The Quiet Warrior Podcast with Serena Low

95. The Visibility Factor: How Quiet Leaders Become Influential with Susan Barber

• Serena Low, Introvert Coach for Quiet Achievers and Quiet Warriors

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In this insightful episode of The Quiet Warrior Podcast, I speak with Susan Barber — a leadership visibility coach, former Fortune 500 executive, and author of The Visibility Factor and the upcoming Your Journey to Visibility Workbook.


Susan shares her powerful journey from sitting quietly in the back of corporate meeting rooms to becoming a visible, influential leader who helps others do the same. Drawing from 25 years at Kraft Heinz, she opens up about overcoming imposter syndrome, reframing self-doubt, and learning to take small, consistent actions toward visibility — all while staying true to her introverted nature.


If you’ve ever wondered how to be seen and heard without being loud, this conversation will inspire you to start your own journey — one micro-action at a time.


In This Episode, We Discuss:

  • Evolving from invisible to visible: how Susan went from hiding in the back of meetings to sitting confidently at the executive table.
  • Reframing imposter syndrome: why feeling unsure can actually be a sign of growth — and how humility can work in your favor.
  • Preparation over panic: how introverts can replace the fear of “freezing up” with calm readiness and self-trust.
  • Feedback as fuel for growth: Susan’s practical advice for exploring — not fearing — feedback, and using it as a leadership superpower.
  • Little experiments, big impact: how to build confidence through small, strategic steps instead of giant leaps.
  • Owning your narrative: why it’s essential to define how you want others to perceive you — and how to start embodying that version of yourself today.


Key Takeaways:

  • Visibility isn’t about self-promotion; it’s about sharing value and contributing meaningfully.
  • Every interaction is an opportunity for visibility — from meetings to everyday conversations.
  • Being visible can start with something as small as offering help, asking a thoughtful question, or sharing your team’s wins.
  • You were hired for a reason. Your voice and ideas matter.
  • Confidence grows from trusting yourself, trying new things, and staying curious.


Resources Mentioned:

  • The Visibility Factor  
  • Your Journey to Visibility Workbook (upcoming)
  • Free resource: The Introvert’s Guide to Visibility and Influence in the Workplace


Connect with Susan on LinkedIn

Visit Susan’s website: www.susanmbarber.com


Quote Highlights


“Every interaction is an opportunity for visibility — don’t waste it.”


“You were hired for a reason. You have a voice that matters.”


“Sometimes visibility begins with one small, bold move.”


Connect with Me
For more insights and resources for introverts and quiet achievers, subscribe to The Visible Introvert Newsletter at serenalow.com.au.

This episode was edited by Aura House Productions

SPEAKER_00:

Hi, I'm Serena Lowe. If you're used to hearing that introverts are shy, anxious, antisocial, and lack good communication and leadership skills, then this podcast is for you. You're about to fall in love with a calm, introspective, and profound person that you are. Discover what's fun, unique, and powerful about being an introvert and how to make the elegant transition from quiet achiever to quiet warrior in your life and work, anytime you want, in more ways than you imagined possible. Welcome. Our guest today is Susan Barber. Susan Barber is this leading visibility coach who helps quiet, high-achieving corporate leaders step into the spotlight and become visible, valued, and influential in their careers. With over 25 years of experience in leadership roles at Kraft Heinz, spanning sales, supply chain, food service, and IT, Susan has a deep understanding of the challenges corporate leaders face. She's also the author of The Visibility Factor and the upcoming Your Journey to Visibility Workbook, both of which offer powerful tools for leaders looking to take charge of their careers and confidently pursue new opportunities. As the host of the Visibility Factor podcast, Susan is passionate about empowering professionals to grow their influence and unlock their full potential. Welcome Susan to the Quiet Warrior Podcast. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to have this conversation with you. Susan, do you consider yourself an introvert?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, I think I've evolved a little bit from the full introvert I was when I was in corporate. I think sometimes I'm more of an ambervert, which is I can be extroverted when I need to, but my my go-to is still being an introvert. I'd still love to stay home and read a book any day. But you know, you have to put yourself out there if you're trying to have people read your book or to understand what you're doing in business. So it's been a journey to get there. And I didn't start out right away making videos or anything like that. I took some time to figure out how to do that and get comfortable with it. But yeah, it's not my go-to to put myself out there out on a regular basis, but I'm getting used to it.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you think that has changed over the years for you?

