The Aligned Achiever with Siobhan Barnes

Come and do a Spring Reset with me! It really doesn’t matter if it’s Spring where you are or not, it’s the end of the first quarter. It’s been 90 days or more since you settled into your work plans for this year, and set goals for your life. Whatever it is that you were working towards at the start of the year, now is the time to have a quick check in and see where you’re at. In this week’s episod...

Are you unconsciously holding yourself back from your next level leadership? Do you believe you need more qualifications before you deserve that leadership role? Or that it’s too late to change your career or job? Or that your uncertainty and lack of certainty means you’re not good enough? When we listen to our stories and myths, instead of trusting ourselves, we stay stuck—waiting for the perfect...

How is self-doubt holding you back in your career and leadership? Many women struggle with self-doubt when making big career moves. Instead of trusting themselves, they look outward—seeking validation from mentors, scrolling LinkedIn for inspiration, or consuming leadership books—hoping to find the one answer that will unlock their next step. But what if the clarity you’re searching for isn’t out...

Do you believe that career success follows a single, linear path? One that goes straight up the corporate ladder? The truth is, there’s more than one way to build a fulfilling and impactful career, and going in a linear direction doesn’t suit everyone. As we celebrate International Women’s Day this week, it’s the perfect time to explore the different career paths that are available to you as an am...

Many of us reach a point in our careers where we feel stuck, uninspired, or even burnt out.  I know this feeling first hand. Within the first 12 months of leaving my corporate career behind I went from being a professional working woman with my maiden name to an unemployed first-time mother. With that transition came a crisis of identity and a major pivot point into another version of life and wor...

Happy Lunar New Year! We are officially in the year of the Snake and I like to take the Lunar New Year as a great time to pause, reflect and reset. You may be tuning into this episode and feeling like times are a little uncertain, there might be change happening within your life or your organisation, and it can feel a little overwhelming to navigate the uncertainty or feeling like you’re going bac...

Have you been feeling the pressure to get things done this year? To “hit the ground running”? I started this year in bed with the flu, and while that sounds terrible (and it was), it forced me to have a slower start to the year.  Instead of being in the energy of hurrying and getting as much done as possible, I was forced to slow down and settle into what to get intentionally focused on in 2025. ...

This is the last episode of The Aligned Achiever podcast for 2024, and you know what that means? It’s time to close out 2024 in a way that is setting you up for success in 2025. I strongly believe that before we set any intentions for the new year (or at any time really), it’s imperative that we take a moment to pause, and take stock of what’s been working for us and what hasn’t served us so well....

In a world that glorifies hustle, pausing can feel wrong . How do you slow down when there’s a never-ending to-do list at work—and home? Yet, here’s the paradox: making space to pause is often the very thing that creates clarity, energy, and momentum for what truly matters. This is something I’ve seen transform the careers and lives of so many women I’ve worked with (myself included!) And somethin...

What does it take to transition out of corporate and into being a purposeful entrepreneur? It’s no small feat to take the leap out of a stable, corporate role with career progression and move into entrepreneurship to find location and financial freedom, as well as your professional calling. It takes determination, perseverance and a lot of commitment, so to answer this very important question, I s...

Do you feel like you're bumping into challenge after challenge at work? Perhaps you’re in a toxic workplace, working with people that you really don’t want to collaborate with? Do you feel stuck and like you want to throw in the towel, but that’s just not an option for you right now? Sometimes the answer to difficult situations is drastic change. A new job, a whole new career, a completely ne...

What’s the biggest challenge going on for you in your career right now? A theme that I see come up time and time again for my clients is letting past setbacks determine what we are capable of now.  Most of us have had negative, hard or difficult experiences in our careers.  Now this in itself is completely normal, but what can happen is that we can make meaning from those past experiences that can...

