Say Yes to Your Next Career Leap

By Helene Lerner

Are you saying ‘YES’ wholeheartedly to your next career move, especially if it’s a big leap from your job right now? Or are you letting fear hold you back?  Are you rationalizing that you don’t have the full skill-set to go that next step in your career trajectory? Over the last year, I’ve spoken with several high level managers, among them Lorna Donatone, COO & education market president of Sodexo, and others who have confided that too many women seem unnecessarily reticent to take the leap while their male counterparts will jump right in – skills or not!

Maybe this comes from the fact that, for so long, women were under the microscope – judged for every move and mistake they may have made (after all, we’ve had to be twice as good as our male counterparts). Nevertheless, these wise leaders advise us to take calculated risks and rise to the occasion. They advise us to say ‘yes,’ even if we don’t have all the expertise. How can the pipeline be filled if we don’t come right out and say we’re ready?

The message they’re preaching is: You don’t have to be perfectly ready to jump in – what you have is more than adequate to go to that next level, even if you don’t fully believe it. If you need to develop additional skills on your new assignment, you will. Or you can surround yourself with people who can accomplish what you can’t.

Here are four steps to help you make a move affirmatively the next time an opportunity arises and you are questioning if you’re ready:

Expect to feel uncomfortable, but go forward anyway. Discomfort means you’re willing to grow – it’s a way of stretching yourself.  Don’t shy away from it, embrace it instead. 

Your knee-jerk reaction should be ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’ or ‘not yet.’ Be positively expectant, even though every muscle in your body may be saying ‘no.’ Act as if you can do something and you will.

Get support from a higher-up. Don’t ask people on your immediate level for advice – get the feedback from someone who has made the leap, and keeps making them. 

Look fear in the face and move through it. If you don’t take risks, you lose your excitement to accomplish new things. Dare to live fully and GO FOR IT!

Helene Lerner is the founder of WomenWorking.com, author of Smart Women Take Risks and an Emmy award-winning television host.