SPEAKER_01:

I think so. You know, I especially when I first started my business, I was trying to figure it all out, right? And so you have a lot of doubt and imposter syndrome happening there. Like, should I even do this? Do I know enough to start a business? And I had figured out how to be more visible in corporate before I left. But then coming into this world, it's like you're starting all over again. And, you know, do I have enough coaching hours to say I'm a good coach? And so you start to have all these doubts. And I think it it has gotten easier, especially since I put the book out. I'm talking a lot more to people, I'm presenting more. And once I started the podcast, you know, I think that really helped me find my voice in a bigger way. And being able to interview other people and talk about what I'm doing, you just get more comfortable with it because you know, you know it's important to do this so that people can learn about you and what you do and how you can help them.

SPEAKER_00:

I agree with you. A lot of it is down to practice and repetition and doing it enough times that you start feeling comfortable. And some of that imposter syndrome you're referring to goes away. But do you also think that imposter syndrome could be a good thing? Could actually be an advantage.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think it doesn't make you overly boastful or anything like that. It keeps you a little humble. And I think for me, just learning how imposter syndrome shows up when you know you're being your brain is trying to help you and trying to keep you safe. And all of those things for me were unexpected. I wasn't understanding that that's what that meant. And I think when I was struggling with some of the doubts I had in corporate, I was in IT for a number of years, but without the education to really support that, it felt like I didn't fit in and I wasn't sure if I had a voice that mattered. And so the more I started to recognize that what I am doing is important and I have a lot to add to the conversation just as much as anyone else because of my business background. So learning about what makes you unique and what you bring to the party, I think helps people push that imposter syndrome into the background because you start to value what you have to offer and you start to trust yourself and trust your intuition and be more open to the fact that nobody is perfect, even though I felt like I was for a long time. I felt like I had to be. And once I let that go too, I feel like it helped me in so many ways to be able to step into who I was really supposed to be and be the leader that I knew I could be. But I just had a lot of fear at the beginning and I had to work through that.

SPEAKER_00:

I like how you said do I have a voice that matters? I think that is probably an unconscious or you know, deeply hidden fear that a lot of introverts and quiet achievers have. And it's not to do with not having anything valuable to say, but worrying that they will be perceived in a certain way because of maybe the way they express themselves, maybe because of their quietness, maybe because the louder voices tend to dominate the room. So, how does one become visible as an introvert, whether it's in corporate, whether it's starting your own business? What has been helpful for you to become more visible?

SPEAKER_01:

I started out at in the beginning just observing other people and what they were doing. And I thought, you know, I don't want to be someone who brags. So how can I do this in a way that feels comfortable for me? And when I realized I sat in a room with like 40 of my peers and I thought, I'm just gonna watch and see what they do. And some of them just offered to help. Some of them said, Oh, you know, my team member is doing that, I can help with that, or have them help with that. And I thought, okay, all they're doing is sharing information and offering to help. Well, that's not so hard. Why can't I do that? So once I started to recognize that I think I was making being visible into this big mountain to climb, and it really is small actions that you start to take every day. So for me, what I did in the beginning was I created a list of questions that I thought might come in, come up in a meeting that I could use. Or I thought if somebody comments on something, maybe I can add to their comment. Put myself on the agenda to present something, sit at the table with our IT executive team. I did very visible things to show that I was going to be different. And it took me a little bit of time to get comfortable with that. But once I realized that I was putting myself in a panic of not knowing what question to ask, and that if I prepared, I didn't have that panic, it felt so much better. And I agree with you about the reason that we may not speak up is because we're worried about being criticized or judged, or that we say something in the wrong way. And, you know, especially when you have imposter syndrome, everybody else in the room sounds brilliant and you're so worried about how you're going to show up that you just your head is like in panic mode, or what is that, like, you know, it's kind of frozen and it can't think about anything. And so you have to figure out a way to prepare. So that doesn't happen then. You don't worry about it as much. You have those little questions right there ready to go, and you just pick one and use it.

