5 Lessons Learned About the Upside of Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone at Work   

There is a certain buzzy atmosphere that falls upon Austin every year due to the whirlwind that is SXSW. It is the epicenter for all things innovative, creative and inspiring. And this year, from the Obamas speaking to self-driving cars, the festival, as usual, did not disappoint. There was one speaker, though, who stood out above the rest.

The best talk to come out of SXSW Interactive, in the opinion of many, was a keynote titled “Daring Greatly” given by a fellow social worker, Brené Brown, PhD, on a topic we often equate with weakness, shame, fear and struggle: vulnerability. Dr. Brown is a tremendous storyteller with the research chops to back it up, and this session was based on her wildly popular 2010 TEDx talk  on the same subject. Both presentations turned our perceptions around by suggesting that vulnerability is the birthplace for joy, creativity, belonging and love.

Here are a few of the highlights and takeaways from her talk:

Embrace Vulnerability
“Vulnerability is not weakness. It’s the most accurate measurement of courage.” Dr. Brown encouraged attendees to “Choose courage over comfort. Vulnerability is the courage to show up, and be seen when we have no control over the outcome.” While many of us think vulnerability is excruciating, Dr. Brown challenged attendees with the notion that what makes you vulnerable is essentially what also makes you happy and successful. As the CEO of a medium-sized business, I found this to be enlightening from a business perspective, given that there would be zero innovation without vulnerability.  I also connected on a personal level, in thinking about our courageous clients who turn to us often at their most vulnerable looking to transform their lives.

Engage in Life, Courageously
A concise observation: “If you’re going to be brave, you’re going to get hurt,” Brown shared. “If you’re brave with your life and with your work, you are going to get your behind kicked sometimes. That’s the physics of vulnerability.” Well said. 

Own Your Story
“When we own our story, we get to write the ending.” What does “story” mean in this context, you might ask? Dr. Brown explained that when something difficult happens, emotions take the first crack at understanding it, but, when we don’t have all the facts, we tend to fill in the blanks with our own thoughts and worries, and create a “tale” that is essentially incomplete at that point.

So she challenged attendees not to let that story take charge of us. She reported that the story we first tell ourselves is often a “first draft,” the same kind novelists often write. And all great books start with a (very ragged) first draft. But seventy percent of resilient people take time to write down the first draft of their own personal stories, so they can fact-check the content.  We need to take the time to write down our stories, edit them and write our own endings.

Make Time to Think, Especially at the Office
With endless to-do lists and competing priorities — both personal and professional — it is difficult to squeeze in time to just ponder. But carving out time in your day to think is what ignites those “aha” moments that can have positive implications for your personal or professional life.

One gratifying aspect of SXSW — a conference that inundates attendees with information and insights that can be applied to business or life in general — was about having the chance to carve out several days of intentional time to listen, and think about possibilities. When was the last time you carved out time to just think? And I’m not talking about meditating. I’m talking about intentional time where you think about what is going on around you, and how you can apply it. I now start every day doing just that, on our walking desk at the office.  It has become a part of my daily routine, often where I have found my best ideas.

In addition, I purposely schedule time in my week to think with my employees. We hold weekly “Think with Mary” sessions, which provide an outlet for employees to identify new innovations in the market, grow professionally, and think collectively about how we stay relevant for our clients and customers.

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Landing in Austin – a place that is, for the duration of SXSW, the hipster and tech capital of the world – I realized that as a social worker turned CEO and a mom of three, this conference was not in my comfort zone. However, it all goes back to vulnerability. Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone to this place of vulnerability helps you thrive. And vulnerability is very much a boon whether you are an innovative startup, or an individual on the cusp of personal transformation.

Written by Mary Pigatti, Chief Executive Officer at Retrofit