“I was already doing the role…

but didn’t feel good enough to apply for it.”

Lucy came into coaching at a pivotal point in her career.

She had over 22 years of experience and had been successfully acting in a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) role within Behavioural Support. She was already leading complex care, supporting multidisciplinary teams, and driving service improvements across the organisation.

On paper, she was more than ready.

But internally, it didn’t feel that way.

Despite already doing the role, Lucy felt overwhelmed by the application process, unsure how to translate her experience into strong selection criteria, and questioned whether she would be “good enough” compared to other candidates.

The Real Challenge

Lucy wasn’t lacking experience.

She was:

  • Struggling to articulate what she did naturally

  • Unsure how to align her experience with the selection criteria language

  • Feeling pressure to prove herself despite already performing at the CNS level

  • Navigating self-doubt while balancing work, family, and long-term career decisions

Like many experienced nurses, she presented as capable — but internally, her confidence wasn’t matching her level of practice.

What Made Her Different

(but she couldn’t yet see it)

At the same time, Lucy was leading a major hospital-wide initiative:

👉 The redevelopment of a Behaviour Escalation Guideline

She:

  • benchmarked against leading hospitals across Australia

  • collaborated across ED, medical, surgical, pharmacy and allied health teams

  • focused on early intervention and identifying behavioural triggers

  • strengthened both patient care and staff safety systems

This was clear CNS-level leadership.

But like many nurses…

👉 she didn’t initially recognise this as high-level impact — just part of her job

What We Worked On

Through the Leadership Clarity System, we worked across three key areas:

1. Reframing how she saw herself

This was the foundation.

Lucy didn’t need more experience.

She needed to recognise the level she was already operating at.

We worked on:

  • challenging negative self-talk

  • strengthening her self-concept

  • helping her confidently identify her strengths

So instead of trying to “become” a CNS…

👉 she started backing herself as one

3. Interview Preparation

We refined how she communicated her value.

This included:

  • structuring strong STAR responses

  • leading with outcomes, not just tasks

  • strengthening her delivery and confidence

We also positioned her Behaviour Escalation Guideline work as a flagship example of leadership, quality improvement, and system influence.

2. Applications & Selection Criteria

We translated her experience into language panels could assess.

We:

  • structured her responses clearly

  • elevated her language to reflect leadership and system impact

  • positioned her work (like the guideline) as strategic, not just clinical

Her final application clearly demonstrated CNS-level leadership and organisational impact.

The Shift

As we worked together, Lucy ’s thinking — and how she showed up — changed significantly.

She moved from:

  • feeling overwhelmed and unsure

  • questioning whether she was “good enough”

  • struggling to explain her value

To:

  • clearly understanding what panels were looking for

  • confidently structuring her responses

  • speaking about her work with authority and evidence

She also began to lead with results — not just effort.

The Outcome

Lucy went into her interview:

→ prepared

→ structured

→ and confident in how she presented her work

She was able to clearly demonstrate:

→ her leadership in developing hospital-wide behavioural strategies

→ her ability to influence multidisciplinary teams

→ her impact on both patient care and staff outcomes

And…

She secured the Clinical Nurse Specialist role.

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