Last week, I stood up in front of over 500 people and shared my signature story about what inspired me to become a family and career strategist.  

I attended a four-day training seminar and each day I incorporated what I learned into my developing talk.  The training started on Thursday and I didn’t give my presentation until Saturday evening.

I had a lot to incorporate.  Especially since the four expert trainers that were teaching, were on stage and evaluating my performance as I spoke.

Up until Saturday morning, I was concentrating on my execution.  I wasn’t ready to embarrass myself in front of the audience and this group of professionals.  And in my desire to pull it off without flaw, I was tempted to take out a few elements that were new and uncomfortable to me.  

However, the point wasn’t to cross this off my list, the point of the exercise was to stretch, practice and grow.  It was designed to push me past my comfort zone and by doing so delivering something less than outstanding.

Many times we get caught in the belief that our ability to quickly and predictably execute on our strategy and assignments is what makes us stand out.  We are comforted by the sense of accomplishment. 

Let’s be clear - our ability to get things done, does not make us stand out.  We stand out when we tell people who need to know, how great we are.

And when our drive to execute is combined with a lack of available time it is tempting to play it safe for the sake of getting it done.  

Let’s say you have a project that needs to be finished within the week.  Because we think executing by the deadline makes us stand out, we create our to-do lists and time line to get it done.  

The problem is that our to-do lists probably contains activities that we KNOW we can do.  We wouldn’t risk the chance of not delivering on time, in order to learn something new or get a fresh perspective on the problem.  

Living up to the standard of timely execution is safe and it keeps us from stretching too far.

In my corporate career, I stayed very busy doing things that I knew I could do. In fact, many of those things happened by my sheer determination.  And while there is some merit in that ability, that approach meant I didn’t do many things outside of my comfort zone.

I was too busy to learn something new. But you don’t get a raise or recognition for being busy. 

Addiction to timely execution stifles your curiosity and ability to be innovative.

Start taking on assignments and strategies that require you to develop a new approach, take a risk or find you trusting your judgement.  

What companies need is innovation and new ideas. Innovation requires us to step outside of our everyday patterns and look at things from a fresh perspective. Don’t be too busy getting things done that you miss the opportunity to create value in your organization.

I wasn’t able to finish my presentation in three minutes.  But I learned and practiced techniques that brought new life and energy to my story. 

Taking on assignments that are out of your scope of confidence feels risky.  They can be filled with challenging technical issues and you will have to deal with your mental barriers around learning new skills while under the spotlight.  

They will also require more time, patience and effort and insight.  Volunteer for assignments that have a longer timeline based on variables that are unknown. When you take on a challenging project, ask for more time to get it done.  Clear your plate so you have time to learn something new.