Last week I facilitated a two-day communication communication workshop with a global tech company. I\u2019ve run lots of workshops over the years but when I was approached on this one last December, I was a little tentative. \u00a0The seventeen people flying in from around the world hailed from 8 different countries \u2013 from South Korea to Argentina – with varying degrees of English fluency.<\/p>\n
While I can count to ten in Spanish and Italian, it\u2019s fair to say I get an \u2018F\u2019 for multi-linguistic skills. I decided to say yes anyway and I’m so glad I did. Not only was it professionally rewarding working with such a diverse group, but I realized afterward that I\u2019d been more than equipped to handle the dynamics and challenges of this group.<\/p>\n
The lesson I learnt (and it’s one I’ve been slow to learn!):<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a lesson so many people (beginning with this one!) \u00a0need to be reminded of again and again. Too often we underestimate our abilities and hold back from putting ourselves forward for new opportunities or saying yes when they come our way (and yes, I think women are more guilty of this than the blokes.) It keeps us from the very experiences that build both our competence and confidence.<\/p>\n
I recently interviewed Sara James, an Emmy Award winning NBC News correspondent and author, for\u00a0RawCourage.TV<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Sara paved her career by putting herself \u2018out there\u2019 despite her misgivings. In sharing how she got her first break as a news anchor in Tupelo, Mississippi, and later as landing her first war correspondent assignment in Somalia, she often had to step completely out of her comfort zone and risk the possibility of a spectacular failure.<\/p>\n