Go For That Which Will Push You to Grow!

I’m coaching an executive in transition. She’s been a COO of manufacturing companies in the last two roles and has been looking for something similar. Interestingly enough, this past week, she interviewed for a CEO role. In our coaching conversation, she asked me two interesting questions:

1. I’ve never been a CEO; why would they hire me?

2. I’d be a first-time CEO. Why would anyone hire a first-time CEO?

If you’ve ever heard me say it, I’m a strong believer in conveying your credibility through the questions you ask. As such, I asked her two questions in return:

1. Do you believe you know what it takes to be a great manufacturing CEO?

2. You had never been a COO before the last job. How did you get that one?

She responded “yes,” to the first one, and “they saw that I had the right ingredients and gave me a chance,” to the second one. She also agreed with me that she already knew how to be a COO – she could do that job in her sleep. Becoming a first-time CEO would push her to learn, grow, and extend her reach. That’s what I want for her as the next logical step in her journey from now to next.

You’re no different. If you really want to push yourself along your personal S-curve, you have to be willing to be really uncomfortable, take on jobs/roles/realm of responsibilities you’ve never done before, learn new skills, gain new knowledge, and get your assertions and assumptions challenged. That’s our evolutionary nature. Stop settling for the comfortable and the known. Little to no growth will come from there.

How will you push yourself into new growth opportunities in 2022 and beyond?