The Willow Group

The Willow Group

Coaching leaders & organizations towards
long-term resilience

Contact
  • Home
    • Guiding Principles
  • Services
    • Leadership Development
    • Executive Coaching
    • Schedule a Coaching Session
    • Professional Facilitation
  • About
    • Credentials
  • Clients
    • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact

Whose Discomfort Zone do you Live in?

9/14/2015

Comments

 
Picture
Each morning the news regales with stories of uncertainty. The wildfires in California are raging out of control and daily there are random acts of violence with suspects on the loose. The debate between national security and Syrian refugee humanitarian aid can create a fierce argument and heartbreak. In the midst of all this, it feels like we hear more about what the presidential candidates think of each other versus their ideas for better policy. Who can be trusted and whose agenda will better serve everyone? These are complex and troublesome times – and never has the call for leadership, at every level, been more critical.

It would be easy to lay low as a bystander amidst controversial events that may not influence leaders in the day-to-day activities of running a department, small business or even an organization. What happens states away, or countries away may seem irrelevant. It is far easier to focus on the domains of your human experience. Those typically include these five particular things: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness (see David Rock’s SCARF model, 2008).

We live in comfort zones if our status (as compared to others) remains as we like it. If we can carefully predict our futures and have some control over events, we tend to relax. If we have our inner circle of colleagues and friends who don’t show up as foes – we feel safe. As long as we can oversee fair exchanges between people within our scope of control – we’ve managed things well. It is easy to tend our gardens and hope the rest of the leaders in the world do the same. How misguided!
Picture
Perhaps it is time to trespass and start weeding the yard next door. Maybe the time has come to step out of our leader comfort zones and yank the bushes that are too protective. Leaders need to create space for different types of conversations that spark debate and surface innovation. This can be disruptive, but one can hardly be innovative and safe simultaneously. Maybe it’s time to be the type of leader that others describe as, ‘he knows how to push me outside my comfort zone’, or ‘she continually pushes my thinking’. Perhaps when someone is wrestling outside their comfort zone, in their minds they need to see your face.

I know I’ve fought with this analogy. As an executive coach, I don’t like to see people struggle or be in pain. Yet, leadership is not a call for comfort. It is a call for courage and honesty. It can be a call for transformational change or a call for stability. It requires setting up residency in zones of discomfort that will never actually feel like home. If you are in a leadership role, and you are feeling at home, I would encourage you to either move out or move into someone else’s discomfort zone – you may be needed there.

Where is your zone of discomfort? How are you encouraging others to do good work in their discomfort zones?
Comments

    Carrie Arnold, PhD, PCC, BCC

    In no particular order: Writer | Dog mom to Moose Speaker| Reader | Mom to human offspring | Wife | Lover of learning | Leadership coach & consultant, The Willow Group | Fellow, Institute for Social Innovation

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    Categories

    All
    Appreciation
    Book Reviews
    Change
    Coaching
    Complexity
    Current Events
    Decisions
    Education
    Emotion
    Energy Management
    Gratitude
    Humor
    Language
    Leadership
    Pause And Reflection
    Relationship
    Resilience
    Silence
    Teams

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

© 2018 The Willow Group, LLC