Stop Sabotaging Your Success

In this episode, Cindy Esliger explores how we negotiate against ourselves before we ever have the chance to ask for what we want. We talk ourselves out of raises, opportunities, and difficult conversations because we've already decided the answer will be no. Cindy examines how our inner critic and inherited limiting beliefs convince us that we're simply being realistic when we're actually letting...

Cindy Esliger explores the invisible work of managing everyone else's emotions while quietly suppressing our own. Being the steady one at work, smoothing over awkward moments, and absorbing other people's frustrations can become so automatic that we don't even recognize it as work. Cindy explains how emotional labor and the habit of keeping the peace can leave us exhausted, especially in male-domi...

In this episode, Cindy Esliger explores what it really takes to rebuild our careers, professional reputations, and confidence after burnout. Burnout isn't just about exhaustion or dreading another Monday morning. It can change how we see ourselves and the people we work with, leaving us questioning our judgment and assuming the worst about others. Cindy examines why returning to work after burnout...

In this episode, Cindy Esliger explores what healthy professional reciprocity actually looks like and why the people in our inner circle can either accelerate our growth or quietly drain us. Healthy professional peer pressure raises the bar for what we’re willing to accept for ourselves. The right people notice when we start playing small, hold us accountable for goals we identify, and are willing...

In this episode, Cindy Esliger explores what happens after someone has burned us at work and trusting people no longer feels safe. Betrayal, sabotage, or exclusion can change our baseline assumptions about the people around us, leaving us more guarded and questioning our own judgment. Cindy explains that the goal isn’t to trust people again or throw caution to the wind blindly. It’s to become more...

In this episode, Cindy Esliger challenges the belief that career success comes from being completely self-reliant. Working hard, figuring things out alone, and proving your competence may serve you well early in your career, but that same independence can eventually become a limitation. Cindy explains why career success is never a solo pursuit and why asking for help isn't a weakness but a leaders...

Cindy Esliger explores how to tell the difference between paying our dues and getting stuck with dead-end work that does nothing to move our careers forward. Many talented professionals automatically accept the note-taking, coffee runs, meeting setup, and other busy work because being agreeable feels safer than pushing back. But simply working harder is rarely the answer. Cindy explains why our au...

In this episode, Cindy Esliger discusses why so many of us move from one task to the next without stopping to acknowledge what we have accomplished. Big workplace wins can be inconsistent. Promotions get delayed, exciting projects get shelved, and sometimes the scoreboard just doesn’t reflect the effort we’re putting into our work. When that happens, small wins matter more, not less. Cindy explain...

In this episode, Cindy Esliger explores what progress really looks like after a career setback, especially when confidence has taken a hit. Not getting the promotion, opportunity, or yes we were hoping for can quickly turn disappointment into a much harsher opinion about what the outcome says about us. Cindy explains why the real obstacle is often not a skills or knowledge gap, but a belief gap. L...

In this episode, Cindy Esliger tackles one of the most uncomfortable questions to ask when workplace conflict keeps following us: what if some of it is us? When the same kinds of breakdowns happen with different teams, managers, or companies, it is tempting to build a case for why everyone else is the problem. Cindy explains why honest self-assessment is not about taking all the blame. It is about...

Cindy Esliger explores the gap between the level we’re operating at and the title on our business card. We too often wait for the promotion before developing executive presence, assuming we need permission to start acting like a leader. Cindy argues that this has the order backwards. Presence isn’t a mask or an attempt to become someone else. It’s about making existing strategic thinking, judgment...

Cindy Esliger explores what happens when years of quietly minimizing ourselves at work start to make our expertise invisible. Many of us have learned to soften our language, wait to be asked for our thoughts, and let the confident answers of others stand even when we know there is a better one. Cindy explains why being competent is not enough if no one understands the contribution we’re making. Vi...

