Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
stretching outside your stylistic comfort zone
English answer:
risking trying out different styles of management
Added to glossary by
B D Finch
Jun 21, 2016 13:59
7 yrs ago
11 viewers *
English term
stretching outside your stylistic comfort zone
English
Art/Literary
Management
Hello everyone,
From a book about how to become a successful leader:
For example, among the competencies rated as most critical for effective leaders, my survey respondents listed “motivating and inspiring” as the second-most important. Jacob also listed the same, although he was not rated very highly by his team on this capacity. Motivation and inspiration, however, aren’t tools you can select out of a toolbox by, say, increasing your communication to keep people better informed. Instead, the capacity to motivate and inspire depends much more on your ability to infuse the work with meaning and purpose for everyone involved. When this capability doesn’t come naturally, you tend to see it as an exercise in manipulation. Likewise, coming to grips with the political realities of organizational life and managing them effectively and authentically are among the biggest hurdles of transitioning to a bigger leadership role. Although many of the aspiring leaders whom I teach cite the ability to influence without authority as a critical competence, many leaders are not as effective as they might be at it, because they view the exercise of influence as playing politics.
Things like ***stretching outside your stylistic comfort zone*** and reconciling yourself to the inherently political nature of organizational life, in turn, require a more playful approach than what you might adopt if you see it as “working on yourself.” When you’re playing with various self-concepts, you favor exploration, withholding commitment until you know more about where you are going. You focus less on achievement than on learning. If it doesn’t work for you, then you try something else instead.
Does "stretching outside your stylistic comfort zone" mean "do something you don't like when managing people in your organization"?
Thank you.
From a book about how to become a successful leader:
For example, among the competencies rated as most critical for effective leaders, my survey respondents listed “motivating and inspiring” as the second-most important. Jacob also listed the same, although he was not rated very highly by his team on this capacity. Motivation and inspiration, however, aren’t tools you can select out of a toolbox by, say, increasing your communication to keep people better informed. Instead, the capacity to motivate and inspire depends much more on your ability to infuse the work with meaning and purpose for everyone involved. When this capability doesn’t come naturally, you tend to see it as an exercise in manipulation. Likewise, coming to grips with the political realities of organizational life and managing them effectively and authentically are among the biggest hurdles of transitioning to a bigger leadership role. Although many of the aspiring leaders whom I teach cite the ability to influence without authority as a critical competence, many leaders are not as effective as they might be at it, because they view the exercise of influence as playing politics.
Things like ***stretching outside your stylistic comfort zone*** and reconciling yourself to the inherently political nature of organizational life, in turn, require a more playful approach than what you might adopt if you see it as “working on yourself.” When you’re playing with various self-concepts, you favor exploration, withholding commitment until you know more about where you are going. You focus less on achievement than on learning. If it doesn’t work for you, then you try something else instead.
Does "stretching outside your stylistic comfort zone" mean "do something you don't like when managing people in your organization"?
Thank you.
Change log
Jun 23, 2016 10:13: B D Finch Created KOG entry
Responses
+4
10 mins
Selected
risking trying out different styles of management
This is simply saying that in order to learn and develop as a manager, it is necessary not to stick to what is (to the trainee) already a familiar and comfortably safe style of management.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Terry Richards
: Yes, "don't like" because it is new and unfamiliar (and possibly risky), not because it is "wrong" // Probably not, or they would have done it already - they might come to like it though :)
1 min
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Thanks Terry. They might actually enjoy venturing beyond their comfort zone!
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agree |
AllegroTrans
8 mins
|
Thanks AT
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agree |
philgoddard
: You were first!
16 mins
|
Thanks Phil
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agree |
Victoria Britten
2 hrs
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Thanks Victoria
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Many thanks to everyone.
Thank you, B D Finch."
+2
13 mins
being willing to think and act in ways that don't come naturally to you
This is the essential meaning here: being willing to think and act in ways that don't come naturally to you (but not necessarily doing things that "you don't like" or that go *entirely* against your nature. The idea here is *stretching* and not *busting out of the box*.
+3
15 mins
stepping outside your comfort zone/going beyond your usual approach
the comfort zone is where someone is happiest, not stretching thmeselves at all
Not everyone is a natural leader who can motivate and inspire others: "When this capability doesn’t come naturally, you tend to see it as an exercise in manipulation" so, some may have to learn about the "political realities of organizational life and managing them effectively" so they have to step outside the box and try something new
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200410/embracing-th...
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Note added at 15 mins (2016-06-21 14:15:31 GMT)
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https://sanctuaryofstyle.net/2012/03/13/beyond-your-comfort-...
Not everyone is a natural leader who can motivate and inspire others: "When this capability doesn’t come naturally, you tend to see it as an exercise in manipulation" so, some may have to learn about the "political realities of organizational life and managing them effectively" so they have to step outside the box and try something new
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200410/embracing-th...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 15 mins (2016-06-21 14:15:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
https://sanctuaryofstyle.net/2012/03/13/beyond-your-comfort-...
Peer comment(s):
agree |
AllegroTrans
4 mins
|
Thanks:-)
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agree |
Yasutomo Kanazawa
2 hrs
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Many thanks:-)
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agree |
Graeme Jones
8 hrs
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Many thanks:-)
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Discussion
http://www.qldzoo.com/snakes-move/
"how do snakes climb or move in tight spaces? Climbing and movement in small tight spaces is achieved using a ‘concertina’ movement.
concertina-motion-snake
To move in this way, the snake will extend the front part of its body along the vertical surface, gripping the surface with its ventral or belly scales. A tight grip is ensured by the snake bunching its body into tight curves while it pulls the back part of its body up to its grip point. The snake will then spring forward again to find a new place to grip with its body and scales."
Nicely illustrated here: http://animals.howstuffworks.com/snakes/snake3.htm
Stretching outside it - interesting! Is this one stage less than "stepping" outside your comfort zone (the phrase we would all understand)? So, slightly less daring, therefore? You stretch outside it, without actually leaving it. Maybe that just means "be more daring" but stay where you are.