Career & Leadership Real Talk

Ever felt like a colleague or your boss was speaking a completely different language, even though you're both talking about the same thing? This week we're joined by Gayle Tong, confidence coach and DISC practitioner, to unpack why working with different personality types can quietly chip away at your confidence at work, and what to actually do about it.
We get into what DISC really measures (it's not personality, whatever the name suggests), why the value isn't in the report itself but in the conversation that follows it, and how understanding your own style, and other people's, can turn "why don't they just get it?" into genuinely better working relationships.
Key points from this episode
Why psychometric tools like DISC measure behaviour, not personality, and why that distinction matters more than you'd think
The DISC styles explained in plain English, plus what each one looks like on a good day versus a bad one
Why some of the most common workplace friction comes down to two particular styles clashing, and what to do about it
The real cost of being told to "just be more confident" without specifics
A simple team exercise that surfaces things colleagues have never known about each other, even after years of working together

00:00 Introduction: welcoming guest Gayle Tong
01:00 Gayle's background in confidence coaching and DISC
02:00 Why working with different personality types affects confidence
03:00 How this shows up with Gayle's coaching clients
04:00 DISC explained: behaviour, not personality
06:00 The four DISC styles: D, I, S and C
09:00 Why report feedback works best through discussion
10:00 What happens when you don't recognise yourself in your profile
13:00 Starting with self-awareness before anything else
14:00 The strengths and challenges of each style, good day versus bad day
18:00 Which styles clash, and which connect naturally
21:00 A real example: adapting communication style by email
26:00 Team exercise: the 'My DISC Profile' activity
33:00 When you feel pressure to be more like a 'D' style
35:00 Having the honest conversation about how you work best
37:00 Why "just be more confident" isn't useful feedback from managers
40:00 How to find and work with Gayle
Useful Links
Connect with Pam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelalangan/
Connect with Jacqui on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqui-jagger/
Connect with Gayle
Website: https://www.enrichmentcoaching.co.uk/
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/gayletong
Interested in working with us?
Get in touch about career or leadership development, outplacement workshops or recruitment support via the Catalyst Careers website

Ever felt unheard when trying to get buy-in from someone who doesn't report to you, or from a boss who just isn't responding to your usual approach? In this episode, we unpack influencing without authority: why it's such a common challenge in matrix organisations and cross-functional roles, and what actually works when you can't simply pull rank to get people on board.
We explore the difference between personal power and position power, why doubling down on what isn't working rarely gets you anywhere, and share practical, actionable ways to build the kind of influence that lasts.
Key points from this episode
Why influencing without authority comes up so often, and why nobody ever really teaches us how to do it
The crucial difference between personal power and position power, and what happens when you've only built one of the two
How to spot the early signs that your usual approach isn't landing, and what to do instead
Practical tools for building buy-in: getting curious, aligning with other people's priorities, and pre-socialising your ideas
Why listening might be the single most underused skill when it comes to getting people on side

00:00 Introduction: why influencing without authority matters
03:00 What makes influencing feel so hard
06:00 Personal power versus position power
13:00 A simple first step: noticing frustration and getting curious
16:00 Aligning your priorities with theirs
18:00 Pre-socialising ideas and mapping the informal power structure
21:00 Listening: the most underused leadership skill
23:00 Final thoughts and how to get support

Useful Links
Connect with Pam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelalangan/
Connect with Jacqui on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqui-jagger/
Interested in working with us?
Get in touch about career or leadership development, outplacement workshops or recruitment support via the Catalyst Careers website

Career planning is one of those things most of us know we should do and keep putting off. In this episode, we explore why it feels so much harder than it should be, and why the version most people have in their heads doesn't actually count as a plan. Pam shares the simple, one-page approach she uses with her clients that takes an hour (or 10 minutes a day across a week) and turns vague ambition into something you can actually act on.
If you've ever thought "I'll do that when things settle down" or "I wouldn't even know what to put in a career plan," this one's for you.
Access Pam's Career Plan on a Page resource to work through it after listening
Key points from this episode
Why keeping your career plan in your head is costing you opportunities, even if you think you've got it figured out
The biggest misconception that stops ambitious people from starting: it doesn't have to be a big formal exercise
Why good career planning starts with looking back, not forward, and what that unlocks
How a career plan becomes a compass when you're in a role you're not loving or you're wondering "is this it?"
What Pam's Career Plan on a Page actually contains, and how to use it to keep moving forward

