The Climb | Episode 1: First Day

Kelly balances a cardboard box against her hip as she nudges open the office door with her shoulder. A picture frame slides toward the edge, but she catches it just before it falls.

"So much for looking like I have this under control," she laughs to herself.

Her new desk sits exactly where it did yesterday.

Only today, the little sign outside the cubicle reads Team Lead.

She sets the box down and glances at the clock.

Eight minutes until her team's shift starts.

Perfect.

Just enough time to grab one of those famous blueberry danishes she'd heard everyone talking about.

As Kelly starts toward the break room, she hears a familiar voice behind her.

"Well... aren't we in a rush this glorious morning?"

Kelly immediately recognizes the voice.

She hesitates for just a second before turning around.

"Victoria..."

Victoria smiles.

"I am she."

Kelly forces a smile of her own.

"It's... so great to see you this morning."

"I'm sure it is," Victoria replies. "Running a little behind on this most important and monumental day?"

Her eyes drift up and down studying Kelly’s attire.

"I mean... look at you."

"Team Lead."

She lets the words hang in the air for a moment.

"A far cry from that shy and rather average girl we all met in new hire training so many moons ago."

Kelly smiles politely, refusing to take the bait.

She starts to respond.

"Victoria, I..."

But Victoria continues without missing a beat.

"Well... off you go."

She gestures dramatically toward the hallway.

"We certainly wouldn't want you late and making a bad impression on your very first official day."

Victoria tilts her head ever so slightly as only she can.

"I mean... something like that might cause leadership to question who they picked for such a big responsibility."

Another quick smile.

"And we certainly wouldn't want that... would we?"

Kelly opens her mouth again.

Before she can say a word...

Victoria simply nods.

"Sure."

Then she turns and walks away without another glance.

Kelly watches her disappear around the corner.

She glances back toward the break room.

Then at the clock.

She sighs.

There wasn't enough time anymore.

---

Kelly turns around and heads back toward her desk.

Within minutes, the office begins to fill.

"Morning, Kelly."

"Congratulations!"

"Guess we have to be nice to you now."

She laughs, but something feels different.

Yesterday these were her peers.

Today they're her team.

As everyone settles in, Kelly looks across the room.

Some faces are smiling.

Some avoid eye contact.

One person doesn't acknowledge her at all.

She expected excitement.

She hadn't expected distance.

Her manager walks over carrying a folder.

"Ready?"

Kelly nods.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Good," her manager says, placing the folder on her desk. "Everything you need is in there. Metrics, schedules, coaching expectations... and one more thing."

He pauses.

"Your team doesn't need another top performer."

Kelly looks up.

"They need a leader."

Before Kelly can ask what that really means, he disappears into another meeting.

---

Questions immediately begin racing through Kelly's mind.

Doesn't a leader need to perform well too?

How do I go from being one of the top performers... to not performing at all?

Then she began second guessing herself.

"I know what he means... but do I really know what he means?"

She slowly looked into the small mirror sitting on her desk.

In her mind, she kept hearing the words...

"Who are you?"

The question echoed louder and louder.

Then another voice.

"Are you ready for this?"

Moments later, the question became a statement.

"You're not ready for this."

Kelly closed her eyes and tried to refocus, but inside her mind a battle had already begun. One voice insisted she was in over her head. That she'd been promoted too soon. That everyone would eventually realize she wasn't ready.

Finally, she gave in.

Barely above a whisper, she admitted,

"No... I'm not ready."

But somewhere deep inside, another voice quietly answered.

"Yes, you are."

Kelly shook her head.

"No... I'm not ready."

Again, the quiet voice refused to back down.

"Yes, you are."

The battle grew louder.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

"No!"

"Yes."

Back and forth the voices fought until Kelly finally let the doubt win.

She spun her chair around, jumped up from her cubicle, and blurted out loud,

"I SAID I'M NOT READY!"

The moment the words left her mouth...

She walked straight into Angela.

Angela took a step back.

"...Okay. I can come back."

Kelly brought herself back to reality.

"Oh... no." Kelly rubbed her forehead. "I'm sorry, Angie. I'm ready. I've just got... a lot going on in my head."

Angela smiled.

"I'm sure you do. Just know you're going to be fine."

She gave Kelly a reassuring look.

"You've got this. You're Kelly the Great."

Kelly couldn't help but laugh.

The two of them started walking toward the elevator.

But even as they walked away, Kelly couldn't shake the battle she had just fought at her desk.

Was it a sign that she was truly in over her head?

That she wasn't ready for everything waiting on the other side of that promotion?

Or...

Was this simply part of the climb?

Stay tuned for Episode 2: One of Them