Anxiety can hobble even the most confident leaders. Francesca Gino offers three strategies that she uses to turn nerve-wracking situations into meaningful experiences
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When I first started teaching executive education classes at Harvard Business School, I was part of a team of five professors who conducted one-week programs for leaders of businesses from all across the globe. Most of my colleagues had extensive experience to draw on: They had served as consultants in a wide range of organizations, and they had taught in executive education for years. I had neither a consulting nor a teaching background. Walking to class, knowing that more than 90 executives were waiting for my wisdom, I felt rather nervous. My heart pounded. My palms grew clammy.
Instead of focusing on the class I was about to lead, my mind turned to all the ways I fell short: my lack of consulting experience, my greenness as a teacher, my weird accent, my degree from an institution that was not well known, and how relatively young I was, compared with the other instructors, not to mention the executives in my class.
“ We too have the ability to channel our energy productively in the face of a challenge.
This article was provided with permission from Harvard Business School Working Knowledge.