Friday, October 31, 2008

Discomfort

Thank you for all the email and the comments left here! I really appreciate the points of the view and the questions.

Sometimes, a theme emerges; all the email I've received this week was about discomfort.

Mostly, folks start a conversation with me with a goal of "how do I do X?" They first approach networking and mentoring as a project with a set list of tasks. (You've all heard me rant, and will again, about how this is not a task-oriented process or a transactional approach, and personal style as a driving force).

I got excited this week - the conversation seems to have evolved to "I know what to do but how do I get past my discomfort?" (Mentors, note the posting from Sept26)

So here's a few statements around discomfort - what do you think?

• Discomfort with change doesn’t make change go away.
• Discomfort and dissatisfaction are not the same thing.
• Discomfort with a task or plan or idea doesn’t make that task or plan or idea any less worthwhile.
• Discomfort with your job doesn’t always mean you should change the job.
• Discomfort with networking is an excuse, not a reason, to avoid it.
• Discomfort is a great place to start an exploration of your career, your perceptions or your style.
• Discomfort with yourself doesn’t make change go away.

1 comment:

Kyla said...

It was a pleasure speaking with you on Friday!

Reading your post prompted a number of thoughts and I decided to write a response post, which you can read here. (I had too much to say for a comment box!)

Thank you for sharing your blog with me.