Finding Your Fit: Why it Matters More Than You Think
Two out of every three people at work are unengaged — not fully checked out, but not thriving either. What if that's not a laziness problem? What if it's a fit problem?
In this episode of NET Collective, Kay McBrearty, career coach and founder of Waterville Partners, and Vinita Patel, school psychologist in private practice, dig into why smart, capable people end up somewhere they can't thrive — in a job, a major, a friend group, a team — and how to find your way back to a better fit.
In this episode, we cover:
Why two-thirds of the workforce shows up unengaged — and why that's often a fit problem, not a motivation problem
The three things everyone needs to thrive: a place to contribute, grow, and belong
The “two circles” framework — knowing yourself and knowing the opportunity — and why fit lives in the overlap
How stress and “survival mode” make it harder to notice red flags in a big decision
What “parallel pathing” looks like if you can't walk away from a poor fit right now
How to reframe a misfit as information, not a measure of your worth
Kay shares her own story of chasing a prestigious role that looked amazing on paper — and what it taught her about asking the right questions before saying yes to anything, whether it's a job, a college, or a commitment.
Grab the two-circles framework and reflection questions from this episode in our show-notes handout at netcollective.org.
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