A promotion can change your responsibilities overnight. It does not automatically change the way you communicate.
You may now be leading a larger team, influencing more senior stakeholders or representing the organisation in rooms where the decisions carry greater weight. On paper, you are ready. Your experience has earned you the position.
Yet the communication habits that helped you earlier in your career may not serve you in quite the same way now.
Perhaps you still feel the need to explain every detail before making your recommendation. You soften an opinion before anyone has challenged it. You rush through your point because you do not want to take up too much space. Or you leave an important meeting knowing that you had more to contribute, but you did not quite find the moment to say it.
This does not mean you lack confidence or capability.
It often means your communication has not yet caught up with the level at which you are now operating.
Earlier in your career, being thorough, accommodating and highly responsive may have helped you build trust. You proved that you were reliable. You anticipated questions. You made sure everyone had the information they needed.
As your seniority grows, however, people need something slightly different from you.
They need to hear your judgement.
They need to understand what matters, what you recommend and what should happen next. They need you to stay clear when the conversation becomes difficult, rather than adding more detail in an attempt to prove that you know what you are talking about.
The gap is rarely between your ability and the role. It is often between the authority you have earned and the authority people can hear.
That authority does not come from becoming louder, colder or more dominant. It comes from trusting your experience enough to communicate it simply.
It may mean making your recommendation before giving the full background. It may mean allowing a pause instead of filling every silence. It may mean disagreeing without apologising for having a different point of view.
It also means recognising when your body and voice are telling a different story from your words.
You may be saying, “I’m confident this is the right direction,” while your voice becomes quieter at the end of the sentence. You may have a strong idea, but deliver it so quickly that the room misses its importance. You may know exactly what you want to say, but tension in your breathing makes you sound less certain than you feel.
These are not personality flaws. They are habits, and habits can be changed.
The aim is not to manufacture a more “senior” version of yourself. It is to remove the behaviours that are getting in the way of the leader you already are.
When your voice, body and message begin to work together, you stop trying so hard to prove yourself. You become easier to follow. Your ideas land more clearly. People feel the confidence behind the words because you are no longer rushing, shrinking or over-explaining.
Your title may already reflect your ambition.
The question is whether your communication does too.
This is the work I do with senior leaders and directors: helping their voice, presence and message catch up with the level at which they are already operating.
If this feels familiar, reply and tell me which kind of conversation you most want to feel more confident in.
Lisa Sheerin, ICF PCC Executive Coach | Transforming Confidence, Communication & Leadership
Lisa works as an executive public speaking coach, actor, and group fitness instructor with over 20 years of experience. A graduate of a three-year drama school program in London, she began her career in theatre and film, where she faced and overcame imposter syndrome. Today, she empowers others to embrace their authenticity and transform self-doubt into confidence, combining her acting expertise, fitness training, and passion for personal growth. Her mission is to guide others toward a life where they can speak and live proudly.
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