From the Sidelines to the Arena: How Healthcare Professionals Can Embrace Imperfection and Growth
Sonja Cronjé
November 18, 2025
In this Article:
The View from the Sidelines:
There’s a certain safety on the sidelines. From there, you can see everything clearly – who’s thriving, who’s struggling, who’s taking the brave steps forward. It’s where you can analyse, prepare, and wait until you feel ready enough, confident enough, or, let’s be honest, perfect enough to step in yourself.
But growth doesn’t happen on the sidelines. It happens in the arena.
Brené Brown popularised this idea from Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 speech The Man in the Arena. It reminds us that courage isn’t about perfection – it’s about participation. It’s about showing up, knowing you might stumble, sweat, or feel exposed – and learning through it anyway.
For many high-achieving healthcare professionals, this shift means trading the comfort of control for the discomfort of experimentation. The longer you wait to feel “ready”, the longer you stay on the sidelines – watching others build the confidence that only comes from stepping in.
The meaningful work begins the moment you cross that line.
The Perfectionism Trap in Healthcare:
Perfectionism runs deep in medicine. The stakes are high, the margin for error is slim, and the responsibility often feels enormous. From early training, you learn to be thorough, precise, and accountable. That mindset saves lives, but it can also hold you back.
Striving for excellence is essential. But when “perfect” becomes the standard, progress stalls. You hesitate to apply for that leadership role because you don’t feel ready. You overprepare for a presentation until you’re exhausted. You hold back an idea because it’s not polished enough.
Research backs this up. A review across medical students, residents and physicians found strong associations between perfectionism, imposter feelings and mental health concerns. Perfectionism has also been associated with higher burnout rates in practising doctors.
These scenarios are all too familiar:
A clinician delays applying for a leadership role because they’re 'not ready yet'
A researcher hesitates to submit their abstract, worried it’s not good enough
A registrar avoids asking a question during rounds, fearing it will sound 'basic'
A department head holds off giving feedback to a colleague because they can’t find the ‘perfect’ words
A new consultant spends weekends reworking slides for a presentation that’s already good enough
A senior clinician turns down a speaking invitation because they don’t feel like 'an expert' yet.
These behaviours often come from deep commitment – from wanting to do good work and not let anyone down. But when high standards tip into perfectionism, they can hold you back rather than move you forward. The truth is, the arena doesn’t reward flawless – it rewards showing up, learning, and refining as you go.
What the “Arena” Looks Like in Real Life:
The arena in healthcare is built from small, meaningful moments – the times you show up even when you’re unsure.
Saying yes to leadership:
You accept a role on the quality-improvement committee. You won’t have all the answers, but you’re willing to learn, delegate, and navigate uncertainty.Giving honest feedback:
You raise a tricky issue with a colleague, respectfully and directly. It’s uncomfortable, but you choose courageous engagement over avoidance.Speaking up in meetings:
You share a new idea, even if it’s not perfectly formed. Speaking up helps strengthen communication, encourages collaboration, and shows others that ideas don’t have to be perfectly articulated to be valuable.Sharing your work:
You submit your research or abstract before it is 'perfect'. You share, learn, refine, and grow.
The arena isn’t just for big moments or major achievements. It’s built through everyday choices – the small, brave acts that stretch your comfort zone and grow your confidence over time.
Why Imperfection Fuels Growth:
In healthcare, mastery matters. But confidence, capability, and resilience grow not from perfection, but from practice, reflection, and the courage to try.
Learning through doing:
Confidence doesn’t arrive before you act – it builds as you take action. Each time you try something new, even when it feels uncomfortable, you stretch your comfort zone and strengthen the skills that make the next step easier.
The growth-mindset advantage:
Psychologist Carol Dweck describes a growth mindset as the belief that our abilities can be developed through effort, learning, and feedback. When we approach challenges this way, we’re more likely to take on stretch tasks, persist through setbacks, and continue learning as we go.
Imperfection as feedback, not failure:
Every misstep or less-than-perfect moment offers useful information and valuable insight – a clue about what to adjust next time. Research suggests that people who believe their abilities can grow are more likely to engage with feedback and make stronger post-error adjustments, leading to deeper learning over time. In other words, mistakes aren’t proof you’re not ready; they’re part of how you learn.
Small steps, lasting change:
Meaningful change rarely happens in big leaps. It’s built through small, consistent actions – the daily decisions to show up, reflect, and keep going. Each imperfect step reinforces confidence and progress.
From Self-Criticism to Self-Compassion
Most healthcare professionals know that inner critic – the voice that says, “You should’ve known that,” or “You’re not ready yet.” It means well, trying to keep you safe from mistakes. But it keeps you stuck.
Kristin Neff’s research shows that self-compassion has three components: being kind to yourself instead of harsh, recognising that everyone struggles at times, and noticing your thoughts and emotions without getting caught up in them.
Self-compassion doesn’t mean lowering your standards. It means recognising that imperfection is part of the growth process – not a personal flaw.
Try reframing your inner voice with these subtle resets:
“I’m still figuring this out.”
“Progress over perfection.”
“It’s okay to not have all the answers yet.”
Self-compassion isn’t a 'nice to have'. It’s a practical way to stay grounded and sustain yourself in demanding work.
Practical Steps: Moving from The Sidelines to The Arena
Here are five small, doable ways to begin:
Start small:
Offer to present a short update or mentor a colleague. Small acts of visibility build confidence for larger roles later.Reframe mistakes:
Replace “Why did I mess that up?” with “What did this teach me?”
Treating errors as learning data improves performance and reduces burnout.Celebrate micro-bravery:
Notice when you do something new or uncomfortable. These 'micro-acts' of courage build confidence over time.Seek feedback:
Ask a trusted mentor or colleague: “What’s one thing I could do differently next time?” Treat feedback as data, not judgment.Find your allies:
Surround yourself with people who value authenticity and progress over polish. Growth is contagious – spend time with others who are practising it too.
Each step builds the next. You don’t need to wait for readiness; you create it by showing up.
The Freedom on the Other Side of Imperfection
Stepping into the arena doesn’t erase fear – it reshapes it. That flutter of nerves before you speak up or share your work is simply energy reminding you that what you’re doing matters.
With every imperfect attempt, confidence grows – not because everything goes right, but because you learn you can handle what doesn’t. Action builds evidence, and evidence builds belief.
The readiness we crave doesn’t come first. It comes from doing, trying, and learning in motion.
Perfectionism promises safety, but it also keeps you confined. The arena, messy as it is, offers something far richer: freedom.
Freedom to be human. To grow. To lead. To contribute in ways that matter.
This week, choose one small way to step off the sidelines, into the arena – not perfectly, but honestly, and wholeheartedly.