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 (https://www.walk-away.com/) , 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 (about:invalid#zCSafez) 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 (https://www.patreon.com/aworldofdifference/posts/story-behind-own-161889646?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link) with Sally on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/aworldofdifference/posts/story-behind-own-161889646?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link)
•
Website: https://sjclarkeauthor.com
•
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sallyjclarke/)
•
Book: Walk Away: Step Out to Step Up (https://www.walk-away.com/)
•
Novel: Ringside Gamble (https://us.amazon.com/Ringside-Gamble-S-J-Clarke/dp/173844192X)
Subscribe, leave a review (https://www.aworldofdifferencepodcast.com/reviews/new/) , and share this episode.
Visit https://www.aworld...
