13. The Art of Asking for Help (Part 3/3): How to Ask for Help Strategically and Skyrocket Your Career Growth
The Art of Asking for Help (Part 3/3): How Strategic Requests Can Accelerate Your Career
Final Episode of Season 1!
Episode Summary: Welcome to the Season 1 finale of Career Curious! 🎉 In this powerful closing episode, we dive into how to ask for help. The smart way. So you can stop feeling stuck and start accelerating your career growth.
You’re doing the work. You’re delivering the results. But if you’re still feeling invisible? It's not about working harder. It's about making your value visible.
Today, you'll learn: ✨ Why working in silence keeps you stuck ✨ How asking for help strategically builds influence, credibility, and momentum ✨ The 5 key mindset shifts to master asking for help ✨ A simple SMART framework to make better requests ✨ How to create your own bubble of psychological safety (even in tough environments)
Asking for help isn’t weakness. It’s leadership. It’s leverage. It’s your next level.
Thank you for joining me this season. This is just the beginning. 🚀
What You’ll Learn in This Episode: ✅ How to shift your mindset from ego to outcome ✅ Why your brain exaggerates the risk of asking (and the real stats you need to know) ✅ How to build trust and influence through small, strategic asks ✅ The SMART framework: Specific, Meaningful, Action-Oriented, Realistic, and Time-Bound requests ✅ How small, consistent asks rewire your brain and build momentum
Links & Resources Mentioned: 🔹 Join the Career Curious newsletter 🔹 Catch up on past episodes
Love Career Curious? ✨ Share this episode with a friend or colleague who’s ready to grow their career with courage and curiosity. ✨ Subscribe and/or leave a review. it helps more high-achievers find their next step!
Connect with Lisette: 🔗 Follow me on LinkedIn 🌎 Follow me on Instagram
Thank you for being part of Season 1. Stay curious. Stay courageous. You were never meant to do this alone. 💛
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12. The Cost of NOT asking for Help. (Part 2/3)
Episode Summary
We all do it. Say yes to every meeting, every task, every request, until there’s no room left for ourselves. In the second episode of our 3-part series on asking for help, we’re talking about the real cost of trying to do it all alone.
From bottlenecking your team’s potential to silently stalling your company’s growth, this episode dives deep into how high-achievers sabotage themselves by refusing to ask for support. We explore the impact on your time, energy, and leadership and share what real leadership looks like when you choose vulnerability over perfection.
You’ll hear personal stories, powerful studies, and practical tools to shift the narrative and stop leaving opportunities on the table.
💡 What You’ll Learn
Why refusing to ask for help isn’t dedication, it’s self-sabotage
The difference between good leaders and great ones
How psychological safety drives innovation
The hidden financial and emotional costs of being “the fixer”
Tools to ask for help strategically (without guilt or fear)
🔧 Try This (from today’s episode):
The 10-Minute Rule: When you’re stuck, give yourself 10 minutes. Then ask.
The Magic Phrase: “You’re better at this than I am—can you take the lead?”
🔗 Links & Resources
💬 DM Lisette on LinkedIn to share your thoughts or questions
📰 Get weekly career insights in your inbox: Subscribe to the Newsletter
🎯 Book a free Curiosity Call if you're ready for strategic support (2 spots open for Spring coaching)
📌 Don’t Miss…
This is Part 2 of a 3-part series:
Why High-Achievers Struggle to Ask for Help
This Episode: The Real Cost of Never Asking for Help
Coming Soon: How to Ask for Help the Right Way (Finale of the Season)
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11. Help! Why you struggle to ask for help (Part 1/3)
Episode 11: Help! Why You Struggle to Ask for Help (Part 1 of 3)
Ever feel like asking for help is a sign of weakness? You’re not alone. In this three-part series, we’re diving into why high achievers struggle to ask for help and how shifting this mindset can unlock major career growth.
In today’s episode, we explore:
✔️ The psychological barriers that make it hard to ask for help ✔️ How childhood conditioning, perfectionism, and cognitive biases hold you back ✔️ Why not asking for help is stalling your success more than you realize ✔️ A small mindset shift that can change everything
Your challenge this week
Identify one thing you’re struggling with and ask someone for help. Start small. Maybe it’s feedback on a project, an introduction, or a quick decision check-in. Notice what happens when you let people support you.
