Claiming Power Without Losing Yourself with Olga Valadon

Elaine Belson, LCSW-C, talks with Olga Valadon about career transitions, self-advocacy, emotional intelligence, and how women can claim visibility without losing their values.Olga shares her move from financial services to professional services and the culture shift that made self-promotion feel uncomfortable.

She reflects on how a Stanford program helped her rethink power—not as something inherently negative, but as a tool leaders can use to support teams and help others advance. The conversation also explores people pleasing, perfectionism, the qualification trap, and small habits—like repeatedly apologizing—that can undermine authority.

Olga and Elaine discuss emotional fluency: naming and understanding emotions so leaders can respond thoughtfully, learn from feedback, and move forward after mistakes.

About Olga Valadon

Olga Valadon is a strategic advisor, executive education facilitator, and speaker with 30 years of experience in global financial and professional services. She has led teams and advised senior executives, including Boards of Directors. She is the founder of Change Aligned, a leadership advisory and development company that works with executive teams and senior leaders to improve strategy execution by harnessing emotions—the hidden driver of costs, speed, risk, and growth.

Website: https://www.olgavaladon.com/
Change Aligned: https://changealigned.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olgavaladon/

Timestamps

(00:31) Olga’s career transition
(02:08) Self-promotion and workplace culture
(05:14) Rethinking power and visibility
(09:21) Why self-advocacy can be difficult
(16:06) Using power for good
(21:22) Language habits and authority
(24:09) Perfectionism and the qualification trap
(31:21) Emotions as data
(37:32) Mistakes, learning, and self-judgment
(47:46) What emotional fluency means
(50:22) Feedback, posture, and language habits
(53:15) Testing assumptions and staying open to learning

Connect with Olga!

Website: https://www.olgavaladon.com/
Change Aligned: https://changealigned.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olgavaladon/

Connect with Elaine!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elainebelsonlcsw
Free Discovery Call: https://zcal.co/esbelsonlcswc/15min
Website: https://www.TheSelfAuthorityCoach.com