SPEAKER_00:

I like how you prepare because I think that's one of the great strengths of being introverted and being a quiet achiever, is that while we don't do well at winging it, we are very good when we are prepared. So there are so many, you know, strategies, and you offered some ways of doing that, offering help, um, coming in with a list of questions, putting yourself on the agenda to present. And I love that you've contrasted preparation over panic because yes, I can relate to that panic mode where the mind goes blank, you freeze, everything you knew suddenly is not there, not accessible at all. And then you risk looking like you're completely unprepared. And it's not that you are, it's just that you panicked. So was there a time when you were the one who was hiding at the back of the room because you have also risen to executive level. How did that transition happen for you?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I was sitting in the back of the room and didn't realize I wasn't being visible. I got some feedback from a mentor of mine who said, you know, you're not being very visible, you're sitting in the back of the room, you're not participating, you're not adding any value. Why do you even come to the meeting? And these were meetings that we had basically all of my peers and all of our senior management in once a month. And so, you know, when you walk into this room, there's a big table and all of the executive team is sitting there. So, in my head, I'm not high enough on the org chart to sit there. They should sit there, right? They're the people who are the senior leaders. And so I sat in the back. And but the problem, what I didn't realize is, you know, before this feedback, I was a top talent. I was hoping to get the next promotion. I was doing all the right things. So to hear that feedback was very shocking for me that I hadn't realized it on my own. I think I was a little embarrassed that I hadn't figured that out for myself. But then I thought, what do I do? How do I, how do I resolve this issue? And so once I talked to another mentor of mine, a business mentor, who helped me understand, so you have a lot to offer. You were hired for a reason. You have good ideas. And if you're not sharing what you know with the leadership team, then they might make a bad decision because you haven't shared what you know. And then the second thing she told me, which I think was even more impactful, is that I was not only holding myself back, but I was holding my team back because I wasn't sharing what they were doing and they weren't in the room with me all the time. So it was really up to me to do that. So of course I never wanted to hurt them in any way. It's one thing to make a decision for yourself. It's another when you're hurting a group. And you know, groups that are not seen and visible can be eliminated very quickly in a company. So you have to be mindful of that as a leader of a group.

SPEAKER_00:

So I heard two things there that make a lot of difference, I think, for people who are listening. Number one, you were hired for a reason. And sometimes we forget that. We we forget to look at ourselves or to look at things from the other person's perspective, to look at the CEO's perspective, for instance, in the whole scheme of things, you know, for the good of this company, what needs to be done, who needs to be where, who needs to be doing what kind of role, and what part do I play in that whole system, and how am I fulfilling that? So if I was hired for this particular reason, how am I living up to that? And so when it when you start looking at it that way, I think it reinforces and maybe it counters that imposter syndrome. I belong here. I was hired for a reason. So let me make sure I live up to that. And the second thing you said was that because you are also a team leader, you are now concerned that in hiding and playing small, you are also holding back your team. So your reticence is something that affects someone else's professional well-being and success. Do you think that because introverted introverted people care so much about the well-being of others, maybe sometimes they might care for someone else much more than they care for their own agenda, that it then helps them to perhaps be more empowered to be a little braver about becoming visible because it's not just about themselves now.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, a hundred percent. You know, I think it was that moment of I have to do this and I have to do something differently because my team needs to know how to do this too, right? It's one thing to kind of hold yourself back, but when I realized I need to figure this out and I need to teach them, and so I did some bold things. I sat at that executive table, I got there before everybody else did, so that maybe one of them didn't get a seat because I was there. But I thought it was important that I demonstrate a bold move. I had to start to show up differently. And so I had my team start presenting too, which they were nervous to do in the beginning, but I said, I'm gonna be here with you. And I wanted them to recognize that they had a lot of value to provide. And doing that just really changed the game for me and for them. So I think everybody listening, you know, think of something that might be a little out of your comfort zone to try, but demonstrates this bold side of you that people aren't expecting, right? Because they expected me to sit in the back of the room. Now I'm sitting at the table. What is going on? Why is she up here? So it was a really good moment. I just remember the look on their faces to this day of what is she doing at this table? And, you know, it was fine. They didn't kick me out, they didn't ask me to move. So sometimes we have to be a little brave and we just have to try something that's a little out of character for us, a little out of our comfort zone, and sometimes just prove to ourselves, right? That we have something that's important and that matters to to do in the world. And we need to start with something small.

