“Be scared. You can’t help that. But don’t be afraid.” – William Faulkner
It’s in our nature as humans to comfort. We want to be comfortable at work and at home. We want to be comfortable financially. We want our relationships to be comfortable.
The root of that comfort-seeking comes from our ancestors. If you were living in a cave, and you had something to eat, and you had a fire, you were safe. Why risk safety? If you went outside the cave something scary could eat you. To this day, our desire for safety still causes us to try and stay comfortable.
Unfortunately, looking for permanent comfort is a horrible idea for a leader. As leaders, we have to constantly be growing. We have to learn new skills, master new behaviors, develop new capabilities, and on and on. And absolutely no growth whatsoever happens when we’re in our comfort zones.
Think about yourself. How do you view discomfort? Most leaders see potentially uncomfortable situations or conversations or relationships and run the other way. They may not be afraid of being eaten outside the cave, but they’re afraid of failure, or of looking foolish, or of looking like they aren’t the smartest person in the room.
Is that you? When you see discomfort on the horizon, do you make a u-turn? Do you do everything possible to avoid it? Or do you take a deep breath and dive in?
Now for something really scary. Not only can we as leaders not run away from discomfort, we need to seek it out. It’s not enough for us to just accept uncomfortable or difficult things. We have to look for uncomfortable or difficult things, and then embrace them.
We cannot do our jobs as leaders without almost constant growth. That growth cannot happen when we’re comfortable. Don’t hide from discomfort. Seek it out, and when you find it, dive in.
