Career Limiting Moments
Plus: an invite to join me for seven years of lessons, live
It’s February 2017, and I’m in Sydney at a work dinner with colleagues and Craig, the global Head of People for our company.
Craig’s sitting directly across from me in a crisp white shirt.
I was in the middle of a story, using my hands for big, sweeping gestures to drive home a point, when my left hand clipped my glass of red wine.
Time seemed to slow down as I watched a full glass of Shiraz begin its trajectory toward his chest. I could see the horror in Craig’s eyes.
In that split second, my career arc felt like it was bending in the wrong direction.
Then, in some lizard-brain survival instinct, I caught the glass mid-air before a single drop landed on him.
All of us at the table paused and burst into laughter.
Career Limiting Moment (CLM)?
Avoided…Phew.
But I’ve had many CLMs over my career.
A few weeks into a marketing role for a multi-million dollar maritime simulator, I sent a strategy document to the Managing Director. I had spent two weeks researching demographics and buying patterns to ensure the project was commercially viable.
I ended my note with, “You’ll find this is a very effluent market.”
Her reply landed minutes later - and I thought, Oh wow, she must be so impressed already!
But she wrote just one line: “I think you mean affluent. Look up effluent.”
I did.
Effluent is liquid waste or sewage discharged into the sea.
I had just told the person who hired me that our multi-million dollar target market was quite literally full of crap.
Blush
Oh, and there was that very first time I visited a mine site, when this CLM occurred (video snippet below).
These moments feel terminal when they happen.
Your blood rushes to your face and you wish, in Cher’s words, you could simply “Turn back time”.
But these are the stories not only serve as Career Limiting Moments, but Career Laughing Moments…and more importantly, Career Learning Moments… the kind of stories people actually want to hear.
Keeping your work receipts
In my next book, I write about keeping your Work Receipts. Building a file of evidence - screenshots of great emails, recognition you’ve received, and comments that remind you that you’re actually good at what you do.
I started keeping mine when I was employed, just by moving nice emails into a sub-folder in my inbox.
These days, I take screenshots on my phone and save them into an album.
Here’s an example of a lovely client email I screenshot last week.
I don’t look at this folder every day.
I look at it on the days when I need a bit of a pep in my step. On those days, I open the folder and scroll through, and it reminds me that I’ve done good work before and I’ll do it again. The evidence is right there.
But the brag file is only half the picture.
Your CLMs belong in that file, too.
They’re relatable, bring people together, show that you’re willing to take risks (sometimes unintentionally), and own the fallout.
Too often, we’re scared to try new things, or we’re wary of being innovative because of the fear of failure. But what if you could celebrate failed attempts, or at least normalise it by talking about it more?
Think about the last few roles you’ve held - where did you properly stuff things up? When did you walk away from a meeting thinking, “Oh dear, well, that’s going to follow me around for a while”? What did you learn?
Sure, these moments are not the best at the time - that’s the point.
But they serve as brilliant reminders of how much you’ve grown (I have the correct spelling of ‘AFFLUENT’ seared into my brain), and they’re connective tissue - stories you can share to help build trust and pull people in.
SIFT these stories with your team
One way to capture these moments is to start asking people to share them. A neat framework I learnt from reading The Story Cookbook, is to run an activity called SIFT (shared by Lisa Evans).
SIFT stands for:
Stuff Ups (or, if you’re in the US, “screw ups”)
Insights
First Times
Transformations
You can use the SIFT framework to build a collective “cringe folder” with your team. Instead of the standard status update where everyone pretends to be crushing their KPIs, go around the room and ask for one story from the last 90 days based on a Stuff-up, an Insight, a First Time, or a Transformation.
This surfaces the actual texture of the work - the friction, the experiments, and the accidental wins…and also gets laughs, too.
Announcing: A brand new masterclass series: The Best Of (7 Years Distilled) with Leanne Hughes’
I have spent the last few weeks SIFTing through my own work, as it’s my seven year biz-aversary.
To celebrate, I’ve decided to take the best of what I have learnt across workshops, marketing, and systems and distill them into three live virtual sessions.
You’re invited!
The series runs across three Fridays (April 24, May 1, and May 8), starting at 9am AEST. That’s 11am NZST and 7am AWST/SGT. For North America, it’s Thursday evening: 7pm EDT / 4pm PDT.
All sessions are recorded, with the full bundle of 3 sessions available for US$150 (for 72 hours only), or individual sessions for US$100.
Paid Work Fame Substack subscribers get access to one complimentary session - hit reply and let me know which session (1, 2 or 3) you’d like to attend.
Session details below.
The Best Of - 3 x Bundle with Leanne Hughes
Three live 90-minute sessions across three consecutive Fridays. Seven years of facilitation, personal brand building, and solo business systems - distilled into 4 hours and 30 mins of practical goodness.
Best bang for your buck.
US$195
If you’re keen, now’s the time to lock it in.
Alternatively, pick the specific session that suits you:
Session 1: The Best Of…Workshop Stream
Friday 24 April · 9am AEST | US$100
Seven years of workshop design distilled into 90 minutes - my all-time favourite/impactful activities, run sheets, and facilitation moves that reliably work across different contexts and group sizes.
Session 2: The Best Of… Marketing
Friday 1 May · 9am AEST | US$100
The best lessons from writing books, articles (like this one), podcasting, LinkedIn, and live events - how to develop a clear point of view, turn one idea into many, and build an online presence that drives fun opportunities.
Session 3: The Best Of…Running a Solo Business
Friday 8 May · 9am AEST | US$100
The tech, workflows, and decisions behind seven years of solo business - how to capture ideas, use AI day-to-day, and run things without overcomplicating them, or burning out.
I’d love to hear your story - leave a comment and tell me the most ridiculous thing currently sitting in your "Cringe Folder."
Or, if you simply enjoyed reading this, and have also survived a Career Limiting Moment, click the Heart 💙 button.
🌴
Leanne “Sifting 7 Years” Hughes
P.S. If you’re undecided on which stream to pick, the bundle cures your FOMO + includes all the recordings on a private podcast, so you can listen on the go. Grab the bundle here.
Kath and Kim hoped that EponyRae (daughter) would grow up to be effluent ….