If you are feeling stuck, it’s time for a data-driven shakeup. 

So says Sarah Rowley, the General Manager of Leadership Development at Chief Executive Women (CEW). Addressing the FW Leadership Summit, she explains that the best way to shift out of a stagnant career spot is to approach it analytically. 

“Stuckness,” she says, “is just data. It is not destiny.” And emotions only cloud the clarity we need to take our next step. 

“Clarity is what we need when we’re feeling stuck,” says Rowley. “Because in my experience, stuckness falls into one of three categories.” 

The first, Rowley explains, is stuckness due to feeling like we’re not making a meaningful impact. The second is a lack of recognition for our work. The third is down to feeling misaligned with our organisation or team. 

“So,” she says, “the levers that we’ve got to pull for each of those: If it’s about impact, then it’s the need to renegotiate the scope of your role. If it’s recognition, it’s a moment to renegotiate your value. And if it is alignment, it’s probably time to think about leaving an organisation – but doing it with intent.” 

“There is a one in 33 million chance of anyone else on the planet having the same strengths combination as you.”

Rowley’s remedy means pinpointing the cause and pulling the right lever to drive change. 

“And those moments of stuckness have, in my career, typically been the moments of the greatest growth,” she says. “The stuckness is telling you that you need to change, and it’s an opportunity for transformation.” 

Speaking on a panel called ‘The Simple Steps for Big Rewards’, Rowley also offers some small but mighty tips for looking within to get unstuck. 

“I think our superpower, as a human being, is really understanding our strengths,” she says. “A GALLUP diagnostic tool tells us that there is a one in 33 million chance of anyone else on the planet having the same strengths combination as you.” 

Getting a full grasp on our uniqueness, Rowley says, can have enormous benefits. 

“Because I think as leaders, we end up spending so much of our time being told to work on the things that we’re not good at, rather than focusing on the things that we’re naturally insanely good at. So really understanding your natural strengths and how to deploy them with intentionality, for me, is the number one top tip.” 

Another gem of wisdom from Rowley is to focus on your executive presence – how you show up, professionally. 

“If you were going to learn an instrument and learn to play Mozart’s Minuet by next Friday, you’d all be practising like crazy,” she says. “And yet, when we think about presenting and how we show up, we haven’t given ourselves that same skills coaching.” 

It’s no easy task to do what Rowley is currently doing: making a memorable impact in a room. 

“So focusing on that skill of how to show up, learning the frameworks around what you say but, more importantly, how you say it.”