“A worried man with a worried mind"

“A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind”

Transitioning into a new role? Excited but feeling a knot of anxiety?

Having a 90 day plan helps you stay focused, gives you purpose, lets your team know what to expect and helps set expectations with the boss

My work with high potentials often (thankfully) leads to them getting promoted and being handed new challenges.

And then the doubt and concern creeps in. The reality of the new position, the task of transforming the existing team, the realization of the resources actually available, and the heightened expectations of the boss who has promoted them – all these weigh on the normally positive and upbeat high-po.

In my experience, it is that last aspect, the expectations of the boss, that most worries the new leader.

With a track record of success behind them, the newly promoted leader has no fear of challenge but they become anxious when considering that they may not match the expected targets and quotas.

The key to removing the anxiety is about actively resetting the expectations with the boss – an open and honest conversation about what the current state is, what is needed, what you plan to focus on and what results to expect.

This is where the 90 day plan provides a vehicle for that crucial conversation with the boss.

Don’t forget – the boss most likely has been involved in your promotion so they want you to succeed. But you need to give them confidence that you are heading in the right direction so that they can breathe in terms of results.

So if you find yourself in a new role, start mapping out your plan and get your boss on board so that you feel them beside you as opposed to being on your back.

Thoughts? Comments? Insults?

Have finally got a Dylan line into my blog title – more to follow.

"Now you love me as a loser, but you're worried that I just might win"

This week I came across the following Thomas Edison quote in a discussion document about innovation

“I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that don’t work”

Two day later and I am in a coaching session with a client trying to help them to reassess their fear of failure in order to assist them to become unstuck in driving a new initiative.

Fearing failure can become such a huge block, turning bright and successful people into statues of procrastination and paralysis.

As their coach one should definitely avoid the General Patton approach which involves slapping the person in the face and screaming “coward” at them - that nearly got Patton sidelined for the rest of WWII.

So what can you do?

Firstly you need to respect, relate to and acknowledge the clients’s fear of failure – such feelings serve a useful purpose in our lives and generally helps us all avoid huge personal disasters (unfortunately there is a growing section of our society who have been born without any appropriate sense of failure and they all seem to end up on reality TV talent shows).

What next? I then tend to use a combination of the following questions to raise awareness and help the client reframe their fear;

“Have you failed in the past and what did it do to you?” – we have all had failures but over time we learn and grown from them - we survive - we were not forced out of our town or made to wear a bell around our neck – life goes on and successes still continue to happen to us.

“If you could let go of perfection, what is success for you in this venture?” – accepting that you are never going to achieve perfection - on the golf course, or in every sales pitch you make. or in every bit of marketing you write, - is often so liberating, and allows the person to accept new standards and generate momentum again.

“Think of your many initiatives that have been successes, Did you ever fear failure when you started them?” Working with clever successful people means that the coach can always remind them of their previous successes, some of which would have had a risk of failure initially.

Finally, a question I always find helps raise awareness and generates options; “If I was in your shoes, what advise would you give me?”

These questions are not about dismissing the client’s fear of failure – they are about challenging it, normalising it and reframing it in terms of previous experiences and what is success.

Thanks to Leonard Cohen for today’s title.

Welcome thoughts, ideas and insults as always