Permission to Leave: Reading the Signs Before Burnout with Sally J. Clarke
Staying isn’t always strength, and walking away isn’t always failure. Sally J. Clarke, co-author of Walk Away: Step Out to Step Up, joins Lori Adams-Brown to unpack why high-performing leaders so often wait for a crisis before giving themselves permission to leave.
Why a role can look right on paper, title, compensation, trajectory, while quietly stopping to fit, and how to tell a structural misalignment from a personal failure
The story behind the research: 40+ interviews with women across finance, technology, and the arts, including a founder underestimated in the boardroom who went on to build her own global company culture
Why walking away is rarely emotional and almost always strategic, and what that reframe offers women taught that leaving means failing
How culture, from Singapore to Germany to the United States, shapes whether leaving feels like a free choice or a forced one
What recent comments from prominent tech leaders reveal about shifting corporate culture, and one question every leader can ask themselves this week
Sally J. Clarke is an award-winning author and global business leader based in Singapore. She spent over a decade leading global marketing and communications at FIS and Markit, has advised organisations including Mitsubishi, Accenture, and the Singapore Stock Exchange, and is the co-author of Walk Away: Step Out to Step Up and author of the bestselling novel Ringside Gamble, winner of the 2025 Ink Prize for Best Debut Novel.
00:00 — Welcome and introduction to Sally J. Clarke
00:38 — The origin story: questioning whether “staying the course” is always right
02:01 — Why Walk Away exists: the conversation in Singapore that started it
03:35 — Beyond Lean In: how the conversation around women and ambition has shifted
04:35 — When a role looks right on paper but has stopped fitting
06:52 — Dr. Meena Kaushik: underestimated in the boardroom, she built her own company culture
09:12 — Embracing fear and the “learning and earning” mindset
11:44 — Permission, structural misalignment, and the personal-failure trap
12:37 — Alice Chen: a near-death wake-up call and leading with empathy
15:29 — Maternity leave, human limits, and humane leadership
17:15 — The scorecard method and a mentor’s advice on vision
19:16 — Why career growth isn’t a straight line
21:34 — How culture shapes the choice to leave
23:26 — The zebra and the lion: knowing who you’re trying to be
24:51 — Integrity as the cross-cultural constant
25:55 — Recent comments from tech leaders and the “choiceless choice” some women face
32:54 — One question to ask yourself this week
34:56 — The artist’s check-in: knowing what you want to say to the world
36:43 — Where to find Sally and her book
Join us for an exclusive bonus with Sally on Patreon
Website: https://sjclarkeauthor.com
Novel: Ringside Gamble
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Lori Adams-Brown, Host & Executive Producer
A World of Difference Podcast
