1. 70 Acquisition International - May 2016
Earlier this week I had the pleasure of meeting Richard, COO at a financial
services organisation. We first met ten years ago on a talent and leadership
programme where I was lead facilitator. This week our conversation was
specifically about The Stretch Zone, a set of insights, principles and practices
that enable deep learning from the inside-out, wondering what difference it made
ten years later. This is part of his story, the very human story we all share as we
overcome the biggest impediment to our talents and potential – oneself.
The Stretch Zone developed out of 10 years coaching
within talent and leadership. These capable high
performers were brimming with talent, yet under
pressure they were holding themselves back
unnecessarily. When asked the burning issue was
confidence – and that was as much with people who
would be described as hugely confident as it was
people who clearly lacked confidence.
Everyone has a stretch zone and confidence is an
issue for everyone who has the courage to step
outside their comfort zone.
Reflecting back Richard said: ‘I think my career was
stalled, it was me stalling it to a large extent, feeling
limited, feeling not able to progress, feeling stuck. I
was plodding along’.
In 2006, no different to the rest of the group, Richard
was brimming of untapped talent and potential, it
only needed the right impulse to make a difference
over the years to come, to spark his transition into
executive leadership.
Referring to The Stretch Zone he said: ‘It was an
insight into something new, something challenging,
exciting – it was opening up a whole world, breaking
through these levels of self-restriction’. It was a
catalyst, ‘a spark to understand yourself – what
makes you tick’.
In 2006 Richard’s stretch zone was with senior
executives where his confidence would dip when he
needed it most, undermining his impact. Rather than
the well-worn path of confidence boosting hype The
Stretch Zone inspires us to channel our efforts and
energy differently, enabling a natural confidence from
within – and coming from within it is authentic and
congruent.
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The Stretch Zone –
Deep Learning from
the Inside-Out
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2. Acquisition International - May 2016 71
talk, seminars, self-assessment, e-course, webinar,
coaching and workshops – for a solution tailored
specifically for your organisation.
Glenn Widelko is a partner at ConsultF5 a values-
based learning, leadership and talent development
consultancy delivering sustainable change for
individuals and their organisations.
The Stretch Zone – Deep Learning from the Inside-Out
Confidence is not the problem. It is our natural state.
Fear is also not the problem. It is a gift of intense
energy only waiting to be channelled constructively.
The problem is doubt, which channels that intense
energy in self-defeating ways.
Eight years later the difference was still evident.
‘Just before I left Barclays I presented to about
100 executives and delivered in a way that I would
have hoped. I was aware that I was in control. I
wasn’t trying to force anything. Once I was up there
I stepped completely through the fear. I still have
periods where I doubt myself but now I’m able to
anchor myself and turn it around’.
‘There are people who try to be confident and deep
down they are completely lacking in confidence, it
is shallow and transient. It can lead to the wrong
aggressive behaviours and it is a lack of confidence
that drives it’.
The Stretch Zone enables ‘the realisation that these
mental barriers are not you. We not only create them,
we breed them, care for them. Ego-based confidence
is a façade, it is something you know is not you, it is
very short-term.’
Rather than a façade of pseudo-confidence over
suppressed fear and doubt, congruent confidence is
when ‘people feel more comfortable with themselves
rather than trying to put on a façade’.
When asked about The Stretch Zone’s impact on
how he leads his people he said: ‘I say to my team if
you’re playing with confidence then I’ll get so much
more out of you. If you’re not then I have to take
some responsibility. Confidence goes up and down. It
is trying to iron out those dips. Barriers are unique to
each of us. We tend to keep them from other people.
We don’t like to admit what our barriers are and it
comes back to confidence. If you want people to play
with confidence you need to help them explore what
is getting in the way’.
Beyond the self-limiting barriers ‘there is actually a
lot more capability. Rather than adding new skills it is
about removing old barriers and letting go of that fear
and the next step is actually quite easy’.
Reflecting on organisational learning Richard said:
‘Clearly organisations would benefit significantly
having people wakening up to themselves. If you’re
going to make a step change, your people are going
to make the step change for you, you’ll have to let go
of the old ways of thinking. It needs an organisation to
say we’re going to build this around people, genuinely,
and I’m not sure there are many out there doing that.’
Everyday this very human story plays out in
organisations as people hold back their potential
under pressure. When organisations help people
step across the threshold of their stretch zone,
inspiring others to do likewise, they create a culture
of achievement from the inside-out.
Confidence is not limited by personality, it only looks
and sounds different – and difference does not mean
absence.
Talk to us at ConsultF5 today to find out more
about The Stretch Zone including our signature