GOFORWARD LLC

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

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Tuesday, July 29, 2014 1:07 pm

This was the advice shared by successful women during a recent panel discussion¹ that I attended. Somewhat harsh, I thought at first. Don’t we all aspire to be cool and confident, or at least appear that way?

The more I considered this statement in light of the panel discussion and in terms of the work we do at GOFORWARD LLC, the more it made sense. The ever-changing “VUCA” business world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) has us frequently off-balance, frequently uncomfortable. Steps to “go forward” in this environment certainly involve getting comfortable with this “new-normal”.

We work with our clients – individuals, teams, and organizations -- to get them comfortable being uncomfortable.. We support our clients develop their own “VUCA Antidote” in terms of Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility:

• A Vision for future success provides a stable focal point.

• An Understanding of the real barriers and risks in moving forward, as well as the perceived ones, drives action to eliminate or mitigate them.

• Clarity about the sources of power (i.e., Position, Relationship, Knowledge/expertise, Empowering others) is helpful in building confidence.

• Agility is built using coaching conversations and helping people get “unstuck”.

Discussing and defining ways to anticipate and prepare for the VUCA world is empowering. Please contact us if you would like to invest in getting comfortable being uncomfortable!

¹ “Women, Power, and Empowerment”, Raleigh, NC, June 19, 2014. Panelists included Moira Forbes (Publisher of ForbesWoman, Joann Eisenhart, Ph.D (Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Northwestern Mutual), and Ingrid Vanderveldt (Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Dell, Empower a Billion Women by 2020).