Olga’s story is one of a life lived well outside of most people’s comfort zones, which means she is rarely outside of her own. When change is a constant in your life, how do you get uncomfortable?
Becoming an entrepreneur might do it…
“Oh, I think it just happened gradually. And I wouldn’t call it stepping out of my comfort zone, I’ll say, extending my comfort zone. As lots of people did, I went through a lot of career transformation. And I lived in six different countries. I moved a lot. And my career kind of turned and twisted, because of that, as well. Everything contributed in a way.
“And I think that my major stepping out of the core of my comfort zone was transforming from a corporate worker to entrepreneur. To actually do my own business full time.
“I started my business six years ago, but it was a little bit of a love/hate relationship.”
Olga would work for herself, then be interested in what a corporation was doing and head back to that world.
“That’s what happened three times”
Once Olga made the choice to truly be an entrepreneur “It felt very liberating. And I think that’s one of the major contributing factors. Another aspect that really was appealing to me is the fact that I’m learning all the time. Before that I was well paid, but the job was extremely transactional. And it was very depressing to be honest. So, to get the opportunity to dive in and to learn all the time, and actually feel that I am growing as a professional, that was amazing. And it still is, you know, I’m still learning every day.”
And if someone was considering stepping out of their comfort zone?
“I think that my advice would be to think of actually applying the classical change management framework to the plan. Which means that you have to plan, you have to establish your success metrics, you need to be able to get the sponsor, get as much support as possible, and explain to family and friends how this changes might affect you.
“It’s important to communicate and explain to people how the change would affect them, and how it can be a good thing.”
Olga sees benefits in stepping out of your comfort zone – learning a growth to start with – but also appreciates that not everyone wants to get uncomfortable “you might want to still think of how you can learn. And you might not change jobs or move countries, but it’s a good idea to track what you’re doing and to track your growth. Stagnation is not good.”
“I think it’s very important to ask for help, to allow yourself ask for help. I think at different stages of our lives we all need mentors. And maybe not just one mentor. Two mentors who are different, of maybe different age groups, because I think that there are people who struggle, because they don’t see outside themselves. And that’s where I come, and I help and guide them through this journey. So I think it’s important to have someone who you trust who can help you to keep growing.”
Thank you Olga!
A little about Olga:
Having lived in 6 countries across Europe, Middle East and APAC and after working in senior HR and Recruitment role for the last 20 years, now Olga Barrett resides in Melbourne and helps people who go through their Career Transformation.
Olga helps people get the jobs they want and build the careers they deserve to have by creating actionable career transformation frameworks that make job search process transparent, manageable and even fun.
Lindsey had a solution to a problem that would deliver benefits to the team and customers. And for 10 years she only told a select group of people about it.
This year Lindsey looked at the problem statements for the Innovation Hackathon at Telstra and realised her solution was a great match.
There were a couple of aspects out of Lindsey’s comfort zone.
“I’ve been quietly championing away. And when I say quietly, it was really quiet. It was only within a group of about four or five people where we all were on the same page about what & why we needed to do it. We’re all excited. But it’s obviously not enough to make change on a big scale. It was going to take a lot more momentum and a lot more people talking about it. And that’s where the hackathon gave me that opportunity. I had to be willing to jump off the edge and do it. And once I had made up my mind to do it, then I had to go and convince other people to take time out to come and do a hackathon with me. Finding the right people to want to support you on that kind of journey, it can be a bit difficult, however I had some really good enthusiastic people that wanted to have a go.”
The next part that Lindsey found scary was pitching to senior executives! Although it was something she didn’t feel fully prepared for, it went well. Despite not winning the hackathon, Lindsey’s team’s solution is being built! “The hackathon was successful because it made the solution “sing”. We built a working prototype that we could give to the head of small business segment and go ‘look, here’s a here’s a working visual of that thing we were talking about two years ago.’”
Lindsey found a huge list of benefits from this step outside her comfort zone – aside from the progress on her solution!
These included professional visibility and PR, an expanded network, and, more importantly, a reminder that she loves to be creative.
Lindsey encourages others to step out of their comfort zone by first weighing up the risks – they are usually much smaller than you think – and then gathering a support team around you.
“For me, when I sat back and thought about jumping into the hackathon, I thought best case scenario we’ve created a nice lean canvas and some visually appealing slides that we might reuse, another day. Then weighing up, what’s the worst that could go wrong? And they usually won’t be many things I could think of.
“You’ve got to find the right team, as well. I cant stress that enough. And when I say team, whatever you’re doing or trying, you’re going to have a group of diverse people that are actually going to help and support you through it. So, I think that’s really important that you don’t go into it thinking that you’re doing it alone. It’s unrealistic to think that you can really go outside your comfort zone without there being some sort of virtual safety net around you.”
“Don’t wait till tomorrow. I think, particularly during the era of the working life that we have now, there’s no point waiting. Hackathons are a great way to test your comfort zone and the beauty of it is that most events are hosted 100% online! So, in fact, the opportunities are greater than ever, because everybody is looking online. So, get out there, beef up your LinkedIn profile. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Remember, diamonds are made under immense pressure”.
Great advice Lindsey!
About Lindsey Myers
As a Business Specialist in the C&SB Production Customer Data Management & Service Migration Mission, Lindsey’s been party to the Pillar 1 & Digitisation commitments to simplify and customer offerings & interactions within the T22 strategy, which will forever change Telstra.
Lindsey has recently competed in the Telstra Innovation Hackathon and spoke at the Telstra Unconference in November 2020.. a life-long learning enthusiast