Let's Unpack Effective Leadership

Article #8: Venture Outside Your Comfort Zone 

How courageous are you?

Leaders or aspiring leaders should ask themselves this question at critical points throughout their careers. Are you willing to embrace opportunities to expand your horizons and to test your skills in new and different ways, or are you content to try to excel in familiar territory? 

As I have mentioned in previous articles, professional growth is often best achieved through facing challenges and failures, although such circumstances don’t normally present themselves when engaging in a consistent routine. Rather, difficult situations are more often encountered outside of one’s comfort zone. Examples include launching an entrepreneurial venture, joining a new company, expanding responsibilities to areas of limited prior experience, or even accepting a public speaking role.

One such opportunity stands out in my own career as having an outsized impact on my leadership abilities. It occurred when I was first offered a sales position, even though I had absolutely no previous experience in sales.

I’d always been an introvert by nature, so the idea of selling made me uncomfortable. In addition, I suffered from a speech impediment throughout my childhood and young adult life, which caused me to be generally reticent about speaking and practically petrified about addressing groups, no matter how large or small. 

This was a potentially important position to further my career though, because it offered me the chance to prove that I could generate new business and be an effective communicator.  I therefore accepted the position, knowing that there was risk of failure, and that I would have to make myself uncomfortable in order to ultimately become successful. 

I immediately dedicated my full attention to thoroughly understanding every aspect of our products, and to preparing for each sales presentation in painstaking detail. While these were important steps in getting off to a good start, I was aware that my development and potential success would be limited if I didn’t fully address the “elephant in the room”, my stuttering. 

At a fairly early age, I realized that there were certain words that I just couldn’t say because of their first letters or sounds. For many years I was able to work around this challenge by substituting problematic words with others that were easier for me to pronounce in order to hide my speech impediment. This approach worked pretty well, to the point where only those closest to me knew that I had a speech problem. 

In a sales position though, I couldn’t avoid the fact that certain words and terms had to be used, so my “workaround” approach wouldn’t be as helpful in hiding my stuttering. I needed a more permanent solution. 

Speech therapy was the answer, but it required me to finally acknowledge to myself and to others that I had a speech impediment. I worried that I might be judged differently, but those concerns were outweighed by the prospect of growing both personally and professionally by directly addressing this issue. 

I undertook an intensive speech therapy program through a qualified professional who demonstrated both empathy and a commitment to partnering with me on my journey. The work was challenging and even frustrating at times, but after several months I could see meaningful progress, and my confidence in conversations and presentations began to improve. I can’t say that I became a great salesman as a result, but my communication skills grew exponentially. I finally had a “voice” which enabled a path to leadership that probably wouldn’t have been available to me otherwise. 

I offer this example to encourage you to consider professional opportunities outside of your comfort zone, but I’m not advising that you do so blindly. Each career decision should involve a thoughtful assessment of the tradeoff between near-term discomfort and long-term growth. I hope that, more often than not, you will decide to embrace opportunities to challenge yourself. 

Beyond career decisions though, our current global pandemic and the issues regarding race that we continue to face as a nation are offering important opportunities to think and act outside of our comfort zone. These circumstances, while clearly challenging in the near-term, provide us with the chance to grow as individuals, and to come together as a community, in unprecedented ways. 

“Fear and anxiety many times indicates that we are moving in a positive direction, out of the safe confines of our comfort zone, and in the direction of our true purpose”. -Charles F. Glassman