Stepping up, together, to face fears

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Rebecca is one of a small team of five in the Finance department of a fast-growing company. Her job is mostly crunching numbers and is very inward facing, with little reason for collaboration with other departments.

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Her colleague, Joe, is going on parental leave for three months. Joe has been the person who does most of the interfacing with other departments and has to present weekly to the Leadership Team.

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Like many people, Rebecca has a deep fear of public speaking. Nor does she feel comfortable interacting with department heads. At the same time, she knows that for awhile, at least, she is the right person to fill Joe’s role.

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Sharon, Rebecca’s manager, knows her well enough to anticipate these concerns and makes it a point to connect what she does in her current role to what she will be doing in Joe’s role.

 

They start by focusing on where the tasks overlap. This addresses some of Rebecca’s competency concerns. Next, they set up meetings before and after the weekly Leadership Team to rehearse and review how it went. This allows Rebecca to know where she stands. Finally, they come up with a list of decisions Rebecca can make on her own and which ones she should confirm with Sharon.

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The result: Rebecca’s confidence and skill set grew so that when Joe came back they were able to divide responsibilities in ways that made the department more efficient.