There's a particular kind of career frustration that's hard to name. You're doing your job well. You're prepared, present, and contributing. But the conversations that shape what actually happens in your area keep happening without you. You find out about things after the fact. Your input arrives too late to matter. And you can't quite put your finger on why, because your work is solid.

This episode of Career Espresso is about the gap between working hard and actually having influence over what happens, and why closing that gap takes something most career advice never mentions.

What you'll discover

• Why strong performance can leave you surprisingly powerless in a changing organisation
• The specific relationship layer that women are most likely to have missed building
• Where real influence gets formed, and why the formal channels rarely tell the whole story
• What happens to informal networks when organisations restructure or new leaders arrive
• The practical steps that change your position, before you find yourself needing to change it urgently

Perfect for women who are performing well but feel like their influence over what actually happens is smaller than their role and contribution deserve.

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