You are very good at what you do. So it's no surprise that you have a desire to tackle bigger things. A bigger project. A more difficult problem. A bigger team. This will give you the opportunity to grow, learn new things and have more fun (oh, and hopefully add more value to the business too). But what happens when the extra responsibility you've been asking for becomes too much? If you feel your new responsibility is too onerous, here are three things to keep in mind.
Remember that asking for help shows no weakness
First, asking for help is not a weakness – it is wise. If you're considering asking for help juggling your new responsibilities, it's easy to imagine your coworkers belittling you or your boss laughing out loud. That fear is usually based on a fear that people will think you're not good enough. The reality is that you have come this far by making choices, and sometimes the choice to ask for help is the best, boldest and smartest move you can make.
Remember that you decide how things are done
You have more responsibility. Fantastic. Now, panic! Not really. That feeling of panic only starts when you think you have to do it all yourself or when you overreact. While the responsibility is now on your shoulders, that also means you can choose how things are done. You can choose to recruit additional team members or track down people with certain skills. You can create a timeline that is realistic rather than fantasy. You can delegate things. You can take the lead in communicating clearly where the risks and opportunities lie. You set the tone. And you can choose not to panic.
Remember not to focus on judgment
People will judge you no matter what. That's just what happens in workplaces. Judgment happens when people are placed in hierarchies—and there's nothing you can do about it.
With more responsibility on your shoulders, it's tempting to delve into these critiques and make choices you hope people will will assess positively. Do you avoid making a decision that you know people will criticize? Do you go with a safe plan, rather than one that goes against how things are normally done? Making decisions based on how people might judge them is not a responsibility. It's fear. Cowardice, even. Instead, what would it be like to brush away the judgments or potential criticism and focus on the work instead? That's what trust is all about—being able to choose your behavior with an implicit trust in that behavior. Don't choose your behavior based on what people might think or what could go wrong. And that may be the golden rule when it comes to taking more responsibility:trust the process, not the outcome.
