Management Matters | Notes from an HE Coach

In this episode, I wrap up my series on the leadership thresholds managers encounter as they progress through their careers by returning to the very beginning. I explore one of the most significant transitions of all: becoming a manager for the first time. In particular, I talk about what happens when you’re promoted from within your own team and suddenly find yourself leading people who were prev...

In this episode, I explore a question I hear regularly from thoughtful, capable professionals: how do you get your voice heard when you’re surrounded by louder, faster, more extroverted colleagues? I talk about the false choice many people feel trapped between, either staying quiet or becoming someone they are not. I explore why quiet communication can be a genuine leadership strength and how to b...

There's a threshold I see often in my coaching work with senior women in HE Professional Services. The moment when you look around expecting someone else to lead, and find a vacuum. Or worse, the moment when you realise the tentative thinking you put down on paper has somehow become institutional strategy. This episode is about the Leadership Identity Threshold. It's the first of two episodes in t...

In this episode, I explore one of the more uncomfortable transitions that can happen as you move into senior management. It is the moment when you find yourself holding information that your team does not yet have. Whether it relates to restructures, organisational change, or other sensitive decisions, I talk about the challenge of balancing care for your team with the responsibilities that come w...

Hi gang, The podcast shall hence forth be known as Management Matters. This is just a quick episode to say a bit about why and what to expect coming up. I hope you enjoy. As always, you can find ways to work with me here: https://www.fionabicket.co.uk/ways-to-work-with-me

In this episode, I explore a leadership pattern that often appears once managers have become more established in their own role. Your own team is functioning well, things feel calmer, and then something starts going wrong in an adjacent team that affects your area of work. The instinct is often to step in and rescue the situation. I talk about why that instinct appears, what it can unintentionally...

In this episode, I move back into more traditional career progression territory and explore a pattern that many capable professionals eventually encounter. It is the moment when working hard and doing good work no longer seems to lead naturally to progression. I talk about why this happens, what senior leaders are often looking for instead, and how to start approaching progression more intentional...

In this episode, I explore a pattern I see often in capable, reliable managers and one that I recognise deeply in myself too. It is the experience of becoming so accustomed to coping, carrying and holding everything together that it starts to feel like part of your identity. I talk about what sits underneath this pattern, why it can quietly cap progression, and what begins to shift when you start...

In this episode, I explore a moment that many managers experience, often quietly and without much support. It is the realisation that nobody is coming to step in and resolve the challenges in your team for you. I talk about why this moment can feel uncomfortable, what sits underneath it, and how it connects to stepping more fully into leadership responsibility. The illusion of outsourcing manageme...

In this episode, I explore a pattern I see frequently in coaching conversations with managers: overworking to protect the team. It often comes from a thoughtful and well intentioned place, but it can quietly limit both your own progression and your team’s development. I talk about why this happens, what sits underneath it, and the shift that helps move things forward. When protecting the team beco...

In this episode, I explore something I see regularly in my coaching work with managers: the repeating conversation loop. It is the situation where you keep having the same supportive conversation with someone in your team about a behaviour or performance issue, yet nothing really changes. The issue resurfaces, you address it again, and the cycle continues. I talk about why this happens, why it dra...

In this episode, I talk about something I see repeatedly in coaching conversations with managers who are preparing for their next grade: the feeling of never having enough time to think. I explore a process I call clearing the path. It is about recognising the friction, stress and unresolved issues in your role that quietly consume your mental bandwidth and prevent you from stepping fully into lea...

In this episode, I introduce a short series inspired by a period of reflection after five years in business. I have been looking back through coaching notes, programmes I have delivered, and the themes that appear again and again in conversations with managers and leaders in Higher Education Professional Services. Instead of focusing directly on career progression for the next few episodes, I expl...

In this episode, I explore a question about how to encourage yourself when things feel hard, repetitive, or slow to show results. I reflect on what self belief really involves in practice, particularly when you are doing the consistent, often quite boring work that underpins career progression, and how to support yourself through that in a more thoughtful and sustainable way.   Why encouragem...

In this episode, I explore a question that comes up frequently in my coaching work with Higher Education Professional Services staff: do you need a Master’s, MBA or doctorate to progress? I reflect on why qualifications can feel like the obvious next step, particularly in a sector shaped by academic credibility, and whether they really deliver the confidence, clarity or progression people are hopi...

In this episode, I explore a question that came in from LinkedIn that might feel slightly counterintuitive for a podcast about progression: what if you do not actually want to move up? I reflect on the different reasons people choose to stay where they are, the pressure that can come from managers or institutions, and how to think about progression in a way that genuinely aligns with your life, no...

In this episode of Walk Into Your Next Grade, I explore a question I hear a lot from people thinking about progression: how much of career movement really comes down to being in the right place at the right time, and how much control we actually have over that narrative. I reflect on luck, choice, and the signals we send about what we are open to. Is it really just luck? I talk about why I do not...

In this episode of Walk Into Your Next Grade, I explore a thoughtful question about honesty, leadership, and career progression at senior levels. I reflect on what it can feel like to hold responsibility for a team while also thinking seriously about your own next move, especially when circumstances are not straightforward.     Honesty and complexity at senior levels I talk about how pro...

In this episode of Walk Into Your Next Grade, I’m responding to a question from a senior manager who is thinking about the Grade 9 step change and feeling stuck in an unsupportive environment. I recorded this one while out on a walk, so you’ll hear a bit of real life in the background. It felt fitting for a conversation about working things out in motion rather than waiting for perfect conditions....

You're brilliant at your current job. Maybe too brilliant. You're managing teams, solving complex problems, and keeping everything running smoothly. But when it comes to promotions, you're stuck being "not quite ready" while someone less experienced steps into the role you know you could do. Here's what nobody tells you: being too good at your current grade is exactly what's keeping you stuck. In...