You’ll have heard of your comfort zone.
Coined by Alasdair White in 2006, the clues in the name really, it’s when any activity you’re doing is easy, takes little thought or as theorists call it ‘steady state’
You’ll start something, eventually your performance will improve, then it becomes comfortable.
Sounds great eh! Well, maybe not.
Psychologists who specialise in human performance discovered that after that initial uplift in performance, the results tend to stay the same but then they actually start to decline.
Is that a problem? At least we’re getting a result. No one is really losing out & it’s not really draining our energy levels.
Well, the challenge is the most costly disruptions occur when something we take for granted stops working.
Those things we do without really thinking, start to underperform. How can that be?
Well, if all those around us are constantly improving, then eventually we’ll be left behind. Now, as a leader, that’s costly.
At the moment, with all of the unpredictability in the workplace, the comfort zone is a nice place to be. But is it the best place to be?
No.
Because if we stay there, we go backwards. Yes, there’s a time to be in there, you want to recharge, refuel ready for the next big push.
But if you want to lead, you have to stretch yourself. Step out of your comfort zone, try new ideas, ask different questions, step into difficult situations.
This isn’t pushing yourself to breaking point. This is about having to be more deliberate, doing things or not doing things on purpose.
It’s not particularly nice to start with but remember the cycle. Eventually what is difficult today is in your comfort zone very soon.
If you want to be a the best leader you can be, stretch yourself.