Leadership means being able to present to a class and not be nervous, right? Wrong. The other day, I had a presentation in a class of freshmen about the LeaderShape Retreat and as someone who has good public speaking abilities, I still got nervous. My voice was shaky, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe at some point. Still, I took a deep breath and responded to the discomfort with confidence. The voice shaking went away and I led the rest of the presentation to success.
I have given presentations in front of more than 500 students, but I got nervous in front of a small crowd of 20 freshmen. Leaving the room, I was disappointed in myself, but then I quickly realized something.
Experience will never take away discomfort.
Being a leader doesn’t automatically take away the nervousness you had the first time you went to present. It’s possible you can relate to this as well as I can. So how do you overcome it? When I took that deep breath, it felt like I wanted to go on autopilot and do the bare minimum during the presentation. Instead, I took a moment and processed where I was, what I was doing, and why it was so important that I spoke to this audience. I didn’t instantly feel comfortable after realizing these things, but I knew I had to act.
Leadership is about how you respond, not about how you start.
Willingness to continue forward through that discomfort is what leadership embraces. It’s not required to figure everything out beforehand or have the perfect start. But instead, it is knowing how to act when things don’t go to plan- the ability to adapt, regain your focus, and continue forward.
My shaky voice didn’t mean that I was failing as a leader, me taking a deep breath and deciding to continue through it was me practicing my leadership skills. Any leader, including you, will go through challenges and moments of uncertainty. And in most of those situations, you will not feel certain or comfortable. What matters most is how you react towards the situation.
Will you choose to avoid the discomfort or respond to it?
