I still remember how I felt when I hung up the phone that day. I felt as thought I had been broken open and I felt a rush of infinite possibilities about what was offered to me. I was honoured for having being approached and overcome with self-doubt, which was slowly creeping into my head, whispering into my ear, “you can’t do this.” I sat musing and reflecting on the opportunity that lay before me, which required me to step up and allow myself to be seen, to be vulnerable and in so doing be potentially criticized and judged by others.

One voice told me, “Why would you do this? It’s too risky.”

And the other one said, “Why wouldn’t you do it? You are perfect for this. You have what it takes!”

I had been asked to step into a leadership role that would force me into the spotlight; a place I definitely didn’t feel comfortable in, to say the least. Saying yes to this opportunity meant leading a group of entrepreneurs every month, speaking in public, and rallying support teams to carry out my vision. Everyone would gather and I would be the one standing at the front of the room with the microphone, not somebody else. If somebody else could just do that part, I’d feel safer. But, there wasn’t anybody else. Somehow I was the chosen one.

I couldn’t ignore it any longer. Hiding behind the scenes, supporting the former leader and being the silent and steady champion was a role that I was really good at and one that I was outgrowing. I could feel it inside myself, my inner knowing was speaking to me and nudging me forward from behind the scenes to the front of the room.

Agh!

Have you ever had that feeling that you ‘know’ in your heart you should be doing something, but it feels safer and easier not to?

Well, that was how I felt. (In full transparency, it wasn’t a new feeling to me. I had felt it a thousand times before. Here we go again.)

Before making my final decision I turned inward to search for the answers within myself. I had to tease this out. I needed to deconstruct the fear, so that I could really understand what the resistance was about. I believe that resistance shows us what we need to heal and what we need to work through in order to grow. Our resistance exposes that which we need to focus on for our greatest spiritual growth and evolution. I knew that if I was to continue to fully step into my life’s mission I needed to face my fear of being seen and step into my power. So I turned to a framework that I learned a few years prior in order to deconstruct the fear and see the truth. These are the four questions I asked myself:

• What is the fear about?
• What are the risks involved with taking the opportunity?
• What are the regrets if I don’t take this opportunity?
• What are the rewards if I do take this opportunity?

In the end, I courageously said ‘yes’ to step into that leadership role, and since then amazing things have happened for me. I have created phenomenal success in my role as a leader and beyond growing the community by 45% over 12 months I am on the fast track to getting promoted to the next level. In recognition of my success, I was selected to be one of five people on an advisory committee, which supports the corporate Executives to grow the organization. (Oh and by the way, I did all this in addition to outperforming my previous year’s sales targets for my core business coaching practice.)

Taking the risk to expose myself was one of those pivotal moments in my career that I know I will look back on one day as being one of the most important decisions in my personal and professional development journey.

In this day and age, we can’t afford to play small and hide behind our technology, our leader, or our team. We have to assume the leadership role and lead ourselves first. Each of us has been given an assignment – a soul contract. You have the responsibility to live out your purpose so that you can impact others with your brilliance and your gifts, in order to create a ripple affect that will change the world. When you step up to play a more visible game you give permission to yourself to be who you really are, so that you can do what you came here on Earth to do. And you will inspire others to do the same.

Perhaps, you’re like my introverted friend Tara who was tired of always being the ‘woman behind the man’, and knew that if she wanted to fulfill her big vision of raising money for children in Africa she would have to stop creating and start launching her signature program. Or maybe you relate to my client Fran the selfless visionary whose vision was so huge that the words describing it were muddled in her own mind. She struggled to communicate her personal introduction for a year until I worked with her to translate her genius into powerful words that are a reflection of who she is and helped her position it in way that people get it. Maybe you are like my client Tina, who believes that her calling is being channeled through her and has nothing to do with her. She was comfortable staying behind the scenes working alongside her team rather than stepping into a front line role necessary to grow her community and take it International. Or perhaps you are like Pam who has always been taught to work hard, be quiet and hide any sign of emotion. But now realizes that for her to create a better connection with her audience she has to own her story and share her journey – exposing herself to be vulnerable so that she can establish her credibility; a key ingredient to increasing her sales.

If you want to grow your business, you need to learn how to get and receive attention.

The problem is not getting more exposure for your business – it’s about being willing and committed to expose yourself, so that you can be seen in the marketplace. Visibility is the key to unlocking the profit potential in your business, not ability. It doesn’t matter how good you are. There is so much noise in the market that if you want to cut through the clutter and get the attention of your buyers, you have to master the art of self-promotion.

Stepping out from behind the scenes of servicing customers and stepping into the spotlight of your brand requires you to be courageous, vulnerable, and real.

And being courageous, vulnerable and real requires your commitment and motivation to take consistent and persistent action toward fulfilling your big vision. It’s hard work, but you are totally worth it.

Truth: If you do not master visibility, you will be broke. And if you are broke, you cannot serve others and fulfill your purpose. Worse yet, your business will not survive.

Nobody can do it alone.

For the past two decades I have been completely committed to succeeding against all odds so that I can own my voice to be seen and heard. During this time I have spent tens of thousands of dollars and thousands of hours working with counselors, therapists, coaches and trainers to learn the frameworks, strategies and tools to cure myself of my speech impediment, overcome my fears of public speaking, heal dysfunctional relationships and emotional abuse, grow a six-figure business and most importantly: become who I really am, so that I can do what must be done to achieve my dreams.

If I can do it, you can too.

I’ll show you how and I will be there to guide you every step of the way. I am completely committed to keeping you on track and out of your own way. You will leave our coaching sessions with clarity, excitement and motivation plus a plan of action to move forward and build your dream.

Contact me for a 45-minute consultation and I will share my insider tips with you about how I went from being behind the scenes to being center stage of my life and business.