5-minute read
Lately, I’ve been watching basketball. I’ve never been that interested, but the Knicks got my attention this year. Three pointers, rebounds, layups- it’s all about setting up and taking the shot. Sometimes you score, sometimes you don’t.
Not belaboring the obvious, but the importance of taking the shot is an integral part of career growth and seems a worthy topic for this month.
We work for many reasons, including the desire to contribute, be successful, and be compensated fairly. We set goals and then, for a moment, bask in the success of achieving those goals before targeting our next opportunities.
Within our careers, we push for a new job, promotion, or the ability to lead a big project. Fundamental to our striving is setting ourselves up properly to take the shot when it appears.
That means getting comfortable pushing risk tolerance and overcoming an internal negative voice. What follows is a path for creating the conditions that will set you up to take a clear shot at the next opportunity.
Neutralizing ‘But’: Prioritizing Opportunity Over Failure
Our risk tolerance is not a constant. It shifts as our life circumstances change. There are times we aggressively pursue opportunities and times we don’t.
Wherever you are, chances are you’ve wrestled with an internal voice that says, “But what if the opportunity doesn’t work out?” What the voice is really saying is “Stay comfortable”. We humans like predictability, comfort, and convenience. Striving into unknown territory offers none of these things.
So, when you hear the internal voice, your counterargument is “What if I succeed?”
Use the If/Then model to change the internal narrative.
IF I get the job/promotion/project lead, THEN I will open new pathways to people with more influence, opportunities that align with my values, and another step toward building a legacy others will remember.
Countering the voice in your head allows you to push your comfort zone into a place you may not have thought possible.
Articulating ‘Why Me’
I hear, “This great opportunity came up, and I don’t have a current resume,” all the time.
Here’s a pro tip: dedicate a notebook and be disciplined about writing down your growth in three areas: technical skills, competencies like communication, problem-solving, collaboration, and leadership, and metrics-driven accomplishments.
Having this information handy makes it easy to update your resume quickly.
Earlier, we talked about the human desire to remain comfortable and predictable. This predisposition can push tracking accomplishments, growth, and metrics to the bottom of the to-do list. Yes, you are fighting against human wiring, but it’s an easy shift to make. The result is that you will be prepared with talking points about why you are the right choice when an opportunity arises.
Putting Failure Into Context
The Knicks lost to the Pacers. They were simply outplayed. Failure happens more often than success, but failure is growth.
Growth in failure is a new willingness to strive for something new or uncomfortable, a desire for change, and a push to the boundary of comfort.
Understanding WHY you failed and putting that failure into context is equally important. Here are three questions you can use to analyze a failure.
- Were there skills/competencies I don’t have and need to build? Knowing where gaps exist helps create or modify a professional development growth plan.
- Were there circumstances that were out of my control? An internal frontrunner or resource challenge falls into this category, and it is important to understand this when developing a plan for addressing these factors in the future.
- Did internal politics play a role? If so, do you need to make adjustments in your political alliances?
The Upside of Taking the Shot
Putting yourself out there is hard, but worth it.
Redefining comfort boundaries reinforces our purpose in working and the values we hold. When we push, we meet new people and create new associations. We get more comfortable with being uncomfortable. We manage our negative internal voice more effectively.
When we believe we are worthy, we open ourselves up to new possibilities and build the confidence that changes our internal narrative from “But” to “Why not?”
Go ahead, take your shot.
Thank you for reading.
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