Fear of Advancing?
Is anyone out there afraid to move forward with your career? You might have some concerns about obtaining more responsibilities in the workplace, say if you became a manager. Do you find yourself asking, "Can I really do this?" A thought of stumbling in a bigger position may scare you. If any of this describes you, don't worry; you are not alone. We all have a fear of failure at some point in our lives. Here are some questions to think about when the fear of failure enters your mind, which causes you to ask, "What if I fail?"
1. What's the worst that can happen?
2. What is the likelihood of that happening?
3. If the worst happens, how bad is it really?
4. What's made you successful in the past?
5. How often did you really fail?
Also, it is important to have good mentors and co-workers around you to help you with the transition into a new job. Remember, if someone is thinking about hiring or promoting you, they must believe you can provide some benefit to that company. Thomas A. Edison may have said it best: "If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves."
William--you'd be surprised how many people feel this way. The way performance evalutions are supposed to work, you get all "A" grades when you are ready to move to the next level. That said, any new job is bound to be a stretch--from your first to upper management. Make sure you find out early on who you can ask for help and don't ever be afraid to! The more help you get early on, the less likely you'll be to fail. That said, have confidence in yourself too. You will fail at some point (everyone does!), but it's the only way to learn. And then when you do succeed it'll be all the better.