Client Question: “My manager approached me about taking on a bigger role, but I am not sure I am ready for it. What should I do?”
If your manager approached you about the job, that is already a vote of confidence that they feel that you are ready for the role. This doesn’t mean that you will automatically get the role, but they view you as someone who is ready for it. Now you need to ask yourself why are you hesitating?
Sometimes this is fear that is causing you to question whether you are ready for it. Fear can be a good thing to help you shift your thinking and look at things differently. Do you really believe that you can’t do the job? My guess is that if you broke the new responsibilities down you would be able to say that you either could do those things or you have done something similar in the past. You could also say that whatever you didn’t know you would figure out. Once you look at it that way, it probably doesn’t feel as overwhelming or scary.
You may have heard of leveraging a 30-60-90 day plan when taking on a new role to identify what needs to be done in the first 3 months. Identify the important focus areas like what is expected of you, new team members or clients to work with, how to get things done and influence others. Did you do that when you started your current role? You probably did, but you may not have formalized it in a document or a plan. Being intentional about it is a good way to show your leadership and strategy for success.
Change in itself can be challenging and it forces you to move out of your comfort zone. This is what helps you to grow and develop even more though. You found a way to make yourself successful in other roles and it is being noticed by your management. Go into the interviews with that confidence and prepared to show them that you are the right person for the job. You will learn new things, expand your leadership skills, demonstrate that you can manage change by transitioning quickly and successfully make that job your own.