Episode 112 - How to build influence before you need it

Episode 112 - How to build influence before you need it

From Career Espresso by Amanda Owen-Meehan

March 25, 2026 · 13 min · Season 7 · Episode 112

About this episode

This episode discusses the gap between hard work and influence in the workplace, particularly for women, and offers practical steps to build influence proactively.

There's a particular kind of career frustration that's hard to name. You're doing your job well. You're prepared, present, and contributing. But the conversations that shape what actually happens in your area keep happening without you. You find out about things after the fact. Your input arrives too late to matter. And you can't quite put your finger on why, because your work is solid. This episode of Career Espresso is about the gap between working hard and actually having influence over what happens, and why closing that gap takes something most career advice never mentions. What you'll discover Why strong performance can leave you surprisingly powerless in a changing organisation The specific relationship layer that women are most likely to have missed building Where real influence gets formed, and why the formal channels rarely tell the whole story What happens to informal networks when organisations restructure or new leaders arrive The practical steps that change your position, before you find yourself needing to change it urgently Perfect for women who are performing well but feel like their influence over what actually happens is smaller than their role and contribution…

People in this episode

Host: Amanda Owen-Meehan

Topics covered

  • influence
  • career development
  • women in leadership
  • networking
  • organizational change

Keywords

  • career frustration
  • influence
  • performance
  • women
  • networks
  • leadership

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