00:00 Introduction and why career planning keeps getting put off
01:00 The problem with keeping your plan in your head
03:00 What stops ambitious people from committing it to paper
05:00 The clarity gap: not knowing what to even put in a plan
06:30 Where to start: reflection before direction
08:00 Looking back to move forward, and what the career mapping exercise reveals
11:00 Using your plan as a compass when things feel hard
12:00 When a career plan leads somewhere unexpected: client stories
14:00 Pam walks through the Career Plan on a Page process
19:00 What the completed plan looks like and how to keep it live
21:00 Final thoughts: treating it as an experiment, not a commitment

Useful Links
Connect with Pam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelalangan/
Connect with Jacqui on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqui-jagger/
Interested in working with us?
Get in touch about career or leadership development, outplacement workshops or recruitment support via the Catalyst Careers website

In this episode, we explore a pattern Jacqui sees regularly in her coaching practice — capable, high-performing professionals who are inadvertently stalling their own careers by the way they talk about their work. Using a real client story (shared anonymously), we unpack what underselling looks like in practice, why it happens, and what you can do differently.
If you've ever described something you achieved and immediately wondered why it didn't land the way you hoped, this one's for you.
Key points from this episode
Why competence alone won't get you to director level — and what needs to change in how you communicate your contribution
The visibility paradox: how the people doing the most impressive work are often the least visible
How deep-seated discomfort with self-promotion shows up in the language you use every day
The difference between describing what happened and articulating what you made happen
A simple practical exercise to reframe how you talk about your work, and where to use it

00:00 Introduction and the client story behind this episode
01:00 The pattern: capable professionals who let their contribution go unnoticed
05:00 The visibility paradox and why senior leaders need to be seen, not just effective
10:00 Why "selling yourself" creates resistance — and a more useful way to think about it
13:00 The cost of invisibility: a real example from a Deloitte partnership decision
19:00 Comfort zones, default behaviours, and what's really driving the pattern
21:00 Tara Mohr's Playing Big and the language habits that keep people small
23:00 Active versus passive framing — and why it matters beyond the interview room
25:00 The practical exercise: write two versions and find the opportunity to use one
Useful Links
Connect with Pam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelalangan/
Connect with Jacqui on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqui-jagger/
Follow the Catalyst Careers LinkedIn page for career tips and advice
Interested in working with us?
Get in touch about career or leadership development, outplacement workshops or recruitment support via the Catalyst Careers website

If you expected imposter syndrome to ease off as your career progressed, you're not alone, and you're probably wondering why it's doing the opposite. In this episode, we dig into why imposter syndrome so often intensifies at senior level, and what's actually going on in your brain when it does.
We share practical strategies for working with imposter syndrome rather than trying to outrun it, because working harder and delivering more isn't the answer, and most people find that out the hard way.
Key points from this episode
Why becoming more senior makes imposter syndrome worse, not better and the brain science behind it
The identity gap: why your internal reality struggles to keep pace with your external success
How self-judgment fuels imposter syndrome and what to do instead
Why positive feedback doesn't land and a simple technique to change that
How to borrow belief from the people who already have it in you

00:00 Introduction and Topic Overview
00:26 Why Imposter Syndrome Intensifies With Seniority
02:29 The Trap of Trying to Outwork It
05:00 Your Brain, Evidence and the Confidence Gap
08:00 Navigating Uncertainty: The Board Meeting Example
11:00 The Identity Gap Explained
13:30 The Self-Judgment Cycle
16:30 What Actually Helps: Reducing Self-Judgment
21:00 How to Internalise Positive Feedback
24:30 Borrowing Belief From Others
26:30 Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Useful Links
Connect with Pam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelalangan/
Connect with Jacqui on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqui-jagger/
Interested in working with us?
Get in touch about career or leadership development, outplacement workshops or recruitment support via the Catalyst Careers website