SPEAKER_00:

How did you know that you could get away with that? Did you have to speak to someone or ask permission, or did you just do it?

SPEAKER_01:

I just did it. I thought, you know, if they're gonna kick me out, they'll say something. I thought, you know, I was just gonna say, oh yeah, I totally forgot you guys need to sit here. Yeah, I just would have made a joke or something. But nobody did. And so every meeting after that, I continued to sit there. So, you know, I could have just done it one time and they would think, oh, that's just a one-off thing that she did. But continuing to do that, I was really trying to kind of put a line in the sand that I belong here and I'm not going to move. So it was a really cool experiment to do, honestly, and to see that it worked out so well, not only for me, but for my team. And pretty soon nobody even questioned it. Because the other thing that it does is it forces you to speak. If you're at the table, so to speak, right? You have to speak up. And so it forced me to participate in conversations. It forced me to make a comment and share something that I might not have ordinarily done. So it really did put my voice front and center in a way that, you know, I couldn't have even expected when I thought about doing it. And what changed for you and your team because of this? You know, it was really interesting because we got involved in some things that really helped to demonstrate the impact that we were making. We were a newer group, I'll say, uh, in terms of what we were doing. The group existed before, but the things that we wanted to do to demonstrate cost savings and simplification and which were some of our big goals, uh, we found ways to do that that no one had ever considered doing. And so it gave us a really great platform to talk about that at this at this level and start to say, here's some of the things we're doing. We're building relationships with our vendors, and they are thrilled to work with us now, right? They may not have been as thrilled to work with us in the past. And we've created a program called, I think we called it best team. Like everybody wanted to be part of the best team, internally and externally. And we saved hundreds of thousands of dollars for the company. So it's really hard to say that your your group doesn't matter now because we have demonstrated impact galore compared to maybe what previous groups had done. So to me, those were big wins. And I think to prove, you know, to my team and myself that we could do it, but also to show other people that we matter. We are important and we need to be at the table.

SPEAKER_00:

I think that's the coolest leadership story I've ever heard. Aw, thanks.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it was a lot of fun to do that. Yeah, there's some great things I did in that role that I wish I could, you know, take in so many places. There were just some things that we did like 360 feedback with our vendors, and we did a lot of different things that nobody expected a big company to do or, you know, to spend time doing. But we thought it was so important to show our vendors that we cared because we partnered with them really closely and we wanted them to feel that. And we had little scorecards that we did every month and we would show them where they ranked. And it was a lot of good stuff that came out of that experience and just sitting, having top-to-top meetings with vendors and stuff just really gave me inside view of what it's like to be an executive at that level and how you have to think about things, and that you can ask for more than you realize. Uh, you just have to be able to have the leverage to do it.