What does your nervous system have to do with your performance?  With your well-being? With your ability to be resilient? In short, everything. We live in a very cognitive, cerebral, strategic world, which is an important part of your career strategy, but if you’re not feeling motivated, confident or in alignment, then it’s simply not enough to get the outcome that you desire. This is where your n...

The busy season is almost upon us and in this episode I want to help set you up to get the most out of the remainder of 2024 whilst feeling present and spacious. Regardless of whether you’re in the northern hemisphere, like I am in Hong Kong or in the southern hemisphere, the final few months of the year can bring about some extra time management challenges. There’s often increased social gatherin...

Olympians are driven by an unyielding ambition. They pursue excellence and have high standards. You may not be looking to achieve gold at the next olympics, but my guess is that you too are in pursuit of excellence and have gold medal standards in the work you do. This requires that you embrace your drive to succeed, beginning with defining your goals with clarity. In this week's episode of T...

Change is the only constant in life. Recently, I’ve been having a number of conversations with people who are in a period of transition or change. The reasons for change vary greatly. From organisation restructuring, promotions or redundancy, or a change in a personal situation. This means that navigating change is a crucial skill that can make or break your success and happiness. In this week&apo...

Do you find yourself feeling stuck? Perhaps you find yourself procrastinating or you’re not clear on what you want to do. Maybe your self-critic is getting a little bit too loud these days and holding you back from taking action. Coaches are trained professionals who help you navigate your own path, overcome obstacles that are unique to you and achieve the goals that you desire. The important thin...

Have you ever found yourself struggling in a work environment, wondering if you’re meant to be there? Maybe you’re unsure if your kindness and empathy belongs in the workplace that you’re in? Or if kindness belongs in leadership and successful companies at all? Dr Bonnie Hayden Cheng is an Organisational Psychologist, Associate Professor of Management and MBA programme director at the Hong Kong Un...

The middle of 2024 is fast approaching and whether you feel like everything is going to plan or if you feel like you need to hit reset, this is for you. It’s not unusual to look back on 3, 6 or 12 months and realise that somewhere along the way life happened and you feel like you haven’t gotten a whole lot closer to achieving your goals, or that things seem to be taking much longer than anticipate...

Have you ever had to deal with a “bad” boss, a challenging work culture or felt like you’re not sure if you’re in the right place to work anymore?  This thinking is something that a lot of us struggle with (past me included). When you’re in a toxic work environment, we often feel like we can fix the situation on our own if only we could do more. In reality this usually doesn’t work and we end up l...

Health and fitness matters…we all know that. Multiple studies speak to not just the physical benefits but the mental and emotional ones too. And yet finding the time and motivation to get healthy can be hard. Especially when you’re busy doing all the things at work and at home.  Personally, figuring out a routine to stay healthy and fit has been a journey. I’ve transitioned from team sports (netba...

Have you ever made yourself wrong for being too emotional or sensitive at work?  Maybe you’ve had a difficult conversation, faced a micro-aggression or frozen on the spot… In your mind you want to let things go but physically you find yourself unable to release the residual emotions that are there? Emotional dexterity is the capacity to effectively recognise, understand and manage a wider range of...

We’re not taught at school how to think about our careers, or even the importance of taking the time to get to know ourselves. To me, this is a foundational skill that is overlooked until we’re out in the workforce feeling overwhelmed trying to balance our passion and what makes us feel connected alongside the practical components of our career, like financial stability. This intersection is what...

Is the goal to always be productive? Always being “on” and maximising our productivity sounds good in theory. Like it’s the right strategy that will get you closer to your end goal faster.  The reality is very different though. We’re human. We need rest. Our brains have a finite attention span and ability to focus. With that in mind, it’s important for all of us to be aware of what season we’re in...

If you’re like many of my clients, then I know you have the endurance to keep on pushing through, but I also know that pushing too hard for too long can come back to bite you in the form of burnout. I don’t want that for you, and I’m sure that’s not the outcome you want either. If you’ve been finding yourself juggling a million and one balls in the air, and you’re starting to drop one here or ther...