Entrepreneurs: Your Comfort Zone
by Miki Saxon
Part of the allure of starting a company is the idea of being your own boss and creating the kind of place in which you always wanted to work.
That’s what drives Tony Hsieh and thousands of others.
The problem is that in order to accomplish that goal you will have to go far beyond your comfort zone; much further, in fact, than you would working for someone else.
I just started working with “Tomas,” a new founder, and during our first conversation he described himself as an introvert who preferred not to respond to questions or comment until he had time to process the conversation/information.
OK, it’s frustrating and makes conversations very one-way, but I bided my time to see what the impact would be.
It didn’t take long to find out.
First, I sent an introduction to “Bill” who was willing to share expertise that Tomas badly needed; Bill responded immediately, asking when Tomas was available, but Tomas didn’t write back.
The next day Bill went ahead and called, although he hadn’t heard back. His feedback to me was that it was a non-conversation and he thought he might even have offended Tomas in some way.
None of this made sense to me. I had spoken to Tomas the evening of the day he got Bill’s response and he said he would respond to is as soon as our call ended.
We talked again yesterday. When I asked why he hadn’t sent the email when he said he would he said that he hadn’t had time to “craft the email.”
There was more and after hearing him out I told him the problem (as I saw it) was that along with being an introvert he is a perfectionist and doesn’t want to make a move until he is sure he is right. He also prefers to proceed linearly.
Tomas’ response? He said I knew him well.
I told Tomas that as an entrepreneur he will have to get out of his comfort zone.
He will not always have the luxury of a day or more to process conversations or craft perfect emails.
He needs to practice thinking and responding on the fly—especially on the small stuff.
I said that he will make mistakes and that’s OK; they can be corrected.
Tomas’ vision is brilliant; it solves a problem faced by millions and holds the promise of making their lives better.
I will do everything I can to help Tomas succeed, but only he can choose to leave his comfort zone.
Image credit: JJ Chandler.com
March 24th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
I love this story only because it describes myself and so many others learning to be business men. This story curtails business weekness. Not making the right or wrong decision but standing in the balance unwilling to act in faith on something that has the potential to benefit you. You found the mans weekness and, that will be his next obstacle.
March 25th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Hi Mike, I’m glad you enjoyed it
We all carry around multiple comfort zones and deal with the limitations that stem from them in all parts of our life. I’ve found the best approach for me is to enlarge a zone, rather than trying to knock it down completely. I just keep pushing the walls back and over time they have gotten so large they might as well be gone.
Thanks for taking the time to add your thoughts!