In my post on playing small, I talked about how our fears of success can hold us back from taking the next bold career move. Here are five ways that those fears can manifest themselves and some recommendations on how to conquer them.

1. Fear of change. The promotion looks attractive but you will have to start over in building your credibility in a new team. Conquer this by letting go of your current identity and creating a new vision that encompasses your new role. Recognize that challenges will occur and reflect on the fact that you have the skills to address them.
2. Lack of focus. You don't have a career plan and accept each assignment at face value. This gives you an excuse to blame management for not giving you the opportunities to succeed. To conquer this fear, take ownership of your career. Write your goals down and create a skills/experience map which identifies what you need to learn and experience in order to achieve your goals. Map each assignment to those skills and experience and ask for projects that will help you fill the gaps.
3. Going it alone. This fear masquerades as false confidence. You think you know everything that is required to achieve your goals so you don't ask for help. One danger in this is the loss of objectivity as well as the missed opportunity of leveraging the wisdom of others so that you don't re-invent the wheel. To conquer this one, build a support team of contacts inside and outside of you company, to include mentors, coaches and peers that you trust to give you feedback, information and recommendations.
4. Not playing to your strengths. We each have some things that we are experts in and others where we are average. I believe it's a mistake to focus too much on those less than average skills where we have no desire and perhaps no ability to become an expert. Rather, focus on those areas where you are really good and become known for that. Be the person that everyone thinks for a particular task or job.
5. Thinking small. I discussed this one in my post. To conquer it, start taking some small steps outside of your comfort zone. Volunteer for extra work within your current team. Ask for the ability to shadow someone who currently has the job to which you aspire. Watch not only what they do but how they do it and incorporate what you learned.