SPEAKER_00:

You've brought out a very important point because you talked about the 360 feedback. And with the feedback loop, I remember at the beginning you said it was because of a mentor's feedback that you deliberately became more visible. And then now you actively seek feedback from all the people you work with. And so that you can understand from their perspective, you know, what's of concern to them and the bigger picture and all that. How do you encourage what would you encourage people to do in response to negative feedback that they receive?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I'm an I'm a huge person to encourage feedback for other people because I think you don't always know how you how you're perceived. And for a lot of people that I coach, they don't know. And so I'll encourage them to ask for feedback through a survey or through conversation. I always feel like it's a good way to build relationships. So if they hear something, I'll tell them, let's talk about what you heard, good and bad. And most of the time they hear a lot of good things that they never expected and they're so surprised. But if they encounter something that is not as positive, I'll say, okay, let's just explore it, right? We have to understand is it something that is really crucial that could hold you back, that could keep you from progressing in the organization? And if the answer is yes, then we have to figure out how to address that. And, you know, so I'm there. And I think me helping to coach them through that helps it not feel so, so difficult. But most of the time, even when I got the feedback that I wasn't being visible, of course it hurt. It was difficult to hear. But all I did was tell myself, like, you don't have to do anything about this if you don't want to. But if you care about your career and you know that this is holding you back, you're going to have to explore it. So I took some time to do that. It didn't do anything differently the next day or the day after that. But I started to recognize that, you know, all I have to do is explore it, think about ways I can deal with this, have conversations with people who can guide me, and then move forward. So most of the time, what people hear is, you know, they're not playing big enough, they're not taking enough risks, they're not sharing information like they could be and communicating in a bigger way, they're not spending enough time developing their team. They're doing a lot of people are doing too much low-level work, honestly. And I think that was something I did too, because I was worried about the optics of looking like a new manager or a director. And was it was my team doing the right things? And I think sometimes you can get too much in the micromanagement trying to help the team do all the right things and look right for everyone, but it causes a lack of trust then with your team. And it starts to it hurt me at that point because what it says to a leadership team is Sue doesn't know how to delegate enough. She's not doing enough to help her team grow. And so when I got that feedback, of course, that was not easy to hear either. But I knew that I literally had to change what I was doing and stop getting into all the details. And so, whatever the feedback is, I would just encourage everyone to sit with it, explore it, and just ask yourself the question: is it possible that this is true? If it's possible that it's true, then what are some small actions I can take to move in a different direction, to show something different? But sometimes it starts with how you think about yourself and the thoughts you have about yourself and shifting those from a negative, you know, self-limiting belief to something more positive. And that takes some time to undo those old thoughts that you've been holding on to for a long time. And I think we all have them, we just don't always recognize that they show up on a regular basis.

SPEAKER_00:

