Part Four

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

ARE YOU READY for the next step in your development journey? By now, you have a good idea of the current leadership skills in which you need further development, and maybe you’ve already added a few new techniques to your toolkit. Perhaps you’ve found some new ways to stretch yourself beyond your current boundaries, as well. Now it’s time to take more risks with your development; it’s time to really step out of your Comfort Zone. In this section, you’ll find suggestions and ideas that may seem familiar, because you’ve told yourself for years that you should try them. Deep down, you know you should be stepping out of your Comfort Zone, but you just can’t seem to make it happen. Well, here’s your chance—you’ve started down the path of creating a new leadership brand, so you might as well take the next step. All it takes is a little confidence and courage (which you’re developing, yes?).

How about taking a more proactive stance with your boss about your next assignment or role? What if you become more aggressive about what you want to do next? What about joining that professional network in your city that meets once a month? C’mon, it’s not that scary—you can do it! Oh, here’s a common fear: public speaking. Would you rather do most anything other than speak to a large group of people? OK, so you share this fear with millions of others, but don’t you think it’s time to overcome it? Does making presentations to senior management make you nervous? Better add that to the list of things you need to master if you’re going to move up in the organization. Do you have trouble admitting mistakes, or seeing things from another perspective? Perhaps you should work on that, too, if you have dreams of advancement. How about admitting that you don’t know everything there is to know about how your organization really works, or how it makes money?

We all have certain fears as a leader, and we’ve worked around them for years. But if you truly want to break out and move up, you need to take your development to a whole new level. Challenge yourself with some of these suggestions; it might be your most rewarding project yet.