Natalie worked really hard to get to the VP level in her company. It wasn’t easy and she was so excited and proud of herself that she had finally reached this huge goal. She came to meet with me because although she had done what she had set out to do, she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep it. She felt paralyzed by her fears and wasn’t sure how to move past it.
It doesn’t matter what level a leader goes to, they are initially filled with excitement, but also many doubts.
They climbed to the top of the mountain and don’t want to do anything that might cause them to slip and fall back down again. Some of Natalie’s fears were: What if I can’t operate at this level? What if I can’t handle the politics? Who can I trust? How can I avoid making mistakes?
Leaders have a choice of how to respond to the doubts and fears. Natalie could buy into the story that she was telling herself. She could sabotage this great opportunity to make an impact by hesitating to do things or avoiding what she knew she needed to accomplish. Her other option was to find a way to become the leader that she envisioned being at this level.
Natalie chose the latter option and reached out for help. We spent the time to identify her fears and doubts. Through coaching, we worked on how she wanted to see herself vs how she saw herself currently. We focused on actions that she could take to be visible and be that leader that she knew she could be. As she moved away from those self-limiting beliefs that held her back, she regained her confidence in herself. She stepped into being the leader that she knew she could be.