The Secret to Successful Leadership: Confident Humility
“Fake it till you make it” is horrible advice
I was sitting in a cabin alone, but I was freaking out.
I was on my first “solo retreat” — a chance to rest and recharge with a weekend of reading, writing, meditating, praying, and walking in the woods. The weekend was meant for relaxation, but my mind was speeding like a race car.
When I scheduled the getaway two months earlier, I had no way of knowing that the Friday I departed for my solo retreat would be the biggest day of my young career.
That morning, my company announced that I would become the newest (and youngest) director at the firm. The day before, I had been leading a team of 12 people. On Friday, my team expanded to 160 people on two continents. My promotion jettisoned me up two rungs of our company’s corporate ladder; I had become my boss’s boss.
After a raucous day of congratulations, pats on the back, and head-spinning changes, I jumped in my car and made the two-hour drive to the mountain cabin on Friday night.
As I collapsed in one of the cabin chairs, I asked myself, “How in the hell am I going to lead this new team?” Most of the team leads who now reported to me had been with the company far longer than I had, knew much more…
