I Want To Be A SME
Just Because You Aren’t an Expert at Something, Doesn’t Mean It’s Not Part of Your Purpose
I work in healthcare. We have a huddle every morning. Before COVID-19, about 30 of us met in person in a snug conference room, shoulder to shoulder. I loved it. Seeing my fellow colleagues face to face, chatting, smiling, laughing, high fiving, and hugging. Leading the huddle was delegated out so everyone had the opportunity to lead about once a month. That meant asking questions and writing on a whiteboard so we were all on the same page. I was comfortable and confident at leading the in-person huddle.
Now our huddle is on a video platform and the format changed. There’s a spreadsheet that is shown on video and the information is input live while leading the huddle. Sharing my screen, everyone’s eyes on the spreadsheet, and hearing my voice while I’m alone in my office. I don’t like spreadsheets, I get by, but I’m not an expert. My mind started working overtime, “how could I get out of this? There has to be a way.” I reached out to a couple of co-workers to see if they would “fill in” for me because I “may” have another commitment. I received two “other obligations” responses. I saw my supervisor and asked if he’d rather I do A, B, or lead huddle. He responded with one of his eyebrows raised and said, “Stacy it’s 15 minutes of your day.” I knew what that meant the moment I saw his eyebrow raised. I needed to figure it out and do it.
I made myself anxious because I wasn’t an expert at this. Did you know you can make yourself anxious? In all transparency, I want to be a SME - Subject Matter Expert - at EVERYTHING! I never want to look bad or like I don’t know what I’m doing. I did not feel confident or comfortable with the new huddle platform.
I needed to learn how to do this and do it myself. I reached out to a colleague who is a SME at the video huddle platform. He had time right then and there and I went to his office. He trained me step by step as I took notes and reviewed my notes with him. I said, “I don’t want to look stupid.” He laughed at me. “Stacy, you are one of the kindest, most sincere people I know. You could never look stupid. You got this!”
The next day before huddle, my colleague who trained me, sent me an encouraging text. Then, I did it. I led huddle from my office, shared my screen, needed help with editing the spreadsheet, asked for it, and got help. I did it, and I didn’t look stupid! I realized just because I’m not an expert at something doesn’t mean it’s not part of my purpose. I had a feeling this would not be the last time I would be in a situation where I’d have to use this type of video platform and share my screen, spreadsheets, etc.
At Created Woman, we believe the greatest tragedy in life is not death, but a life without a purpose. Created Woman’s purpose is to equip and empower women to dream, discover and ignite their own unique purpose. Help her run her race with endurance and show up well as an Ambassador of Christ. Positioning each to be unleashed and be legacy builders for generations to come.
God did not create us to be experts at everything. We need HIM, we need others, we need to be challenged in order to grow. In John 15:1-5 Jesus tells us to bear fruit. He doesn’t say bear perfect fruit. I put that on myself, Jesus didn’t. What is bearing fruit? It is helping and training others while pointing to Jesus and glorifying God. It’s leaving a legacy. Now that’s purpose.
Reflection
What are you an expert at that you can help and train others in?
Share an experience where you had to do something you weren’t comfortable with or weren’t confident in. What was the outcome?
Share a moment/memory when you knew without a doubt you were operating in your purpose. What were your thoughts/feelings in that moment?
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-5 NLT)
“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its works so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” (James 1:2-4 MSG)
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