Leaders will often hear that they should get out of their comfort zone. Good advice.
But if you really want to get better results this year, let’s take it a step further.
Don’t stay comfortable within your current Circle of Competence.
In the world of investing, Charlie Munger (as does his more famous partner, Warren Buffet) talks about the need for a company to stay inside its Circle of Competence. A circle of competence is where a company has real expertise and competitive advantage.
But it is not just companies. Everybody (from the C-suite to the front line) has a Circle of Competence, too. And (this is KEY) it can be EXPANDED.
Your Circle of Competence can be expanded by:
Acquiring more Industry knowledge (learning how the businesses upstream and downstream of yours work, how businesses industries adjacent to yours work, how your customers’ industries work, etc.)
Acquiring more functional knowledge of disciplines outside of your role or responsibility (sales, marketing, accounting, quality, operations, legal, etc.)
Acquiring new skills (public speaking, leading meetings, storytelling, creating spreadsheets, foreign languages, improved grammar, critical thinking, doing math in your head, how to raise capital, how to analyze acquisitions, etc.)
Developing leadership (delegation, connecting culture to results, developing people, time mastery, consensus building, etc.)
It is said that the key to winning is having the discipline to PREPARE.
This year, prepare to WIN by having the courage to LEARN and TRY even more new things.
Challenge yourself. But go beyond simple discomfort. Any fool can be uncomfortable. Be intentional about how you are expanding your competence.
Do that and you will have a bigger and better impact this year and every year.
Recent Comments