Next week
The real cost of not asking for help. How staying silent could be costing you opportunities, promotions, and even thousands of euros in lost income. Don’t miss it.
Let’s Connect!
If this episode resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you! Send me a message on LinkedIn or share your thoughts in a review. And if you know someone who needs to hear this message today, pass it along.
📩 Subscribe & Review: If you enjoy Career Curious, make sure to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Your reviews and shares help me reach more listeners and continue creating meaningful content.
🔗 Connect with Me on LinkedIn: @LisetteLeuftink🔗 Subscribe to My Newsletter for More Career & Life Insights: Lisetteleuftink.com/NewsletterLet’s make asking for help a power move.
Until next time—stay curious!
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10. Living Authentically: Why I Chose a Life Without Kids
Episode Summary:
In honor of International Women’s Day, I’m getting personal. Today, I’m sharing a story I’ve never fully discussed before: why I never wanted kids. More importantly, I’m using this story to explore a bigger question: What does it mean to live authentically?
As women, we’re often expected to conform to societal norms, whether that’s having kids, choosing a ‘stable’ career, or following a predetermined path. But what happens when you don’t fit the mold?
In this episode, I challenge these expectations and share:✔️ The pressures society places on women to have children.✔️ How I navigated my own decision to remain child-free.✔️ The importance of making choices that align with who you are, not what’s expected of you.✔️ The difference between staying in your Zone of Competence vs. stepping into your Zone of Genius.
If you’ve ever felt pressured to follow a path that doesn’t feel right for you—whether it’s about family, career, or life in general—this episode is for you.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✅ Why choosing NOT to do something often requires more explanation than choosing to do it.✅ The power of self-awareness in designing a fulfilling life and career.✅ How to break free from expectations and build a life that energizes you.✅ The role of small steps in transitioning toward a more aligned and authentic life.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
🔗 Book Recommendation: The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks (on the Zone of Genius).🔗 Connect with Me on LinkedIn: @LisetteLeuftink🔗 Subscribe to My Newsletter for More Career & Life Insights: Lisetteleuftink.com/Newsletter
Let’s Connect!
If this episode resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you! Send me a message on LinkedIn or share your thoughts in a review. And if you know someone who needs to hear this message today, pass it along.
📩 Subscribe & Review: If you enjoy Career Curious, make sure to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Your reviews and shares help me reach more listeners and continue creating meaningful content.
🌟 Final Thought: The best way to celebrate International Women’s Day? Live authentically. Your life, your choices.
Until next time—stay curious!
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9. Be Kind, Not Nice – The Leadership Skill That Gets You Promoted
Episode Summary:Many leaders, whether new or experienced, struggle with tough conversations. We’re taught to be nice, polite, and keep the peace. But avoiding hard conversations doesn’t make you a strong leader. It makes you an ineffective one. In this episode, Lisette shares why being kind is more powerful than being nice, and how this one mindset shift can change the way you lead.
If you’ve ever felt uncomfortable giving feedback, struggled to set boundaries, or hesitated to address underperformance, this episode is for you.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:✔️ Why “nice” leaders struggle and how it affects their teams.✔️ How to be kind while still making tough decisions.✔️ The difference between vague feedback and real leadership (and why clear communication boosts team performance by 33%).✔️ How to move past the fear of not being liked and step into real leadership.✔️ A real-world leadership story about handling difficult decisions and why 77% of employees who quit could have been retained with the right conversation.
Resources & Next Steps:✅ Your Leadership Challenge: Before you close this episode, pause for 30 seconds and write down one conversation you’ve been avoiding. Schedule it for this week. Clear is kind.
📩 Let’s Connect:💬 Follow me on Linkedin or Instagram🔗 Join my newsletter for more career insights🎧 Subscribe & Review: If you found this episode valuable, share it with a friend and leave a review. It helps more professionals like you step into confident leadership.
Career Curious: Design Your Career Beyond Success
Transform your career from successful to extraordinary. Join Career Design Expert Lisette Leuftink for weekly insights on career transitions, leadership growth, and professional development. Perfect for ambitious professionals ready to design careers that align with their true potential. Whether you're considering a career pivot, seeking advancement, or dreaming of a complete transformation, discover strategies to move from stuck to unstoppable.
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