“You have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable if you want to grow.” I heard this recently and it hit home. It reminded me of our Partner On-Call member who had a hard time picking up the phone, until he picked it up, and the call went great. Of course, he deliberated again for 15-20 minutes (his estimate of time) by staring at the phone before making another (successful) call.
The other day I asked Jessica to make a list of the top three things she’s uncomfortable with after one year in her job. Her list was:
Writing – not surprising, is it? As I tell groups, if you can write a few paragraphs people are impressed because most people can’t write a decent sentence. So, she works on it weekly.
Asking for referrals – this is tough, isn’t it? To actually ask someone for something. It takes confidence in yourself, which was another issue with our Partner On-Call franchisees, being at the desk where the buck stops is a lot different than running a middle-market company or a large department.
Follow through – again, it’s easy, for 80% of us, to get distracted. Start five things, finish none, repeat the next day. An accountant friend recently told me she’s not organized (yes, surprising coming from an accountant). It’s why I short list tasks, number them, and don’t start the next one on the list until the previous one is done.
What are your uncomfortable things? (We all have them.) It takes effort to get comfortable with them, but it’s worth it.
“You have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable if you want to grow.” Matt LaFleur
