How to Be Awesome at Your Job 1131: How to Stop Playing Small at Work with Kelli Thompson
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Feb 22, 2026 Kelli Thompson, leadership and executive coach and author of Closing the Confidence Gap, explains how to stop shrinking at work. She exposes the pedestal problem and why over-admiring others and AI can silence your voice. Short segments cover trusting your intuition, spotting your genius zone, and asking the right questions to reclaim confidence and speak up more often.
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Silent In Strategy Meeting Became The Pedestal Problem
- Kelli recalls staying silent in a male-dominated strategy meeting because she feared sounding silly and underestimated her own ideas.
- That experience led her to name the problem the pedestal problem: putting senior voices on a pedestal and silencing yourself.
AI Can Become A New Pedestal
- The pedestal problem now includes trusting AI as an authority over your own ideas.
- Kelli warns people can default to AI's confident-sounding answers and lose sight of their own judgment and mission.
Pause And Check Advice Against Your Values
- Ask discerning questions before adopting others' advice: how much do I know, does this align with my values, and will it move me toward who I want to become.
- Slow down and check in with yourself rather than reflexively following a senior's recommendation.
