From Expert Nurse to Fearless Manager

Penny had every degree a professional nurse could have. When the pressure was on in the emergency room, she was the most poised player in the game. As good as she was the hospital administration passed over her year after year when management positions came open. She told me that in order to break into management a nurse must be able to make training presentations to other nurses. The fear of public speaking held her back.
Penny came to us to sign up for a 12 week Dale Carnegie Course because she saw the increased self-confidence gained by a friend of hers after experiencing the course. She wanted the same thing. Her hand trembled as she signed her registration form in anticipation of being on her feet in front of a group of strangers.
I watched Penny during the first session of the course, her body language communicated paralyzing fear as she watch classmates come to the front of the room in groups of five to be interviewed by the instructor. Her fear was so intense that I resolved to refund her tuition because it was clearly too much for her to endure. I was wrong. Penny did go to the front of the room when her turn came and she got through it. What happened next blew me away. Penny came up to me after class with tears in her eyes thanking me for not telling her that she would have to be in front of the room. “If you had told me that I would have to do what I’ve just done I would have not come to class!” The tears were tears of joy at having broken through a fear that had held her captive for many years!
By the end of the course Penny had even more breakthroughs. She worked hard, as all participants do, to apply leadership and human relations principles on the job and then reporting in class about the business and professional results of Winning Friends and Influencing People. Penny came alive. So much so that her classmates awarded her the highly regarded Highest Award for Achievement at the end of the course. Penny conquered the fear that held her back and gained the management position that eluded her for so many years. Penny proved what Ralph Waldo Emerson said is true, “Do the thing we fear, and death of fear is certain.”
Who do you know that needs a breakthrough? www.dalecarnegi.com

By Doug Harbaugh