re: How to deal with a "phone phobia" in the workplace

as you can see, you are by no means the only person with this exact fear/anxiety

I've personally never gotten over it, and it still freaks me out into my 40's. For the most part, I've just steered my career to where I never have to make cold calls. But recently last month, I was put into a position to where I had to do just that. It took me nearly all day just to work myself up to a place where I could make 6 calls. It's been years and the anxiety came rushing back within seconds, it was awful.

But what's odd, is that I'm completely comfortable talking to any stranger once I know they are interested in my product/service. If I have the slightest notion that an individual is even considering using my company, I'm a fricking rockstar. But "prospecting" or "lead generation?" - It's a complete failure on my part, cant do it, wont do it.

I'm at that point in life, I know what I excel at, I know what I suck at - I'm perfectly OK with not being good at some stuff. I'll just stick to what I do best.