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Walk Into Your Next Grade with Fiona Bicket

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by Fiona Bicket

19 episodes

Updated Daily

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Podcast Overview

Management Matters is a podcast for Higher Education Professional Services staff who want to become more confident, effective managers and leaders. Hosted by Fiona Bicket, specialist self-belief coach and former HE manager, each episode explores what's actually going on at work and what to do about it. From difficult conversations, delegation and accountability to leadership development, career progression and navigating the realities of Higher Education, you'll find practical insights, thoughtful reflection and real-world management advice grounded in the HE context. If you're a manager, aspiring leader or Professional Services colleague who wants work to feel clearer, more manageable and more effective, you're in the right place. You can find out about ways to work with me at https://www.fionabicket.co.uk/ways-to-work-with-me

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Publishing Since

12/9/2025

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Recent Episodes

June 15, 2026

Quiet Communication

<p class="p1">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?</p> <p class="p1">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 build influence without performing extroversion. </p> <h2><span class="s1">The myth of loud leadership</span></h2> <p class="p1">In this episode, I reflect on the belief that leadership requires being the loudest person in the room.</p> <p class="p1">Many of the people I coach are highly capable, trusted professionals who have progressed through reliability, expertise and good judgement. Yet they worry that their quieter communication style will eventually become a barrier to progression.</p> <p class="p1">I explore why leadership does not need to look loud, fast or politically performative to be effective. </p> <h2><span class="s1">Moving beyond black and white thinking</span></h2> <p class="p1">One of the coaching tools I share is a simple spectrum exercise.</p> <p class="p1">Many people see only two options: staying invisible or becoming aggressive and dominant. When we unpack that thinking, we often discover a much wider range of possibilities in between.</p> <p class="p1">Progression does not require you to become someone else. It often involves taking up a little more space whilst remaining true to your own style. </p> <h2><span class="s1">Leaning into your existing strengths</span></h2> <p class="p1">I talk about the strengths that quieter communicators often underestimate.</p> <p class="p1">Many are excellent one-to-one influencers. They build strong relationships, write thoughtful papers, spot patterns others miss, and bring a level of consideration that helps teams make better decisions.</p> <p class="p1">Rather than focusing only on areas that feel uncomfortable, I encourage listeners to build from the strengths they already have. </p> <h2><span class="s1">Communicating with the authority you already have</span></h2> <p class="p1">A key theme in this episode is permission.</p> <p class="p1">Permission to trust your expertise. Permission to communicate in ways that feel authentic. Permission to recognise that calm, thoughtful leadership is not a weakness but a valuable contribution.</p> <p class="p1">The sector needs people who bring stability, reflection and considered judgement, particularly during uncertain times. </p> <h2><span class="s1">Ready for the next step?</span></h2> <p class="p1">If you are preparing for progression and want support to develop your confidence, influence and leadership presence in a way that feels authentic to you, my programme explores the practical and internal shifts involved in moving towards more senior roles.</p> <p class="p1"><a href="https://www.fionabicket.co.uk/getting-ready-for-your-next-grade" title="Getting Ready for your Next Grade">Getting Ready for your Next Grade</a></p> <h2><span class="s1">Got a question?</span></h2> <p class="p1">Many of these episodes begin with patterns I see in coaching conversations or questions from listeners.</p> <p class="p1">If there is something you would like me to explore in a future episode, feel free to get in touch.</p> <p class="p3">info@fionabicket.co.uk</p>

June 8, 2026

Why isn't anyone else leading? | Permission to Lead

<p>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. <br><br>This episode is about the Leadership Identity Threshold. It's the first of two episodes in the final arc of the framework, the one I call Becoming the Leader. <br><br>I talk about why this threshold feels so exposing, particularly for capable women who have spent their careers being told, in one way or another, not to be too much. I unpack the gap between how these women are perceived externally and how they experience themselves internally - already trusted, already shaping decisions, still waiting for permission to become a leader. <br><br>And I share the principle that does more work in my coaching practice than almost any other. Confidence is an outcome, not an input. With the driving analogy that I use with clients when they're waiting to feel ready before they act. <br><br>If you've been quietly underestimating yourself while everyone around you treats you as a leader, this one is for you. <br><br>If you'd like to work on this directly, 1:1 coaching is how I do this work with people. Details on the website https://www.fionabicket.co.uk/ways-to-work-with-me</p>

June 1, 2026

The Confidentiality Threshold

<p>In this episode, I explore one of the more uncomfortable transitions that can happen as you move into senior management.</p> <p>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 with leadership.</p> <h2>When confidentiality feels uncomfortable</h2> <p>In this episode, I reflect on a situation many managers find deeply challenging.</p> <p>You know something is coming. You care about your team. You want to be transparent. And yet you are not able to share everything you know.</p> <p>For thoughtful managers, this can create a real tension between personal values and organisational responsibility. The instinct is often to give people an early warning, particularly when uncertainty feels difficult to sit with.</p> <h2>The shift in professional identity</h2> <p>A key theme I explore is the identity shift that sits underneath this challenge.</p> <p>As your seniority increases, information starts flowing to you differently. You may be included in conversations because of your role, even when information is not explicitly labelled as confidential.</p> <p>Part of leadership is recognising that discretion becomes part of the responsibility that comes with increased influence and trust.</p> <h2>Holding discomfort without discharging it</h2> <p>I talk about the difference between supporting your team and relieving your own discomfort.</p> <p>Sometimes the urge to share information early comes from a genuine desire to help. But it can also be a way of reducing the emotional weight of holding difficult information yourself.</p> <p>Leadership often requires staying with that discomfort, finding appropriate places to process it, and maintaining trust even when the situation feels personally difficult.</p> <h2>Trust, discretion and long term influence</h2> <p>I also explore what sits on the other side of this threshold.</p> <p>Being known as someone who can hold information appropriately builds trust with senior leaders, HR colleagues and institutional decision makers. Over time, this trust can create opportunities to contribute to more significant conversations and influence outcomes more effectively.</p> <p>The challenge is that this kind of trust is often built in moments that feel uncomfortable rather than easy.</p> <h2>Ready for the next step?</h2> <p>If you are navigating some of these more complex leadership challenges and want support to think them through, my programme explores the practical and internal shifts that often sit behind progression.</p> <p><a target="_new" class="decorated-link" href="https://www.fionabicket.co.uk/getting-ready-for-your-next-grade">https://www.fionabicket.co.uk/getting-ready-for-your-next-grade</a></p> <h2>Got a question?</h2> <p>Many of these episodes begin with patterns I see in coaching conversations or questions from listeners.</p> <p>If there is something you would like me to explore in a future episode, feel free to get in touch.</p> <p><a class="decorated-link cursor-pointer" rel="noopener">info@fionabicket.co.uk</a></p>

19 total episodes available

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What is Walk Into Your Next Grade with Fiona Bicket?: Management Matters is a podcast for Higher Education Professional Services staff who want to become more confident, effective managers and leaders.

Hosted by Fiona Bicket, specialist self-belief coach and former HE manager, each episode explores what's actually going on at work and what to do about it. From difficult conversations, delegation and accountability to leadership development, career progression and navigating the realities of Higher Education, you'll find practical insights, thoughtful reflection and real-world management advice grounded in the HE context.

If you're a manager, aspiring leader or Professional Services colleague who wants work to feel clearer, more manageable and more effective, you're in the right place.

You can find out about ways to work with me at https://www.fionabicket.co.uk/ways-to-work-with-me
How often does this podcast release new episodes?: This podcast updates daily.
Where can I listen to this podcast?: This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
Does this podcast accept guests?: No, this podcast does not typically feature guests.

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