Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

What makes you comfortable?  What do you stick to?  Do you have friends or people at work that you tend to gravitate towards, while others you don’t see or talk with often or at all?  What about tasks and jobs at work, are there certain things you typically have no problem working on while other things get pushed to the bottom of your to-do list?

Think about other leaders or managers that you know.  Can you think of one or some who stick to certain work?  How about those leaders that seem to have favorites, those employees that they always talk to and always ask for something from?  How does this make you feel?  How about your co-workers, have you heard them talk about this behavior?

As a leader and manager, you don’t get to stick to what you like.  You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.  You have to work on new things and you have to interact with everyone.

You are the leader, you set the tone for the team.  Do you want your team to hunker down and only work on the stuff they like to work on?  Do you want your team to avoid people they don’t like working with?  Or do you want them to branch out and try new things?  Do you want your team to move fast and efficiently through the work that needs to get done?

Leaders show courage and bravery. They are out there getting things done, opening up doors, and finding solutions to problems especially when they don’t want to because they have to.  They are there for their teammates.  They have volunteered when no one else would.

Practice being uncomfortable.  Like all things, if you haven’t done them before, it can be a little scary to jump right in and start doing them.  Start off slow, if you need to, by understanding what makes you uncomfortable and doing that for a week.  Don’t like talking to people?  Find a co-worker that you haven’t spoken to in a while and see how they are doing or if they need some help.  Don’t like a task?  Set it for tomorrow, first thing, and work on it for one hour, and after that hour is up, take a break.  Seriously, set your alarm.  Each day do something uncomfortable.  Train yourself to identify discomfort, to recognize if you are starting to avoid it, and to take steps back into it to address and work on that uncomfortable thing.

This is super important.  Recognize when you are walking away from an uncomfortable situation.  Stop yourself.  Address this in your mind, and take a deep breath.  Then get back there and take it on.

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.  It is easy to stick to what you like and know, but you are a leader and leaders don’t have that luxury.  Remember, you set the tone for your team.  Practice taking on uncomfortable situations.