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speakup

"Aaahhhh... the jitters have left, the lump in your throat and knot in your stomach have shrunk to nothing and the anxious tension has been replaced with that wondrous feeling of relief knowing you have accomplished something big -- something that stretched your limits."

These words, shared by a spokesperson from UdeM, resonated with the audience as he enlightened students and reminded adults that in life we must strive to have that feeling of "going the distance" and "pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone" whenever we can. He was referring to the feeling students experienced last weekend after completing their Second Language Provincial Speech Competitions here in Moncton.

I had never heard of "oratorical competitions" until my daughter, Jessica, came home announcing that she had the opportunity to compete. Since these speeches were in French (her second language) she was very reluctant to participate.

Donning my "mom hat" I reminded her that choosing opportunities to push ourselves in our weak spots are better growth opportunities than in the areas we excel, that regardless of outcome you can develop as a person because you tried and took a risk. She chose to go for it.

Weeks later, when I struggled with making the decision to write this weekly column, in part due to the time commitment, but more due to my crippling fear of making mistakes, Jessica reminded me that in order for me to "grow" and get over my fears is to just face them like I had told her to do. (Kids have a tendency to ensure you "walk the talk" hmmmph.)

As we mature, we acquire quite an inventory of fears to barricade our willingness to try new things: rejection, injury, guilt, ridicule, judgment, insects, closed spaces, open spaces, success, mistakes and failure, to name only a few.

It's a wonder we make it out of our homes -- and to think there was once a time when we had none of these fears. We don't have to look far to understand how we'd operate without fear; just watch my 11-month-old nephew, Alex, learning how to get around with unyielding determination. Occasionally he loses focus and stops to grab a plant or a handful of fur off the cat, but he will climb on, around and through every hurdle and will stop at nothing to get where he wants to go. He has no physical or social fears. Notwithstanding the fact that fear is needed to ensure we don't harm ourselves, too many social fears can inhibit our personal development and contribution. Fear of reprisal and judgment can stifle creativity and "risk taking" that are necessary for the growth of most companies.

Smart companies provide "pushing the limits" type training to stimulate our muscle to "reach for more." Workplaces taking advantage of experiential training, like "TreeGo" here in Centennial Park, will expand their employees' boundaries with physical challenges. Enjoying the benefits of teamwork will also feel great about conquering new experiences.

This feeling of going into new directions and facing fears transfers into a collective courage to "think outside the box" and that taking risks are a necessary part of development. Creativity, taking calculated risks and making innovative contributions are the newest alluring competencies of top talent.

It appears one of the newest trends in companies is the creation of climates that encourage and even expect risk taking, creativity and innovation. The companies making the headline news right now are those that are going into new directions and creating new markets (think facebook, google etc.). Books like Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim & Mauborgne) are selling like crazy because they are inspiring companies to adopt infrastructures and processes that embrace innovation, re-think business models, challenge and undo old assumptions and introduce new thinking.

Business approaches will still operate "lean and mean", but will seek leaders who inspire input (from employees) instead of just measuring output. The smart companies know that the one with the most strength in ingenuity will lead the markets.

Zig while your competition is zagging, so to speak. This approach of going into uncharted waters takes a collective courage -- courage that can only be built with leaders who embrace innovative philosophies and cultivate a "can do" enthusiasm to overcome fears and take some risks. This type of contagious push to "stretch our limits" as individuals, as companies, as regions and as a province could amount to a collective courage needed to create self sufficiency to create our own new businesses and markets.

There, another article completed. Aahhh, that feeling of accomplishment...

n Monique Brennan BA, MSc. is a Certified Human Resources Practitioner (CHRP) and with a team of consultants, works with businesses on workplace improvement and individuals on improving their career and performance through The Coaching Consortium Inc. She welcomes all comments and can be reached at 388-0011 or Mqcoach@nb.sympatico.ca.