“It’s all very well for you,” he thinks, “no matter which way you dress it up, we are effectively paying a bribe and it’s not your neck that’s on the line.” As team leader in charge of Asia-pacific sales for a medical equipment manufacturing company George is often navigating challenging ethical waters. A prickly sensation creeps through his chest. His face flushes, further darkening naturally dark skin, hazel eyes widening beneath curly brown hair. Now that Daniel has flown the nest to University and I have more time on my hands I think I might get some professional help.’ If I can’t overcome this irrational fear, my career will hit a dead end. Just the thought of public speaking paralyses me. ‘I don’t know if I am up to this new leadership role. Later that evening, after catching up on the events of her teenage daughter Jasmine’s day, followed by a quick phone call to son Daniel, she shares her concerns with her partner David. In this high profile position her world has suddenly got a whole lot more complex, and presenting at international conferences comes with the territory. She read somewhere that fear of public speaking is second only to death for most people and wonders how on earth she is going to overcome this paralysing problem.īorn in Singapore with a Chinese mother and Hungarian father, Lili has just been promoted to head up organisational development in an international consulting firm with an Australian office in Sydney. With the ordeal over, long slim legs safely embracing a rich, warm blue-backed stool, staring into the effervescent bubbles playing tag in her gin and tonic, Lili feels disappointed and frustrated. Somehow she struggles through the remainder of her “Leading Complexity” presentation. Back-lit, her straight charcoal-black hair frames dark brown eyes, normally shining and smiling, now displaying pupil dilated fear. Acutely aware of rows of expectant faces, waiting for her to begin, the knot in her stomach expands and small beads of sweat join forces on her forehead, forming a salty, eye watering, stream. This from a third.Īs the chorus grows, Lili’s confidence plummets. “You should have stuck to being a lawyer, it would have been much safer”. “You were crazy to agree to present at this leadership conference in the first place” chimed in the shrill voice of another. “You’re bound to make a fool of yourself” predicts one. The black microphone attached to the lectern grows in size, threatening her with instant humiliation and a fatal set-back to career prospects. Fists clenching the lectern, she is pinned to the stage by harsh spotlights, like a helpless insect. Normally smooth and delicate, her olive skin crinkles slightly as muscle tension invades. Her mind goes blank, heart thumping in her chest.
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