you're not ready' is the most useless thing you can be told after missing out on a role.

Then in Powrsuit style, we share how to be proactive and drive your own constructive feedback, check-ins and progress.

Loved it? Share it and leave us a 5-star review! Got a topic for us? Email [email protected]. Follow Powrsuit on LinkedIn and Instagram, or join us at www.powrsuit.com for bite-sized professional development that actually fits into your week. 'Til next time, Powrsuiters!