It seems like a contradiction, right? How can taking risks in your career, increase your self confidence? The fear alone of venturing outside of your comfort zone, doesn’t seem safe and you likely prefer the stability of where you are right now.
Knowing that you already have a job that puts bread on the table, poses no threat.
It feels safer to remain quiet then speaking up and potentially being wrong in meetings.
It’s certainly easier to keep things at status quo then start fluttering around networking to get the scoop on other roles you are interested in. How would you even approach those people? They barely know you.
Who knows what would happen if you stuck your neck out a little and rocked the boat, right?
Fact: we both know that you are wired to grow, that’s not a question. You are wired to consistently learn and grow. When you are in the same role or working in the same area or maybe even the same industry, somewhere down the road, you begin feeling antsy or even stuck.
You may start comparing yourself to others who may be advancing and moving on getting higher titles, positions or responsibilities. You may wish you can finally start that side hustle and get your business off the ground. I’ve been there, (I’m a former tech executive).
If you didn’t feel wired to grow, that wouldn’t bother you. Taking smart risks in your career actually encourages that growth and over time builds confidence. It is far greater a risk to stay where you are and cause your career to become stale and stagnant.
A smart risk (I’m going to substitute this term with gutsy trigger) often shows up which has you stop and ask yourself:
Can I explore working in that new domain or department?
Can I learn the ropes of his or her role and go for it in six months?
Can I have a conversation with someone and ask them what it would be like working there, to get a better sense?
Maybe you need to be more visible and branch out seeking opportunities to present to a larger group or to a separate business area to put your feelers out there.
How can I trust my gut and go for it when I have fear?
It’s a question I am often asked about at In Our Shoes – our gutsy leader community of midcareer professionals, senior leaders and emerging entrepreneurs. Making gutsy moves in your career is not taking cliffside risks or handing in your resignation tomorrow. It’s actually sourced from within, from your intuition and it shows up when you notice that you feel slightly uncomfortable when considering acting on something that could potentially support you in some way. It’s crystal clear when it happens. All you need to do is look for the resistance you suddenly feel in your body. Embrace the fear. Your body is usually a sure signal that you’re entering the danger zone.
You are ready to venture into something new.
Making a gutsy move comes from intuition and is an action you can trust. You can trust it if you are more excited about the possibility even with a little fear sprinkled in.
Before I forget, I want to be sure you know about my leadership audio course (it’s free) that’s designed to help you own your authority in your career by applying 5 top strategies and it works. It’s based on two decades of leading in Corporate America, (I’m a former Wall St. Executive) and those professionals I coach here at In Our Shoes.
Leading in areas that feel uncomfortable helps you ‘think on your feet’ and make better decisions over time.
If you ask any leader who has had a successful track record, say over 20-years, one thing that they will attribute to their success is that they took smart risks over time. This led them to making better decisions, and leading in areas that were uncomfortable. They’ll talk about the people and the teams that they were responsible for and how they figured out that in order to instill a sense of trust in them, they had to learn to trust themselves first. It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a slow and steady course of becoming comfortable, being uncomfortable.
“You create small wins over time and grow further, increasing your confidence and risk tolerance. You have more courage and become more comfortable in your decisions over time” – Own Your Authority (McGraw Hill)
Now whether you have a team of one or none, unless you work in a vacuum, you too have people that you lead and want to earn trust with. This is called matrix management and is where you are working closely with others that don’t necessarily report into you, but whom you are responsible for in terms of delivering results. Here too you have an opportunity to to demonstrate leadership and make decisions for the greater good of the project or program.
This is how you increase your impact.
I’m not going to sugarcoat anything here, you have to be willing to fail.
Ask yourself what is it that’s stopping you? Where is the resistance coming from and can you take one small step in that direction which is outside your comfort zone but not so scary that it would have you freeze?
That’s what we refer to here as making gutsy moves in your career. Over time this increases the effectiveness of your decisions, You have to be willing to fail. I call it failing forward. You have to be willing to recognize what you could have done better and course correct so you can improve, while still being good to yourself. Don’t let that inner critic get your ear! That’s all that taking smart risks means. You have to step into areas where you can grow.
What’s your ripple effect?
Given the your growth mindset, as we talked about earlier and how you likely want to better ‘think on your feet’, this is how you become a better decision maker. People feel the confidence of instinctual decision making. There’s no secret sauce. Speak to anyone you know who’s had a strong career, and they’ll share their gutsy moves right up front.
It doesn’t feel good to take smart risks in your career and it’s not supposed to. When you stay the course and consistently lean into areas where you are speaking up, asking a question which no one wants to ask, calling the meeting no one wants to have, reaching out to someone unapproachable, it eventually becomes your new normal. That’s what makes it so gutsy. It’s a beautiful thing. You grow wings of empowerment you never knew you had. : )
Your gutsy action item this week is to step into some form of discomfort where if you were given the ‘Yes’, it would move the needle in your career.
Don’t worry about how it turns out. Go into it with High Intention, Low Attachment. That’s how it works.
Thanks so much for joining me here.
p.s. If you haven’t yet checked it out, CLICK HERE to receive our newsletter. I hold Q&A calls, share career guidance and business strategies that will move the needle in your career.
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