I'm currently at the Auckland airport, at an internet cafe typing this. I flew up from Wellington this morning for a project meeting to assist with the integration process at work, and I return to Wellington as the national team leader for the project.

Wow.

It means that for at least the next month (it'll be up for re-election in a month's time) I'll be leading the project. There's a number of teams involved in various project 'streams', and I'll be the one responsible for the 'public face' of the project, liaisoning with senior management about the project and providing updates, etc. The project's exposure will be mainly up to me and how I organise it.

Wow.

What an exciting opportunity for me, mixing with senior management on this major role. I'll be increasing my own exposure, getting to know the people that create opportunities. I think I created an opportunity of my own today.

Nominations were requested for anyone interested in taking on the role. There was over 20 of us in the meeting from all around the country, and 3 of us stepped up to the plate. It took me a little while to work out whether or not I wanted to nominate myself, but I figured that if I was hesitant about it, it meant I should try. 'Do what you fear the most, and the death of fear is certain.' I've never stood up for this kind of role before, so today I figured that I should, as I had nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

We each had to give a speech for a minute outlining why we should be elected for the role, and then everyone voted by secret ballot for who they felt would be the best team leader. I was surprised it was me!

My public speaking skills haven't been tested before, but they were today. As I was talking, I was trying to remember - and verbalise - the points that I felt were important about the project, and why I was best suited to facilitate the realisation of those points. I was also remembering the important aspects of public speaking, like making eye contact with the people around the room, speaking slowly and confidently about my ideas, and using my hands to accentuate a couple of the points I wanted to make.

When finished, I wasn't very happy with my 'first performance', but happy that I was conscious of how I performed. I was reviewing myself, and seeing where I could have improved. But then I was even more surprised to find that I received a majority vote from the others, considering that I felt the speeches of the other 2 nominees were better than mine!

But I'm excited to move forward with this, and see where it's going to take me. :-)