Moving Outside of Our Comfort Zone

Note from blogger Cathy Benko:  While on our annual vacation pilgrimage, I was able to snag Sharon Allen, Chairman of the Board, Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, to write this week’s entry. Just like all of us, she’s learned more than a few lessons over the years and has one to share with us today. 

While I’ve held many titles during my Deloitte career, “Guest Blogger ” isn’t one of them! In fact, this is my first time blogging anywhere. Obviously, it’s a fresh and interesting experience whose outcome is unknown. But that’s what happens whenever we attempt something new.

In the spirit of attempting something new, today I’d like to share my thoughts on moving outside of our comfort zone. Doing so is vitally important. We can talk about it all we want. Yet the ability to stretch and grow can only begin when we actually move in a new direction. Once we do, however, a funny thing happens. Before you know it, wherever we’ve landed begins to feel comfortable. When that happens, you know it’s time to raise the bar again and look for the next challenge.

That’s why I believe in knowing our boundaries—and stepping beyond them. Sure, it’s safe and familiar within the lines, sometimes too much so. Yet through the Women’s Initiative and our own efforts to build personal networks, we can always reach out to someone for guidance or a helping hand when we choose to move outside of our comfort zone.

And choose we must. If we don’t, we may unintentionally commit ourselves to running in place before grinding to a halt. The road to atrophy isn’t the title of a summer paperback. It’s a real drop off point in our lives and careers where excelling tomorrow at the same thing we did today can lull us into a false sense of well-being.

I know that from personal experience. Back in 1994, I was chosen as the first woman to serve on the Deloitte board of directors. I was happy as can be as the managing partner in the Boise office, lead partner on one of the firm’s largest audit clients, and chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce. I was doing it all . . . and I could have chosen to stay there and stay comfortable.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that standing pat could limit my growth, at least in a professional sense! And so in 1997, as difficult as it was, I decided to move to Portland and later to Los Angeles, each time taking on greater responsibilities. Looking back now, the worst outcome wouldn’t have been to accept a challenging assignment and fail. It would have been to stay on in a comfortable assignment, master it, and eventually stop growing.

Please understand that we don’t have to change our physical location to expand our horizons. Whether it’s adding new responsibilities, teaming with new people, or just doing something fun and different with our free time (what free time some of you may be asking), I’m convinced that venturing beyond our boundaries is a crucial step toward developing the confidence to lead—our growth as individuals depends on it.

What steps are you taking into the unfamiliar?

By Guest Blogger Sharon Allen, Chairman of the Board, Deloitte LLP

Comments

[Karla in Lakewood]

This is a good thing to do. If you do not challenge yourself you will not grow and you will stagnate. Stagnated water sitting around just is gross looking and smelling. Thanks for the blog. Have a great day.

[Gladys in Amherst]

I have been in a comfort zone for the last thirteen years. However I was layed off back in December and I am trying to get something out of my comfort zone but keep getting turned down. How do you go about getting a job out of the comfort zone?

[Anne in New York]

I have studied women's careers for many years, and one consistent success factor is taking risks. Sometimes those are big risks, like an assignment in a new area, or a move to a new location. But they can also be small risks - like speaking out at a meeting, even if you're intimidated by the others in the room, or announcing your latest client victory, even if it feels like you're bragging. All these little risks can add up - to moving your career forward in ways you might never have imagined! Thanks, Sharon, for reminding us of this simple fact.

[Anonymous]

Sharon, you are my heroine. You are absolutely right on several levels. It's important to understand our own individual boundaries. It's vitally important to continue to push those boundaries. And it's so true that risking and failing are preferable to "staying pat" and thereby atrophying. Having moved into a new role myself in the past few months, I can relate. It's scary, but completely necessary. We must continue to grow.

Thanks for your blog, Sharon. It's always good for those of us who are down in the trenches to hear from those of you who appear to have "made it." And to know that you're still pushing your own comfort zone boundaries!

[Anonymous]

Sharon, great to see you blogging! I have to say, I can relate. I used to only do what I knew I was good at and what I was comfortable with. But you know, that gets to be pretty boring. One of the things I like most about working here is that I've been given many opportunities to try new things, even things I never thought I'd do very well. There's a greater feeling of accomplishment when I've tackled something I didn't think I could instead of checking something off the list I've done a million times before. I'm not always successful, but I took the opportunity to learn.

I do think there are many times it is ok to stay in your comfort zone at work, though. For instance, its not usually the best bet to venture out into something new at work when there is something big at home going on (think starting a family, caring for a loved one or going back to school). Sometimes its ok to do what you know and try to keep life in balance.