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!
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!
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?
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?
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