For a new leader, even one with the perfect skills and undeniable talent, the workplace can be an intimidating place. Many professional settings are competitive and demanding, and it can be difficult for a new leader to demonstrate the confidence and authority necessary to succeed.
Stepping into a new leadership role was proving challenging for a female client of ours. This particular client was a gifted leader, and she had proven herself to be a very high performer. She had a pretty amazing pedigree that many women would be envious of, she knew how to lead well, knew how to organize, and always gave useful advice.
However, something was holding her back; she didn’t have an executive presence and she wasn’t showing up as an executive able to instill confidence in others. For this reason, she couldn’t knock the ball out of the park.
However, she was lucky as the executives in her company saw her potential and wanted to place her in a leadership role. However, she knew she would need support if she was going to succeed as an executive. So they asked us to help. During our first meeting, it was clear that she was passionate and motivated to succeed, and we soon established where the issue lay: she would be apologetic in her communication style and say “Sorry, I really don’t want to interrupt or disturb you, but can you please do this for me when you have time.” She would blend into the woodwork and tasks would not get completed efficiently.
She needed to learn to step into her power and say a crisp direct manner, “This is what needs to be done, this is how it needs to be done, and this is when it needs to be done.” Just that one element of her stepping into her power was all that was standing in her way. It turned out to be a really huge opportunity for her. After our work together was done, she was able to transition from working behind the scenes to exercising her natural leadership as an executive in the company, and she even made it onto the Board of Directors.