Am I doing it right?

I had an interesting role a few years back consulting with a group who specialize in leadership development. One of the ways they implemented this was through ‘a day on the job’, where candidates would be in a simulation chamber, working in a role similar to or at one level higher than what they currently did.

As they were put through their paces they would be observed. And then given feedback by four consultants on their strengths and weaknesses.

With one job candidate I was gifted one of the most powerful questions I’ve ever acted upon after hearing it. In the simulation where they were to be in the managerial role and the consultants were external parties (such as customers, peers at other locations or colleagues from other departments) a candidate asked me if what she was doing looked good. What she meant was ‘do I look like I have everything handled?’

It blew my mind, and has made me question how I do things ever since. Up until that time I had been ever so concerned with looking the part for everything…..is my business card up to scratch, do I look like a principal, do I look like I have this sorted….and so on.

But then things changed for me. Here I was looking in at this senior business woman, with 20 years more experience than me, earning 6 times what I earned, and in her simulation training session she was worried about what it looked like from the outside.

It was at that moment that I set off to discover and BE a different level of confidence.

Oprah has interviewed gesquillions of guests in her time and the most common question she is asked at the end of each interview (and it doesn’t matter whether the interviewee be Obama, Beyonce or a housewife from Mississippi) is….

“Did I do o.k.?”

What if we let ourselves know we are more than o.k. from the get-go, and then just get on with being our awesome selves J