Pitching to a more senior audience
Pitching an idea or a request to a more senior person, let alone a room full of them, can be nerve wracking. Not if all you need is the conviction that your pitch is so valuable that all else fades into insignificance. When you're one of these lucky few, you'll just go for it. You have to have done all you can, no matter what. You don't need to read this. Go forth and do your thing!!
Unfortunately the reality for many people is that they get hooked on thinking about the many ways the interaction could go sideways and somehow come to damage them. They may worry that their idea couldn't possibly be good enough to pitch to more senior leaders because if it were, someone would surely already have thought of it and discovered the fatal flaw in it. They simply don't have the required level of experience and expertise, they believe. Or they may have a tactical concern: they may worry their boss may feel out of the loop if they go straight to a more senior person - even if that person is in a different group outside of their own hierarchy - but if they go to their boss, they worry she or he might run with the idea themselves and they'll never get the credit. It happens. Or someone may simply feel too different from the norm among senior leadership to want to stick their neck out. They may feel that their different-ness risks attracting more attention than what they have to say. How high these hurdles are often depends on what kind of experiences people have had in the past.
courtesy The British Deer Society
Whatever your reason for holding yourself back, there will be times when it is worth it for you to break out of your paralysis and make your pitch anyway. It certainly helps when you understand what your hurdle is, exactly: that way you can look it in the eye and stare it down. Tell it "not today you're not, I am going today".
If you are still figuring out what yours is and all you know is that you can't move forward, you could ask yourself:
Do I believe the outcome is likely going to be better if I share my idea?
What risk am I personally taking in speaking up?
Is the outcome worth the risk?
You could test these on someone you trust who works in the same environment as well. And if you have time, build alliances. But often a decision to speak up has to be made quickly. That's when these questions come in super-handy: when you're pressed for time you're more likely to be honest with yourself because you can't afford to overthink it.
You can make it easier for yourself to speak up by putting your idea as an option, along the lines of "what if we approached it like this" or "I may not have full visibility of the past but have we tried doing it like that?" or "If we go ahead with this plan, isn't there a risk that [that] would happen?" Communication pros might say you have to speak with conviction, but there is time for that. What matters at this point is that you get your idea on the table. You can pick up steam as the conversation goes on.
Good luck with your next pitch. I'd be delighted to hear your success story!
Or if you'd like help figuring out what you need to break free, let's talk.
If you're new here you can subscribe below to get more newsletters like this.
