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Sarah's Time to Shine

June 2006

by Sandra Zimmer

When Sarah Webster’s boss retired from his position as Regional Sales Manager of a brokerage firm, she was disappointed to find that she was not the obvious choice to be promoted into his position.  She had been his assistant for six years.  She knew she was the best person for the job and wanted to have the opportunity to be considered.

Within her region, Sarah was already showing star qualities. She was well liked and respected by the firm’s brokers. She had been with the company over ten years and had built relationships with everyone in the region.   Everyone recognized her excellence at product knowledge. When they had questions or problems about the firm’s products and services, they all knew they could call on her.  Her boss had trained her well.  For several years, she had been handling many responsibilities of a Regional Sales Manager.  Should the firm place an outsider in this position, she would in all likelihood have to train the new Regional Sales Manager.  Since she had been doing much of the job, she naturally wanted the title and the compensation.

What should she do?  How could she make her intentions known?  And, how could she present herself in a favorable manner?  Being the relational person she was, she knew not to cry foul or complain about discrimination.  She thought it through and sought help from several sources.

The first thing Sarah did was to ask for support and advice from her former boss and other higher-up executives who respected her work.  She met with three key people who could guide her in her quest.  They each encouraged her to go after the position, affirming that she was well qualified and deserved it. However, all three were honest enough to point out her weakness was that she tended to talk in an indirect manner and to back away from asserting herself strongly.  Like an echo reverberating, they all warned her that she would need to strengthen her presentation to the National Sales Manager if she wanted to claim the position.

It was then that Sarah Webster called me to help with her presentation to the National Sales Manager. My business is coaching people to speak and present them selves genuinely.  I seek to draw out their STAR POWER.  Star power is a radiant presence that emanates from a person who is being genuine.  It occurs when one feels free to contribute his talents, skills and gifts without self-judgment.   Sarah wanted some help in putting across her star qualities in her presentation.

  Prior to our work together, her inclination was to tell how long she had worked for the company and quote her resume.  In doing so she came across weak and sounded more like she was applying for a secretarial position.  When I asked her what she wanted, she had difficulty speaking to the point, dancing around the issue.  She lacked strength and conviction because she was afraid to say it straight. So we went to work.

The first thing we did was to videotape her resume style presentation. After viewing the videotape, Sarah was shocked to see how weak she appeared. It was obvious to both of us that what the situation called for was a presentation style that was more direct, assertive and powerful. At the same time, we did not want her to lose her warmth and relatedness - the star qualities which made her so excellent at her job.  The one stumbling block for Sarah was that she was going to have to step outside her comfort zone to be effective.  Fear to get out of one’s comfort zone is the biggest barrier to success in life.  It provides the greatest challenge to all my clients.  Here are the things I suggested she do to prepare for the challenge of selling herself to the National Sales Manager.

1. Clarify and focus the presentation content.  I asked her to focus on three powerful topics.  These topics would keep her words on target.  They were:

  • ·        What she wanted.  (the opportunity to be considered for the Regional Sales Manager’position.)
  • ·        Why she was best for the job . ( thorough product knowledge, the fact that she was already trained for the position, rapport and relationships with all the brokers in her region, a clear understanding of what was needed to promote company growth)
  • ·        What she wanted to do with the position to further the goals of the company.

 2.  Speak it from the heart with conviction. I coached her to speak in short, simple sentences that came straight from her heart.  She should not talk around the issues, but head directly into them.  Any time I heard her talking in circles, I stopped her and asked her to identify the real point. She practiced saying it to me and to a video camera until she could speak to these topics straight out.  As she practiced, the magic began to happen.  She connected to the truth of her words and her conviction level rose dramatically.  Her voice took on new strength and her body came forward to support her message. The passion she had for her work was now energizing her presentation.  Her star qualities were beginning to shine.

3. Develop presence in the moment to handle the fear.  Over the years, I have found that staying centered in the present moment is the best way to handle fear and anxiety. Things are never as bad in the moment as the anticipation.  I have developed a psycho-physical (mind/body) exercise that works like magic to ground people in the reality of  the present moment. For several days, I had Sarah practice the exercise so she could remain centered, calm and clear-thinking in the intensity of the situation. An additional breathing exercise worked to slow her pace to prevent rushing her words so she could think on her feet.