I agree with you that a lot of these self-limiting beliefs are unconscious. And as soon as we become aware that we have them, then I think that is the beginning. That is when we can actually make the change. But I also want to circle back to what you said about uh explore. I noticed you used that word several times about exploring the feedback, especially the negative feedback, because I think the human tendency is to condemn ourselves, to criticize ourselves, to accept straight away that yes, that feedback is true, that is an accurate description of me. But what you said was to sit with it and ask yourself, is it possible that this is true? And that is a very powerful question because that can go either way. If it is true, then what does it mean about me? What does it mean about my competence, my potential, my leadership, and so on? But then is it also possible that it is not true? That maybe it's referring to only a specific context, maybe it's not true of me all the time, and maybe it's true of me when I work in a with certain people, but not with certain other people. So I think that's a very very nuanced kind of question, and then leaves open different possibilities. I think it's the courage to face those possibilities that's important more than the answer. And then you said to decide to move forward by taking microactions. And I like the micro actions because you know, we don't have to change everything all at once. You you did say that you know nothing might change for two days, maybe while you are pondering and exploring and deciding on your next move. But that gives you time to process and time to reflect and then time to strategize and decide, okay, I'm going to take this from this feedback, and then I'm going to do this new thing, and I'm going to change this other thing that I do. And this is how I'm going to approach this kind of situation from now on. And so it's those, you know, very careful, calibrated responses that I think the introvert and the quiet achiever would be very good at.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I'm a big believer in possibilities. And so to your point, it could go one way or it could go the other, depending on what you determine for yourself. But I am also a big believer in you have a choice. And so you have a choice of whether to do something with it or a choice to not do something with it, you know, depending on the source that it came from. That might not be somebody that you really respect, or they might have, you know, some kind of situation that they think is true about you that may not be true. And so there's all kinds of reasons why people might say something. It could even be about them, right? It might be their situation and has nothing to do with you, but you just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. So I like people to just at least decide for themselves if it's something that they want to do something with. And if not, then that's their choice to not do something with it. And baby steps, small little steps can make a huge difference, especially for an introvert who's already shy and already hesitating to put themselves out there. They need to do what I call them like little experiments. Like, let's try and experiment with this action and see if it works. If it works, great. Keep doing it. If it doesn't work, pick a different action. I have hundreds of actions in my in my book because I know it doesn't, not one thing works for everybody. And I tried to lean into what strengths might be for people or uh situations that they might be going through. Like, here's what you do if you're going to meet with your manager for a one-on-one. Here's what you're going to do if you meet with a new manager, here's what you're going to do if you like to write, uh, if you like to speak, if you like to volunteer. So I gave different categories with like a beginner, intermediate, and advanced view, because I wanted people to have tons of ideas to pick from. And once you master the beginning level, well, then you can move to intermediate and start to do more of those. Because this is a journey. This isn't one and done. You have to keep going. And every time you take the next position at the next level, well, then you also have to have a different level of visibility to go along with it in order to succeed. So I view it as a guidebook that you can use and pull out depending on what you're doing, what you need to do, and to try new things so that you're always ready for the next experiment to try something. And I'm big on metrics too, because I feel like metrics help you, and not maybe traditional metrics, but how do I feel about myself? How do I feel about the feedback I got from other people? Is it important to me? Is it helping me grow? Or is it just something someone said in passing? So those are things that I encourage people to do because when you start to change, it starts with you first. And you have to evaluate do I feel different? I think I do. I think I'm feeling really good about this. And your confidence grows. And that's what other people see. They see the confidence in you and they start to recognize that there's something different. They can't put their finger on it yet. But the more you do it consistently, then they start to recognize, wow, she's really showing up in a different way than we've ever seen her before. And they encourage it, right? They want you to keep doing it. So I think what was really helpful for me is knowing that people wanted to hear from me. And I made up a story that said that they didn't. And so that was on me to fix that story and change that and recognize that I do have something to say. And so the more I could try these little experiments, it allowed me to use that voice that I had been kind of holding back on for such a long time.

SPEAKER_00:

And how has that voice changed in the context of being an introvert in a corporate space versus an introvert in your own business?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, as an introvert in my own business, what I did for the first, oh, probably four or five months was I built a website. I, you know, figured out what I would put on my business cards. I tried to figure out what I would call my company. I found all kinds of ways to hide, not even realizing that I was doing the same thing all over again that I had done in corporate and keeping myself small. I had no idea. So uh one of the things I did initially was uh somebody had talked to me about getting on podcasts and writing blogs. And so I started writing a blog and I did it every day for 18 months just to put my voice out there and to start to shift from being an IT director to being a leadership thought leader and a coach. And so that helped me kind of move my the way people saw me, my identity a bit, into something different. And then I started getting on podcasts. And when you're on podcasts, you have to be able to speak about your story. And so I got asked a lot, how is it the transition from corporate to being an entrepreneur and having your own business? And you know, you have to be able to answer those kinds of questions. So it gave me confidence that I could start to share my story. And initially that was hard. You know, the vulnerability of sharing your own story can be challenging. And so, writing for me gave me that opportunity to start putting my voice out there, and then podcasts gave me the opportunity to start speaking about my story. So those were two things that were really helpful in the beginning, just to start pushing me out of my comfort zone and trying new things.

