I gave a keynote speech yesterday on the topic of “Leading Change.”
After my talk, an attendee approached me and shared that an old boss of his used to advise his team to keep moving “onward and awkward.”
There is no change or learning or growth without the uncomfortable feelings that attend us into the unknown.
Those feelings are a reliable early warning system that it is time to pay close attention to ourselves and our surroundings, a time to be more connected to others rather than less, and a time to fully embrace a beginner’s mindset.
That’s a lot to juggle all at once and doing so will always feel awkward.
But isn’t that awkwardness, even when it lasts longer than we think we can stand, a far better alternative than giving up on learning?
Your ego and your expertise and all of your lived experience – everything that draws you back to the safety of the status quo – will survive the truth that there’s still so much to learn.
Photo by VisionPic .net on Pexels.com
