As Andrew Voss, Commercial Banker for ASB, brushed his teeth before bed he probably wondered how his banking and advisory job had led him to a pool with 200kg+ hungry sting-rays feeding out of his hands…

Perhaps not part of his day-job, Andrew had a challenge put in front of him that he could have either declined or accepted – well, I took his nervous smile as acceptance, but I’m sure hew questioned the type of event we were inviting him to!

Recently I hosted an event called AN OARSOME EVENING, which was held at Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World in Auckland. It wasn’t about sting-rays, nor was it about the South Pole or Atlantic Ocean that Kevin Biggar and I shared stories with the audience. It was about three questions you need to ask yourself:

  • Do I spend too much time in my own comfort zone?
  • When I take on a challenge or goal, what is the process I use to succeed?
  • How do I measure my comfort zone growth during, and after testing myself?

Kevin and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing stories about our adventurous projects from the last few years. It was great that ON-Brand Partners (fellow work mates of mine) could help with the organising and hosting of it too.

Walking to the South Pole, for example, was a goal that Kevin and I asked the above three questions regularly. Whilst ‘competing’ in the coldest, highest, driest, and windiest continent on the planet, we would have no chance of achieving without a strong set of project-based principles and acknowledging the emotional complexities that are tied to uncertain futures – similar to any strategic and operational goals teams and leaders face.

This required alignment between logical progress and personal development is the basis for the Edge of Stretch and leadership development programme. This might sound ok, but as Paul Stewart from ON-Brand says, “The problem is not in the thinking, but in the doing!”

Maybe we should be asking ourselves “How am I going to become the change I want to see in the world?” You see, thinking and talking about it for individuals, teams, or an entire organisation is easy. The toughest part, however, is building momentum in behind it, because to do this you need logical processes AND emotional confidence in the cause. Once you have a handful of momentum it can work in your favour. I good book I read about just this issue for teams and organisations is ‘Confidence’ by Rosabeth Moss-Kanter.

Now, back to that event. I mentioned that a programme has been developed based on the principles covered during the evening (either overtly or covertly!), that drives results by accelerating performance, and building capability – all while achieving real benefits to you, your team and your organisation. If you’re interesting in hearing more, give me a call to discuss what your Edge of Stretch could look like!

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