In healthcare, we often talk about authority and we are familiar with hierarchy. While job titles, organisational charts, formal responsibilities are important, the real work of change happens through something less obvious, more subtle and more pervasive: the power of influence.

If you haven't negotiated a career crossroad for a while, or you've arrived at one unexpectedly, it's a scary place. Wisdom is often treated as something vague and sentimental, but in a medical career it’s incredibly concrete. Years of practice give you the skills to recognise patterns in clinical and human behaviour, a deep understanding of how systems really work (and fail) and a grounded sense of what truly matters to people and communities. If you haven't negotiated a car

Writing these blog posts and recording my podcast has brought me face-to-face with an uncomfortable truth that I expend a lot of energy avoiding: I am vulnerable. As I step into my encore career, that vulnerability sits squarely in the room with me. It challenges my confidence and unsettles my professional identity as I transition from clinical practice to coaching, from being an employee to an entrepreneur. I notice my critical inner voice whispering that I’m not ready, keep