🇫🇷 Version française en audio
Have you ever felt like your career was intense, …but going nowhere?
Have you ever become the person everyone depends on...while someone else gets the recognition?
Have you ever thought,
“If I just keep working hard, eventually things will get better.”?
Many people do.
A few weeks ago, a woman joined one of my Next Chapter Boardroom sessions.
Her company had recently gone through a restructuring.
Her responsibilities had changed.
Her reporting line had changed.
The atmosphere around her had changed.
She spent the first part of our conversation talking about her new manager.
How should she work with this person?
How could she regain influence?
How could she navigate the politics?
Reasonable questions.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were looking in the wrong direction.
So I asked her something she hadn’t expected.
“What do you want this season of your career to produce?”
Silence.
Because until that moment...
every question had been about surviving today’s situation.
None had been about preparing tomorrow’s opportunity.
That conversation reminded me of an idea I’d been carrying for years.
I’d shared it with friends.
With clients.
Sometimes even to make sense of my own career.
That idea is:
The Cinderella Theory.
Many professionals spend years in what I call the Cinderella Phase.
Before she ever saw the palace, Cinderella was stuck in her stepmother’s kitchen. Day after day, she did the invisible work that kept the household running.
She solved difficult problems.
She became reliable, useful, indispensable.
Yet, like many professionals at work, she remained largely invisible.
Every now and then, something changes.
A promotion.
A keynote.
A strategic project.
A leadership meeting.
A board presentation.
A rare opportunity to be seen.
Just like Cinderella’s invitation to the ball.
The ball was an opportunity, but the castle was the destination.
That’s why I believe the most important career question isn’t:
“How do I survive this company?”
It’s:
“How do I use this season to prepare for the opportunities I haven’t seen yet?”
Joseph understood this.
Joseph was a figure from the Old Testament. Not the father of Jesus, but the master strategist who was betrayed by his own brothers and sold into slavery.
He had no control over where life placed him, but wherever he went, he became trustworthy.
He solved problems.
He earned responsibility.
Even after being falsely accused and thrown into prison, he kept serving people with excellence.
One day, Joseph helped another prisoner understand a troubling dream.
Years later, that same man remembered him when Pharaoh faced a crisis no one else could solve.
The man recommended Joseph to Pharaoh. leading to a conversation that changed Joseph’s life.
The opportunity looked sudden.
The preparation had taken years.
Cinderella’s life changed at the ball.
Joseph’s life changed in Pharaoh’s palace.
Neither opportunity created their character.
It revealed it.
Are you stuck in the kitchen?
Your kitchen may not be a company.
It might be your current role.
Your current city.
Your current identity.
Your comfort zone.
Your fear.
Your disappointment.
It could even be that relationship you stay in because it’s comfortable, even though you know deep down it will never lead to the type of family life you dream of.
Your kitchen is any place where you become so busy surviving that you stop preparing for what comes next.
The castle is the place where your gifts can create the impact they were always meant to create.
A Kind Reminder
Perhaps your manager isn’t your biggest challenge.
Perhaps today’s worries are distracting you from tomorrow’s preparation.
Perhaps this season isn’t asking you to escape.
Perhaps it’s asking you to prepare first.
That’s exactly why I created Next Chapter Boardroom.
People usually come with one question.
Together, we discover the question behind the question.
Then we build a strategy for the next chapter they’re truly trying to reach.
If you’re navigating a leadership challenge, a career transition, or simply wondering whether you’ve been preparing the kitchen instead of the castle...
I’d love to welcome you into the room.
👑 Next Chapter Boardroom
Saturday, July 25, 2026
🕑 15:00–16:30 CET
📍 Online via Zoom
👥 Small group (maximum 8 participants)
🌍 English & French
And if you'd like to work with me directly, book your session using the link below.
Sometimes, the most strategic thing you can do isn’t always to work harder. Sometimes, it’s simply to prepare for the next room before the invitation arrives.
See you there,
Candace
Storyteller • Leadership Coach • Career Strategist
