Lisa shared a story with me about what happens when you ask for a bigger challenge at work. This can be scary, and was for Lisa at times, but the outcomes can be worth it. 

Lisa “foolishly said to her [manager] that I was a little bored and felt that I wanted to try something new.” Which I think is a great way to get a little push out of your comfort zone! 

“I was working at a very large bank at the time and my 1-up manager decided that I needed a new challenge!  

“Boy oh boy, did I get it!  She asked me to help her run the new transformation program, and my part of it was developing the leadership coaching and mentoring program that would support our leaders during the transformation.  This saw me having to suddenly engage with multiple senior leaders to enable me to understand what their biggest challenges were and how we could support them.  I got to work with a team of psychologists, learning specialists and developers to successfully develop and deliver the leadership coaching cohorts, as part of our leadership academy, with a mentoring program to address our diversity issues.  Additionally, we changed all our scorecard metrics to reflect the new expectations we had of our leaders” 

Lisa both wanted to learn something new, but also help the managers she saw who had not been equipped to cope with the daily issues they were struggling with. 

Some leaders chose to leave the business during the transformation, “However, for those who stayed, we supported them through the program and their journey.  So many of them just wanted a helping hand, someone to talk to and reflect with – a guiding hand to help them change every day.  The outcome was that we turned a business that was bleeding at the core to returning a profit in less than 3 years.  And with it, many leaders who had learnt and grown to go on and inspire others.” 

Despite the fabulous outcome, Lisa questioned herself before, during and even after ‘’reflecting on whether there was more that I could have done’’. But that does not stop her stepping out of her comfort zone. “I have on several occasions.  I do it because that is when I learn the most – not only about myself but also about others” 

And advice for others considering a new challenge? 

“I think that it is different for everyone – you bring your whole self to an experience and you may not have asked for the challenge.  There are some days that you’ll wake up in an absolute panic….and others when you’ll feel like “I’ve got this” – get comfortable with being uncomfortable!  Oh and be curious and not too hard on yourself! 

“Take any opportunity to learn – whether you learn about what to do next time or even what not to do , you’ve still learnt.” 

Thanks Lisa 

A bit about Lisa:

•        Started as a leadership business partner on the transformation journey and ended up running the entire program 

•        Have worked in manufacturing, financial, consulting and telco industries for the past 25 years 

•        Seeing people learn and grow through their journey is absolute fuel for me 

•        I have been privileged to work with leaders from all walks of life and continue to be surprised and delighted