“If you’re not getting out of your comfort zone, then get comfortable sitting in the chair you’re in.” (Lisa Sutton, Founder of the Senior Executive Alliance in Southlake, TX.).

The Comfort Zone

What is the Comfort Zone and why should I step out of it, I mean it’s comfortable, right? You may have seen references to the Comfort Zone, and it having these types of attributes:

• You’re ok with what you’re doing and how your life is moving along.
• You’re accustomed to this; at ease; relaxed.
• I’m in a safe and secure place. I have a level of freedom from risk.

Are You Keeping Your Eye on the Ball?

Many of us have been tossed a curveball in our professional lives, like a change in executive leadership, a shift in strategy, a downsizing, etc., but we’ve always been able to adjust and make good contact with the pitch. Maybe not resulting in a drive off the left field wall, but at least a solid single pushed out to right. There may have been a bit of tap dancing in the batter’s box, but we landed on base safely.

We relied on what’s always gotten us through, we didn’t have to change our personal branding or advancing our value to the team / organization. And we survived. We may have had an executive sponsor keeping us safe, or the spotlight shined on a less successful peer or department, and we weren’t illuminated.

We were lucky. We did not have to drastically adapt and make changes for ourselves.

However, if you’ve been in the corporate workforce for 10 years or more you’ve seen tremendous evolution in the business environment. You’ve seen technologies and tools that have increased the speed of processes and projects tremendously. That’s only one element of the evolution. Corporate culture and ways of working with colleagues, customers, and the competition is very different as well.

You’ve navigated through these changes to some degree, perhaps to a very large degree. But are you pushing yourself, ensuring you’re aware of the changes and have a plan to address how you will evolve with the evolution? I’ve asked myself those questions. The answer sometimes has been “no”. So, I continue to ask myself those questions. Most importantly, I try to synchronize with the process of change. It can be uncomfortable and even difficult. But I think it is imperative to keep up with changing times and do what you can to maintain or increase your relevancy.

But You’re Happy Where You’re At (are you?)

There are some who say that stepping outside the comfort zone is overrated…taking the position that a person’s comfort zone is where they are at their best, their strengths define this place of comfort and ease. It may be that you are in a comfort zone where no one else is comfortable and you perform well there, better than others perhaps. I understand that perspective, but I think it may be short-sighted.

As mentioned above, today’s evolving cultural and technological environment requires us to be in tune with or at least understanding the evolution. I’m not suggesting putting yourself in a place on the bleeding edge of change, with enormous risk, unless you know the consequences of failing and are prepared for them. I am saying that it stands to reason that one should be at least familiar and aligned to the leading edge of the evolution.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

Going back to Lisa Sutton’s statement, it might be wise to think a bit about the changes that may present themselves and take action to be in position to leverage yourself to adapt and succeed when the changes occur. Or you can stay in your current place and hope that your feeling of security and low risk to being impacted by change is accurate.

Good luck.