I can certainly appreciate this, David! Super story! What an awesome leader you had to give you the opportunity - take a risk - because they believed in you.  Not even close to the degree that you experienced but something similar happened to me. I had only been working for a few months when my boss told me he was sick and I would have to do his presentation to a group of Executive VPs. When I told him I was scared to death he said as long as I was prepared why should I be scared. I got through it -only to see him at the back of the room when it was over, not sick at all. I guess he knew I needed to gain some confidence. Or maybe it was throwing me to the sharks and see if I could swim.