SPEAKER_00:

I love that idea of trying new things and the little experiments, and also the way you have provided very concrete examples of what people can do differently in your book and your workbook that's coming out. So we'll make sure to have the links to your books in the show notes so that people can purchase those books. Because I think it's very important not to only have access to the knowledge of this theoretically is how we should be different, but also have those examples of it. So in this kind of situation, if you are at the performance review, this is what you do. If you're having this conversation with your supervisor, this is what you do. If you have a, you know, you're onboarding a new team member who's introverted, this is what you do. And I think that's Extremely helpful. So that's wonderful that you've done that. My question then, yeah. My next question to you is what is your internal self-talk as you hold yourself through all these phases, these seasons of change and transition? You know, what are you saying to yourself about yourself?

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, it's definitely evolved over time. You know, initially it was probably a lot more of the limiting beliefs, negative talk, you know, what makes you think you can start a business? You don't know enough. Uh, can you coach these people at this level? Can you coach people in these industries that you're not or haven't ever been a part of? And I think the more, you know, you talked about repetition earlier. I think the repetition of coaching as many people as I could and getting really comfortable with that and recognizing that wow, just just like I thought I didn't have enough experience at craft because I was in those four walls of the building, leaving those four walls actually helped me see that I knew a heck of a lot more than I realized. And so sometimes you need perspective and you need to get away from whatever you were in and look back at it and realize that it was a really great experience. You learned a lot of things, and now you can start to share those with other people. And so the more I started to do that, I just got more comfortable. And so now, even if I have some of those thoughts, I've really tried to rewire my brain in a big way. Uh, assume the best of others is one of the things that I'll say. Somebody might, you know, say something, and in the past I might have reacted to that. And now I'm just like, you know what? I think they're having a bad day. I think they're struggling today and I don't know what's happening for them, but I'm going to assume the best of them. And that starts to really help you see the world in a different way. You just are much calmer, more composed. I call it being neutral, right? I don't have the highs and lows that I used to have. But now if something's hard, I had something the other day, I can't even remember what it was now, but I had something happen and I was thinking to myself, you can do this. Come on, you can do that. You've done it a million times. You can do this. Might have been writing a proposal and I was trying to figure out what to say. And I think I was just struggling. Why is this so hard? I've done these a million times. But sometimes you get stuck and you just have to talk yourself back to, okay, let's just step away from it for a minute, come back and look at it, and you're going to figure it out. So I'll take those moments and be kind to myself because I know that I will figure it out. Even if I don't know it in that moment, I'll, you know, do it in the next morning or something. And it has been a really interesting journey of trusting myself in a much bigger way than I ever thought I would have in the past. And my intuition is super helpful as a coach because it helps me with what's the right question when I'm doing consulting with companies. What it what do I think they need to talk about? What are the things that I think that they haven't seen yet? Gaps and opportunities. When you're in a company, you start to ignore the things because they're just normal to you. But coming in with a new perspective, you can ask them questions that are more challenging. And I've just learned to trust that because I've seen it in action. When I asked a question, I never planned to ask in a company. And the reaction I got was huge. And I could tell that they had not thought about it. So it's really just trusting that experience that you have, that you know the right things to ask. And it makes you so much more confident because I don't really worry about going into any company and any conversation because I know that I've, you know, had so much repetition with coaching and conversations now that I just trust that I'll I'll say the right thing or ask the right thing. And if I don't, then I'm learning from it. You know, sometimes we don't always say the right thing, and I'll just learn from it and do something different next time.

SPEAKER_00:

I like that because that is quite different from what we talked about at the start about being prepared. There is so much we can do to prepare, but there's also that element of mystery and uncertainty every time we face a new client or walk into a situation we haven't been in before. And then what you said about using intuition in your coaching and trusting that you know the right thing to ask because of the years of experience you have, but also because of the experience of coaching other people and listening and being curious and paying attention to all the details. And over time you create this bank of knowledge and you don't know when it comes in useful, but it's all in there. And so you have access to that at any time. And I think having that trust that the right words will come to you at the right time, the right question will pop up, something is going to help you along with that process. So you don't have to be constantly bracing and prepare 100% and worry that you know this is something you missed on because it will somehow resolve itself, or you will be equal to the task of resolving that. I think that's really important to emphasize. So thank you for pointing that out. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. So this one, what is the one thing you want introverts and quiet achievers to remember or to take away from our conversation today?

