Excelle

Get Uncomfortable

Comfort won't drive you to finish your work. Quite the opposite.

Featured Author:

Anuradha Mayer

Anuradha Mayer is the founder and principal partner of Lead Beyond Consulting. She has over 15 years of combined, organization development, executive coaching and human resource management experience.

Anuradha has a passion for helping people reach their potential and always seeks breakthrough thinking of new possibilities for her clients.

Check out LeadBeyond here and add her to your Excelle network!

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• Be Centered in an Uncentered World
• 5 Ways to Manage a Career Setback
• Unplug to Enhance Your Creativity

We have all had those professional moments of being completely out of our comfort zone. Perhaps our knees were shaking, there were knots in our stomach or we broke out in a sweat. In the heat of this discomfort, we may have wished we were could have been transported to a desert island. Upon reflection though, it is those most difficult times in our life that were pivotal in our development as leaders. Research backs this up with study after study showing that leaders learned the most from challenging experiences where they felt out of their comfort zone.

To build our capacity and capability, we need to find ways to continue to challenge ourselves. Similar to lifting weights, we may begin with a 10lb dumbbell and may experience discomfort while lifting the weight as well as have some soreness for a few days afterwards. After a few weeks though, we find that the muscle has gained strength and we can lift 15lbs with even more repetition.

Think about those things that were difficult or completely scary a few years ago and they may be second nature now. Building this kind of strength is within our grasp and here are a few strategies to consider:
● Discuss the following question with a friend or colleague: A time when you felt out of your comfort zone and how that experience has benefited you. For inspiration, check out this YouTube video of a singer who really got out of his comfort zone. Watch what happens.
● Step back and consider where you want to build your capability. Is it around presentation skills, running projects, delivering tough messages, highlighting your accomplishments. Then look for opportunities build your skill. Volunteer to be the presenter at the next key meeting or step up to run an upcoming project.
● Accept that we are less than perfect when we are learning. Be compassionate to yourself and learn from the experience for the next time around. Those opportunities will continue to come particularly when we are looking for them.
● Reach out to people who skillfully demonstrate the capability you are building. Ask the best presenter how they built their skills and advice they have for learners. Most people are quite happy to share their experiences.
● Reflect and start again. After taking advantage of an opportunity that stretches you and begins to build you capability, assess what went well and where to continue to work. Apply these learnings at the next opportunity.

We have a choice to intentionally build our capability which sometimes means getting a little uncomfortable. Eleanor Roosevelt said it well “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”

Anuradha Mayer is the an executive coach and organization development consultant. She is the founder and principal partner for LeadBeyond Consulting.