Before you invest energy in stepping up, you need real clarity about your motivation—is it driven by your own sense of purpose, or by other people’s expectations? Are you ready in terms of your mindset as well as your capabilities?

Helpful questions to explore include:

• Is this promotion something I genuinely want, and can feel enthused by?
• Am I drawn to what the role involves, or mainly to the status and external recognition?
• Will the organisational culture energise me and allow me to thrive?
• Am I trying to move towards something that fits my values, or trying to get away from a current frustration?
• How might the demands at the next level interact with my personal and domestic life?​
• Could better opportunities emerge if I let this one go?

A simple, practical starting point is a two-column list: factors in favour of taking on more responsibility versus factors against.

Then you can ask:

• What would give me joy in this role, and what would consistently frustrate me?
• Whose support would I need, and how could I enlist them?​
• What would need to change to tip the balance from one column to the other?

The balance sometimes suggests “Yes, but not yet” – and that is a valid conclusion. At other times, the honest answer is that fear is the only thing holding you back, and it is time to deal with that.

Many leaders have everything they need to step up—except self-belief. We notice more people underestimating their readiness than overestimating it. Developing a realistic but confident view of your strengths is a key foundation for stepping up.​

A practical exercise:

• Write a complete list of your strengths, based on feedback and your own observations—no false modesty, but grounded in evidence.
• Add examples of how you have used each strength to achieve tangible outcomes.
• Keep updating this list as new examples arise.
• Ask a trusted colleague to critique it: are you underselling yourself anywhere?​

Next, identify where you most need to grow to be credible in the roles you aspire to. That might mean:​

• Closing a skills gap through training.
• Gaining experience in another sector or function via a sideways move.
• Practising influencing with a wider range of stakeholders.
• Varying your leadership style to reach more diverse audiences.​

You can also “borrow” confidence by observing leaders you admire:

• how do they show up?
• how do they handle pressure?
• Which of their approaches could you imitate and still be yourself?

Volunteering to deputise for your boss or taking on cross-organisational projects can give you valuable exposure and help you see the world from a wider perspective. You  begin to “stand in their shoes”.​

Self-doubt is common, especially as responsibilities increase. You can waste energy trying to make your inner critic disappear or you can change the way you relate to it, and the influence you allow it to have.

Questions that can help reshape that relationship include:

• If an observer heard me and my inner critic talking out loud, how credible would that critic sound?
• Do I show myself the same compassion I would offer a colleague living with their imperfections?
• Is there someone from my past whose critical influence I am still carrying unnecessarily?
• Is there something in my upbringing or background that holds me back, even though I have proved myself many times over?
• Is there a past event or experience that needs to be brought into perspective?
• What has helped me in the past when the inner critic became too loud?
• What exactly am I afraid of—and what is the realistic worst case?​ Even if I fail this time, can I see it as learning for the future?

It can be a relief to realise you are not the only person who fears being exposed as inadequate: indeed it’s often a characteristic of high achievers. Brain patterns forged over years cannot be flipped overnight, but with practice you can choose which of the competing voices in your head deserves to be heard. Why should it always be the inner critic?

Some people give their inner critic a name and identity so they can tell them when they are not wanted.

Once you decide you are ready to step up, focused preparation for the assessment process is one of the best investments you can make. You may need to put memories of a past bad experience behind you, or log the learning so that you don’t repeat it.

By the way, winging the process rarely works.

Preparation starts with understanding what the recruiters are really looking for. What can you find out from research? Who do you know who could give you some insight, or introduce you to someone who can?

You will need to build your application around the explicit criteria in the job description, but you will also want to know:

• The culture of the organisation and “what it takes” at that level.
• The personal interests and priorities of the decision-makers.
• The “word on the street” about what success looks like in this role.​

From there, build a bank of concise, compelling stories that show you have the skills and experience they need, and at the right level.  Each story should:

• Explain the issue briefly.
• Describe how you responded.
• Highlight the outcome you achieved
• Take no more than about a minute to tell.​

Rehearse your examples out loud—ideally with someone who can give you feedback, or by recording yourself and watching it back. You may not enjoy seeing yourself at first, but this is exactly what helps you refine how you come across.​

You won’t be able to use all your examples, and some will be stronger than others, but knowing that you have them will give you confidence.

You can’t control every question, but you can control how prepared and grounded you are.

Drawing on our work with senior candidates, we often suggest:​

1. Imagine yourself inhabiting and owning the role you are applying for.
2. Engage the panel as equals, giving them confidence you are the answer to their search.
3. Listen to the intent behind questions; pause to think and ask for clarification when needed.
4. Keep your answers concise; don’t talk yourself out of a job.
5. Be clear about your personal value-added; avoid saying “we” all the time.
6. Illustrate the range of influencing approaches you use with different stakeholders.
7. Be ready to talk about your leadership approach, including what you have learned from feedback and failures.
8. Expect challenge at times—it may be a way of testing your resilience.
9. If one answer feels weak, don’t dwell on it; the whole conversation matters more than one moment.
10. Let your warmth and enthusiasm come through; remember to smile and make it an enjoyable conversation for them as well as for you.

If you grew up with strong messages about not “boasting”, reframing is important. An interview is not about exaggerated self-promotion, but it is about providing the evidence decision-makers need to make an informed choice.​ You are unlikely to come across as arrogant if you are describing genuine events and the feedback that others give you.

Feeling nervous in high‑stakes assessments is normal; the goal is not to remove nerves but to channel them.

Some practical tips we share with clients include:​

• Plant your feet firmly and feel the length and width of your body
• Wear or carry something that makes you feel good.
• Breathe low, wide and slow into your ribs; relax your shoulders and jaw.
• Recall a moment when you were at your most confident, and reconnect with that feeling.
• Walk into the room assuming the panel want you to succeed—they are looking for a solution, and you are it.

Stepping up should feel like moving towards a meaningful opportunity where you know why you want a role and what you have to offer.

The questions in this article are an invitation to stand back and reflect on your motivations and readiness, be honest with yourself about your strengths, and confront self-doubt. At Praesta we help leaders prepare every step of the assessment process, through to mock interviews, to give themselves the best possible chance of success.

Do you have to be the perfect fit for a role before you pitch for it? No, because the perfect fit may not exist, and nearly everyone needs support as they adjust to the new expectations on them. Our next article should help with that, as it looks at “Finding your Voice at the Next Level.”