Your Next Clear Move
Welcome to Your Next Clear Move™—the podcast for leaders, professionals, and high-capacity humans who are done “getting ready” and ready to move.
I’m Debbie Peterson, Leadership Readiness Expert, and in each episode I deliver grounded insight, clarity-driven mindset strategies, and one actionable step to help you stop the drift and lead yourself forward.
This isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about reconnecting to what matters—and making decisions that align with who you are and how you want to lead next.
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Your Next Clear Move
How We Get Leadership Readiness All Wrong
Leadership readiness is often misunderstood as a checklist of skills and experience, but true readiness comes from internal qualities like mindset, willingness, and belief in oneself. We keep promoting people based on technical expertise and external traits, then wonder why they burn out when they haven't connected to their deeper purpose for leading.
• Shifting from waiting for external validation to trusting yourself is a key turning point in leadership development
• The Clarity Compass tool helps align leadership with personal values through four key dimensions: Why, What, Who, and How
• Leadership preparation should start with identity and purpose, not just skills training
• Many high-potential leaders don't recognize their own readiness because they're waiting for someone else to define their path
• Effective leadership development requires honest conversations rather than standardized programming
If this topic resonates with you, explore what leadership readiness programming might look like in your organization by visiting www.debbiepetersonspeaks.com to learn about leadership readiness labs and programming.
Hey, hello and welcome back. I am Debbie Peterson of Getting to Clarity, and this is another episode of the Getting to Clarity podcast. This is the place that you come to figure out your next clear move in your career, in your leadership, in your business, perhaps even in your life. And today we are talking about leadership readiness a passion topic of mine and how we get it all wrong as it applies to the people that we are grooming to be next. So stay tuned.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the Getting to Clarity podcast the place where busy leaders discover how to create more success in their leadership journey with less sacrifice in their life.
Speaker 2:Here's your host, debbie Peterson, of Getting to Clarity.
Speaker 1:Okay, what exactly are we talking about today? Well, I have been in rooms full of high potential leaders who don't know why they're there, they don't have the title, they don't manage the people, and yet there's something in them that is already leading, something that's just waiting to be discovered, to be found, to be seen, to be expanded and that, in my belief, is the part of leadership readiness that we're getting wrong and no one wants to talk about it, because most leadership development programming is still rooted in performance metrics. You know how long you've been in the role and what your evaluations have been and the assessments that they take you through and how you score, how well you present. You know on and on and on, and we treat readiness like it's a checklist. But it isn't a checklist. It's an opportunity to connect and have a conversation. You know we keep promoting people based on visible external traits. You know things like tenure, charisma, technical expertise, and we forget that skills can be taught. You know what can't be taught at least as easily, if at all, is the mindset, the willingness, the attitude, the belief, and I've seen it over and over again. You know we take people and we throw them into the deep end of the pool and we never even give them a reason to believe that they belong in the role. They're good at what they do. So we promote them. No coaching, no honest conversation, not even our belief in them, just a bigger job title, a one-size-fits-all training, and I hope that they figure it out. And what happens? Well, many they try. They try to mold themselves into someone else's idea of a leader Maybe they're trying to do that for you and they end up exhausted, disconnected or stuck and many burn out. You know, they stress out, they check out and then they walk out the door and that's not good. And essentially that's what happened to me.
Speaker 1:You know, years ago there was a corporate downsizing. The company that I worked for was acquired by another company and it was moving out of town. My family is here, my son is here. I couldn't move and I had to go find another job and I did at a startup and I remember going in for the interview and they were really impressed with all of my corporate expertise, my background and I ended up getting a job with them. You know, the title was arbitrary, they didn't know what to call me. The salary was great, you know. But from the moment I stepped in I kind of panicked because no one there could tell me what I was supposed to do. I came from corporate where your title was clear, your job was documented and then your performance was evaluated annually.
Speaker 1:And in that world I had learned to wait wait to be told what to do, wait for someone to outline my path, wait for someone else to say I was ready. And then suddenly I'm in this new role. I'm there and I have no map, no rules, no validation, and I thought I had made the worst mistake of my career. But it was also the beginning of something else, because when I was finally frustrated enough to stop waiting, I started listening to myself, to where I could add value to what I actually knew from 20 plus years in corporate life, and I started contributing, not because someone told me to, but because I chose to. And that moment, that shift, was my turning point. It is when I stopped looking for someone else to define my role and I started trusting me and what I already knew I could contribute. You know it's like a pause between oh, I don't know what I'm doing and well, actually I do know what I'm doing. It's the moment where clarity begins, and it's not because everything is perfect, it's not because you have everything all figured out, but it's because you're finally honest with yourself.
Speaker 1:And this is why we need a new way to go about readying people for leadership or, their next level, growth. Even so, before we promote someone, we should ask you know, have they explored why they want to lead at all? In play terms, you know? Are they connected to a deeper reason, beyond the role? Do they understand what leadership means to them, not just what it looks like on paper? Have they linked their leadership to their values? Not just what it looks like on paper? Have they linked their leadership to their values, not just to their resume? Before we say yes, on the flip side, to a bigger title, we should also ask ourselves am I clear on who I am or who I am becoming, even in this next chapter?
Speaker 1:This isn't about second guessing. It's about making sure that you're aligned. So there's a tool that I've created and it's called the Clarity Compass, and it gives us a way to check for that alignment. So, at a high level, this is what it is why, what, who, how. Now Picture each of these around a compass, with the now in the center, so on the east side. Why? Why do I want to lead? You know that's thinking about what truly matters to you about leading. You know it's exploring the belief or the value behind why you want to lead. In the south position would be what I am actually being asked to lead, and what is it that I am being asked to lead? So is it aligned with my strengths? Is it aligned to what's important to me? My purpose Next, on the West, is who?
Speaker 1:Who do I need to become to lead them? Well, who can help me get there? You don't do it all by yourself. How, at the top? How does this transformation occur? What tools, habits or support will I need to do this so it's sustainable?
Speaker 1:And then the now, in the middle. What's one decision or action I can take today that reflects this new found clarity? You got to do something with it and you can't just check these off. You have to sit with them. You know you have to let them inform your next move, not justify one that you've already made. So you do this in advance, and it's not a checklist. It's a conversation either with yourself or with the people that are on your team. It is a connection with them. It's such an opportunity and it is a deeper kind of preparation that starts with who they are as a person, their identity, but also you know who they are underneath the labels, and it's not just instruction.
Speaker 1:So what's your next clear move? I want you to think of the last big role or responsibility you accepted. We're going to look in hindsight. Did you step into it with clarity or out of obligation? Just consider that. Use this moment to you know. Pause, not power through. Did you step into it with clarity or out of obligation? Just consider that. Use this moment to you know. Pause, not power through. There's a reason that you're here. Let's make sure that it's one that serves who you actually are, and if this topic is resonating with you, then let's explore what this might look like to support the leaders in your organization. Head on over to wwwdebbypetersonspeakscom and check out my leadership readiness programming or my leadership readiness labs for your organization. I'd love to be of good service to you. So in the meantime, you are ready. Please believe it. And here is wishing you all the clarity you deserve. Be good to yourself and bye-bye for now.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening to this episode of the Getting to Clarity Podcast with Debbie Peterson.
Speaker 3:If you enjoyed this show, please rate and recommend it on iTunes or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
Speaker 2:To learn more about how you can bring Debbie and her transformational clarity leadership strategies to your organization, visit debbepetersonspeakscom.
