There’s no growth in your comfort zone

Looking at the characteristics shared by most of my coaching clients, there is a lot of common ground. They’re all, to different degrees:
·      Looking for self-improvement
·      Curious
·      Afraid of getting too comfortable
·      Risk takers
·      Seeking greater self-awareness
·      Not afraid to ask for help.

Ambition is a key driver for those who seek out coaching and this usually equates to “I want to be better, how can I get better at what I do?” People with this mindset are seeking self-improvement.

I heard someone say recently that there’s no growth in your comfort zone. This resonated because so many of my coachees know they’re very comfortable but want more, so they are willing to push themselves to less comfortable places in order to grow and improve.

If we’re risk averse in our comfort zone, the other end of the spectrum is taking too many risks. This can be dangerous, of course, but successful entrepreneurs are risk takers so we all know there is growth in taking the right risks. The coaching environment is one place where you can experiment safely, analyse, assess and measure the risks you’re considering, then find new ways of innovating.

According to a piece of research in Science Direct, 80% of our success is attributed to our Emotional Quotient, 20% to our IQ. Much of the work I do is around helping people to see themselves as others do, asking for feedback, exploring their strengths and encouraging them to play to those and to invest in other strengths. Raising our self-awareness so that we understand our emotions better, as well as those of the people around us, enables us to choose alternative behaviours that encourage engagement and positive reactions so that we can take people on the journey with us.

“Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back”. It’s sad that we seem to have forgotten the way the proverb ends because many of us see curiosity as a bad thing. In fact, it’s wonderful! Asking questions, experimenting and stretching our knowledge is how we grow – and how businesses grow. My coachees are curious, a gem of a character trait which is always delicious to explore with them.

At the risk of rolling out too many cliches, very early in my career someone once told me, “The only silly question is the one that doesn’t get asked” (thank you, Harry O’Neill). From then on, I was never afraid to ask a question – there’s nothing wrong with showing your vulnerability, ask Brene Brown. Feedback is at the core of coaching so I always try to instill a desire for feedback and the confidence to ask questions into my coachees. Most come to me because they’re asking for help already so the fight is generally easily won.

Are you:
·      Looking for self-improvement?
·      Curious?
·      Afraid of your comfort zone?
·      A risk taker?
·      Seeking greater self-awareness?
·      Not afraid to ask for help?

Then perhaps we should talk…have a look at www.crescendocoaching.co.uk and give me a call.