Stepping out of the comfort zone

I’m one that likes to check a map or Google it before I depart to an unknown destination. I also create a list (at minimum a mental list) before I go shopping for groceries. I’ll do some research before making even a modest purchase. You get the drift – I’m a planner. I make excellent decisions after I do the appropriate amount of legwork.

Now let’s transfer that line of thinking into the professional work realm. I assume that sought after skills in an employee would include those attributes mentioned above – someone that makes excellent decisions by way of methodical research. Someone that does not jump the gun and forge ahead without at the very least asking a few questions.

Yet I am finding out that is NOT the case. In today’s super-fast-paced world what is most sought after is that employee with attributes that include quick decision making, the ability to forge ahead with confidence and to run with the ball all the way to the . . . oh, ok . . . the end zone.

Employers must establish a trust level before allowing an employee to make decisions on its behalf in that manner. Even if that employee shows visible signs of stress and discomfort at doing so, beware – one may be asked to be in that position again and again. And what do you know, that employee shines even when out of their comfort zone and is rewarded with even more big decisions to make on behalf of the company!

For me, long gone are the days where you work within your area of trained expertise (the comfort zone). I am asked time and time again to do these things, so the trust is there. But wow, the stress is there, too. I grumble a bit (a lot), and if I step back like I have done today, I see that I am actually being trusted with responsbility that others are not. I also see that rewards are tangible via the accomplished feeling I obtain and that I’m actually growing as a person by being pushed.

Now, back to my list.