You know how it goes… you get the dream job that feels like it’s been out there waiting for you all these years. Finally it is here. And it comes with a big fancy job title.
You are the Global Director of ____, or the Head of Strategic _____.
It is so exciting, you are fit to burst.
And then as you get ready to start the role, you begin thinking: “Who am I to be Global Director of _____? What if I’m not up to this? Am I good enough? What if I get found out?”
You start to doubt your ability to do the job because the job title sounds so lofty and you don’t quite believe that it is you… yet.
The thing is there is a delay between you getting the amazing job and you feeling like you ARE that person doing the job with that job title. It’s as if you have to catch up with yourself. This is quite normal.
Your head knows that you are doing this role but it can’t quite believe it, and your body and soul need time to get used to the idea. And that comes as you get on with the job.
So how do you cope in the gap?
The danger of acting up
One thing to avoid is acting up to the job title. Sometimes out of fear of not being good enough, you feel a need to put on a false persona of confidence. This can lead you to do things out of a need to be seen to be taking action rather than out of the right motives, and can take you in all the wrong directions.
You start to behave in ways that don’t feel natural to you. And people will sense it.
The truth is that you don’t have to act in a different way. You have the resources you need within you; you simply have to trust them and use them.
Staying true to yourself
Some pointers for making it through that uncertain time:
- know that it is quite normal to feel this way. Give yourself permission to feel uncomfortable.
- keep coming back to yourself. By this I mean take time to step back and review regularly what you are working on, how things are progressing and celebrate the small wins. It is so easy to get caught up in activity early on in a new job. By taking time to review regularly, you can realign your compass to your North star.
- surround yourself with a good support network. This could be friends, former colleagues, mentors, a coach – whatever works for you – so that you have the right people who will keep you grounded, encourage you and be your cheerleaders.
And as you go along, your confidence will grow and you will find that before long it won’t make you feel sick to have to introduce yourself as ‘The Global Director of _____’
You have got this, and you will be fabulous in your new role, fancy job title and all!
If you want some help with getting through that gap, download my guide to starting your new job well. You can find it here.
If you want to talk about your new role, send me an email and we will have a chat – catherine@edenboroughcoaching.co.uk.
