Why Not Me
Every CEO I know is perennially looking for team members who have the capability of taking on more senior roles. No big surprise, so let’s move on.
Typically, one of the characteristics that a competent CEO looks for in an individual to promote is a certain sense of humbleness. After all, the unpretentious operating approach that a humble person brings to the “table” has many positive overtones, on multiple levels, including a “servant leadership” style that is often very helpful in today’s business settings. So leaders are quite correct in looking for (amongst many other capabilities) that down-to-earth individual to move up the “corporate ladder,” as it were.
That said, one of the downsides of the humble person is, at times, a certain lack of confidence. The self-insight a person must have in order to be humble sometimes can be a little too much of a good thing at times! And that slight lack of confidence that can come from self-insight can lead to the newly promoted person struggling with wondering if she/he is up to the task. They start thinking “Why me?” “Why did I get the promotion over another person?” Bottom line…..good, competent people frequently can get somewhat worried and/or anxious initially upon taking the next step up.
It is incumbent on a CEO to watch for this issue and help the person get to the point of thinking “Why NOT me?” “I deserve this.” “I can do this job well.” “It was right to promote me.” ………… You get the idea.
Appropriate positive reinforcement from you, the CEO, will do the trick to get the person to leave behind “Why me?” and move to “Why NOT me?”