Cindy Esliger looks into the gap between who we have become and what we still won't allow ourselves to believe is possible. Many accomplished women in engineering have already exceeded anything their younger selves could have imagined, but continue to play smaller than their capabilities suggest because of learned patterns that prioritize safety over possibility. Cindy explains how these patterns...

In this episode, Cindy Esliger explores the career plot twist and why so many ambitious professionals wait until burnout forces us to make a change instead of recognizing the warning signs early. Drawing on her own experience of reaching a breaking point, she explains how success can quietly become unsustainable through a series of small decisions that add up to an overwhelming burden. Cindy chall...

Cindy Esliger examines what happens when we have a bigger vision for our career than our current work environment supports. Bold ideas can disappear into the ether when colleagues are more comfortable following the agenda, protecting the status quo, or doing things the same way they’ve always been done. Wanting to think outside the box is not a flaw, and Cindy points out that dreaming bigger is a...

Cindy Esliger explores why accountability has earned such a negative reputation and reframes it as one of the most empowering tools we can develop in our careers. Rather than treating accountability as punishment or as another way to criticize ourselves, she explains how it shifts our focus away from waiting for recognition and toward building confidence and control. In workplaces where expectatio...

Cindy Esliger looks into why being the most reliable, hardest-working person in the room can quietly become one of the biggest obstacles to career success. While overfunctioning often earns praise and makes us feel indispensable, it also keeps us trapped in tactical work and limits opportunities to develop the strategic thinking and leadership skills needed for career advancement. Cindy examines w...

Cindy Esliger explores the real cost of losing belief in ourselves and how self-doubt quietly limits career growth, especially for women in STEM and other male-dominated workplaces. Staying silent, downplaying achievements, and waiting for permission can feel like the safer path, but those choices create invisibility over time and prevent us from pursuing opportunities we’ve already earned. Cindy...

In this episode of Stop Sabotaging Your Success , Cindy Esliger dives into why building professional relationships can feel uncomfortable, especially for women working in engineering, STEM, and other male-dominated environments. While technical competence matters, Cindy explains that career growth is also shaped by the informal networks we build through interaction. She discusses keeping everyone...

In this episode of Stop Sabotaging Your Success , Cindy Esliger explores a difficult truth about career growth: not everyone in a professional circle is invested in seeing someone succeed. She explains how women in engineering and other male-dominated workplaces can mistake politeness for genuine support, especially when supportive relationships feel scarce. Cindy challenges us to stop assuming th...

In this episode of Stop Sabotaging Your Success , Cindy Esliger dives into an uncomfortable workplace reality: some people genuinely want to see us succeed, while others see us as a convenient stepping stone for their own advancement. She explains how many of us, especially women in male-dominated environments, are conditioned to be helpful and accommodating without questioning whether those relat...

In this episode of Stop Sabotaging Your Success , Cindy Esliger explores why so many professionals achieve a goal only to immediately move the goalposts and focus on what is still not enough. She explains how productivity can become a form of self-soothing, especially in environments where recognition is scarce and we feel we need to constantly prove our value. Cindy examines the connection betwee...

Cindy Esliger addresses the uncomfortable truth that technical competence is really only the price of admission in today’s workplace, not advancement, especially for women navigating male-dominated industries. We tend to believe that keeping our heads down and producing excellent work will naturally lead to advancement, but Cindy explains why career growth depends just as much on communication, re...

Cindy Esliger explores why personal and professional growth often feels threatening. This feeling can be compounded for women working in environments where they already feel constant pressure to prove themselves. Admitting that we are improving can feel risky because it means acknowledging that we didn’t always have all the answers. Cindy explains how many of us were conditioned through school and...

Cindy Esliger unpacks the hidden cost of self-doubt and how hesitation quietly sabotages career growth. In competitive workplaces, many women spend too much time overthinking conversations and waiting to feel ready. We hold back instead of speaking up. Cindy explains that confidence is not a personality trait that a few of us luck into; it’s a skill that can be developed. Action, resilience, and s...