SPEAKER_01:

I would love you to think about what you want people to say about you. So I call it the narrative that people have about you. And that starts with what we say about ourselves. So, you know, for me, I I went through a process called a an I call it the I am process or a leadership visioning exercise. And it was creating who I wanted to be before I was that person. So for me, my sentence was, I am a bold, visible leader who transforms organizations. And when I thought about that, I needed to start to become that person and start to act that way. It also meant that I shared more information. I had conversations where I shared things that my team was doing or that I was doing in a way that's just sharing facts and information. And so I call it weaving information into conversations. So I would ask everybody to start to think about who you want to be and let's be that person now. Let's not wait for six months or a year or three years to be that person. You can start today. And when I used that sentence to help me get there, it meant I couldn't sit in the back of the room anymore. It meant I couldn't hide behind other people. I had to use my voice and I had to speak up. And so I think everybody has this opportunity to just shift the way they think about themselves and then they can start to take actions and start to share more. So think about ways to pick two or three things that you want people to know about you or your team or what you're doing and find ways to work those into conversations so that people can hear you because every interaction is an opportunity for visibility. And so don't waste them. Take advantage of those and try to find things that you want to talk about, your strengths, your projects, whatever it is you want to share. People are willing to listen. And that starts to change the perception about you. And what happens when you tell stories about yourself? They take those stories and they repeat them to other people about you. So you have to start thinking maybe a little more strategically than you have already. Just think strategically about what you want people to know about you and start working those things into conversations and pay attention for other people to repeat them back to you. It's kind of fascinating when that happens.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. It's quite incredible to hear someone repeat back to you the thing that you dropped a couple of months ago and to realize that actually landed. Somebody actually paid attention. Yes. Yes, that's very powerful. I like how you've talked about the strategic perspective and but also the importance of taking responsibility for the narrative that other people are constructing of us and knowing that we get to shape that narrative. It's our story. We get to tell it with integrity, but we also get to employ creativity, humor, authenticity, all the good things, and use all our quiet strengths in making that narrative. And also the importance of embodying, becoming that person that does those things, that has those traits. I think those two parts are really complementary, but also very important. And we can't have one without the other. So what is the best way for people to reach you, Susan?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh, you can find me on LinkedIn. I'm out there all the time. And you can find me on my website, Susanmbarber.com. Would love to hear from any of you and just uh share any ideas if I can help in any way, be happy to. I have a ton of resources on my website, and uh I have a great guide for introverts. So I think it could be really helpful for you. The introvert's guide to visibility and influence in the workplace has been really, really helpful for a lot of people to start to build a plan. You know, we talked about coming up with some actions, build a little plan for yourself of how you're gonna do this in a bigger way. So yeah, you can uh find it on my website and download it. And uh I'd love to have you share some feedback with me about what you think. And of course, the books have tons of ideas as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Fantastic. We'll make sure to include the links, the website, everything in the show notes for our listeners. So thank you so much, Susan, for sharing your time and your wisdom with us today. Thanks for having me. It was a great time. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to leave a five-star rating and review to help the Quiet Warrior Podcast reach more introverts and quiet achievers around the world. And for the latest resources on how to thrive as an introvert, make sure you are subscribed to the Visible Introvert newsletter at serenalo.com.au. See you on the next episode. I'm so grateful that you're here today. If you found this content valuable, please share it on your social media channels and subscribe to the show on your favorite listening platform. Together we can help more introverts thrive. To receive more uplifting content like this, connect with me on Instagram at Serenalo, Quiet Warrior Coach. Thank you for sharing your time and your energy with me. See you on the next episode.