The Comfort Zone
How to address management issues
We all feel safe when we are working within what we know, even if we know it is not the right thing to do or it could be improved.
In this video, I share how I helped a client to address a management issue and move out of their comfort zone.
How to address management issues: The Desai Despatch – Episode 20
(JK) So here we are and most businesses are considering what to do post the first wave, as it were, of the pandemic.
I am sure there are a number of businesses who may have parked a few things so they can focus on the issues of the pandemic, but now they need to get on with it.
Do you have examples that pretty much fit this particular pattern of behaviour?
(FD) Yes, yes, I do.
I have a client who had a situation with a manager that he wanted to deal with before the lockdown, but then parked it, as you say, so that he wasn’t distracted.
And as we come out now, he wants to address this situation because that manager has been in this position for a very long time and is set in his ways, which is working OK, but it could be improved.
And as we know, if we want to progress, we have to move out of our comfort zones.
My client is in a comfort zone, which he’s not comfortable in, funnily enough.
He knows that if certain things were changed with this manager, the impact on the business would be pretty significant.
My client doesn’t want to have a difficult conversation with the manager.
There’s this sort of ring of fear around him because he’s thinking
Well, it’s kind of working, OK, it’s not ideal, but I don’t want to confront this.
But once you move out of that ring of fear, you move into what I call the courage zone.
That is when you deal with the situation, which then becomes your new comfort zone. So you have made progress.
We have talked about this and my client has now made the decision that he will deal with this situation. He knows that not dealing with it and letting it continue is not the right thing to do.
On the other side, there’s also a leadership issue because as the Managing Director, he needs to take the lead if something is not working and he is not happy about something.
To take it one step further, the manager is in his comfort zone as well, because he is set in his ways and is thinking,
Well, things are kind of going OK,
but he also needs to step out and step up.
(JK) It sounds like you have made some progress here. What do you think is the advice that you would give to businesses and to business leaders in particular?
One piece of advice, particularly as they start to move forward with their staff and things get busier in this kind of thing, to avoid this kind of issue happening?
(FD) Address it as soon as possible.
People issues need to be addressed as soon as possible because they inevitably become more awkward sometimes they become more difficult.
Then the impact it has on the actual business and the impact it has also on other employees gets bigger and bigger.
My advice would be if you have identified a situation, you don’t delay handling it.
(JK) I guess what you are saying, to put it another way, is face the fact, consider the consequences and then exit your comfort zone and move into your courage zone.
(FD) Exactly, exactly and then that way you are continuing to move forward.
Does this resonate with you? If you would like to book a complimentary, no-obligation, coaching session to discuss this further, please email me at falgunidesai@actioncoach.com
