Mastering the Growth Zone - Part 3

Mastering The Growth Cycle

Growth always involves 4 steps: do, reflect, adjust, do again. You do something, you reflect on what you did, you make adjustment, and then you do it again. We refer to this as the Growth Cycle. Applying these 4 steps is how you help anyone improve in The Growth Zone. When they reflect on what they did, whether they succeed or not, they are able to look at their actions and thought process more objectively. When they apply the do, reflect, adjust, do again process consistently over time they begin building a new ROA (rhythm of action) that will help them thrive in the next stage of growth. They are letting go of beliefs and behaviors that created success in the previous stage of growth and embracing new beliefs and behaviors that will create success in the new stage of growth.

Beliefs are the start of everything - what we do is directly connected to what we believe. We never really change what we do until we shift something about what we believe. So, transitions are fundamentally about first changing beliefs and then changing the ROA (rhythm of action) that will create a different result.

A few years ago, a physician friend helped me better understand the growth process by explaining how wounds heal. “Wounds always heal from the inside out,” he said. “If dirt and trash stay in a wound it will not heal.  You can put antibiotic ointment on a wound, but if there is still dirt in the wound it will not heal until the dirt is removed. Thoroughly clean the wound, though, give it space to heal, and it naturally heals.” 

This basic concept applies to helping people transition from one stage of growth to the next.   Every action we take is connected in some way to a belief. Starting a new action without changing the beliefs that drove the old action is like expecting a wound to heal with dirt in it.  You must let go of the belief before new growth can start. This is the heart of creating a Growth Culture. To help people master transitions you must be comfortable observing, exploring, asking questions, and creating accountability - even when those actions will make the other person uncomfortable. You must care enough to be honest, supportive, and consistent.

Struggle, Failure, and a New Path to Growth

Thriving in the next stage of growth requires a bit of rewiring of the person’s brain before the new action can be done confidently and consistency. This means that The Growth Zone always involve several starts and stops - struggles and failures. They are a natural and essential part of the transition process. Unfortunately, most people see struggles and failures as a negative statement about themselves, instead of a normal part of the growth process.

Struggle and failure are not a statement about personal character. They are a statement of what happened. They are also the opportunity to understand, adapt, and grow. When learning and growing become more important than staying where you are, struggle and failure become the birthplace of resolve. Some people shy away from struggle because they are afraid they might fail.  Strangely, that is the very point they are missing. It is the possibility of failure that waters the soil where resilience lives. Resolve creates the courage and power to get up, dust yourself off, and get moving again. Your job as a catalyst is to help everyone on your team find the courage to step out, act, risk failure, and then see failure as the next step on the journey of transformation.

Helping People Channel Their Energy In The Growth Zone

Two skills can help you and your team thrive in The Growth Zone: Living in the Moment & Ride The Wave.

Living in the Moment

Living in the Moment is the ability to be aware of where you are at a specific moment in time, including the feelings, emotions, thoughts, and actions that are taking place. It is an essential skill for growth. Living is the moment enables you to recognize where you are, what is happening, who is present, and your emotions.  Living in the Moment is easy to do when everything is great. It is more difficult when you are struggling, but it is essential. Stay with the process and it eventually begins to feel normal.

If you follow professional football, you may remember Michael Vick. He was a talented college and NFL quarterback who was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001. His athletic achievements have been overshadowed by his involvement in a dog fighting ring that landed him in prison for a few years. When the Atlanta Falcons drafted him, though, he was the talk of the football world. A story in The Atlanta Journal Constitution during his rookie season highlighted the importance of applying Living in the Moment during transitions.

Like most rookie quarterbacks, Vick struggled through the first half of his rookie season. The professional game is faster, quicker, and more intense than college football. By the time he stepped back to make a pass, defenders were already on him. His timing was off because he felt hurried. He would miss receivers and often not even see receivers that were open. 

Falcon’s coach, Dan Reeves, saw exactly what was happening. On numerous occasions he instructed Vick to keep doing what he was doing because there would come a time when everything on the field would slow down. He would be able to see plays unfolding, see receivers breaking free of defenders, and see approaching defenders.  He would see what needed to happen and sense the right thing to do. 

It happened just as coach Reeves predicted. Around midseason, Vick’s performance began to change. The more he stayed in the game and put himself in a position to learn, the more successful he was. The field really did seem to slow down. The options for any given play became more obvious, and he began making better choices. The results were very good. 

What exactly happened?  The field and the players on the field did not physically slowdown.  The options that he started seeing and choosing had been there all along. What happened was that Vick learned to live in the moment of every play. Because he prepared himself physically, mentally and emotionally he grew as the season progressed. Because he stayed in the game and learned from each play, he became more confident in his abilities. What eventually happened was that he stopped worrying and started living more in the moment. When that happened, his vision, instincts, and decision-making ability improved. The results followed.

As a leader, part of your job is to help everyone on your team Live in the Moment. Here are the five traits you are looking for in your team that will help them thrive in The Growth Zone:

1.  The desire to be there. Does your team member want to be successful in their role? Do they want to be a part of your organization? Without desire, they will never be successful in their role.
2.  A belief that they can do it. Does the person believe that they can be successful in their role? Without the belief, results are not sustainable. Results always follow beliefs and consistent action.
3.    Are they curious about their role, how they relate to others, and how they impact team and organizational success? When people are curious about what works and what doesn’t work to create growth, they become more emotionally invested in what they are doing. They want to understand and apply what they are learning.
4.  Releasing fears. Like any positive change, living in the moment requires letting go of fears and removing the obstacles that block growth. When the fears and obstacles are removed, the same thing happens to your team that happened to Michael Vick as a rookie – the field slows down. They begin seeing things they did not see before. They see the opportunities, and they find the confidence to act.
5.    Is the person willing to stay focused and do the things that will create success over time? Persistence is the key to building a career and a life of growth.

Ride the Wave

Ride the Wave is another useful technique when a team member is in The Growth Zone. Growth is always a gradual process. The insight may come in a flash, but the implementation always takes time. Riding the Wave helps you recognize where you are and push one step further to keep moving.

When helping someone move through The Growth Zone, a predictable pattern occurs. As they begin something new and get close to the edge of their comfort zone, cloudy thinking begins to happen. Cloudy thinking leads to hesitation. They begin doubting themselves. They give into fear and return to old beliefs and actions. Ride the Wave helps them break the cycle and push forward to create new results. Here are the steps to Ride the Wave.

1.  Recognize the pull backwards without judging it. This requires both self-awareness and resilience. Remember the signs of emotional gravity: thinking becomes cloudy leading to hesitation. Hesitation creates awkward implementation. Failure usually following. Help people recognize the pattern, without judging it. Recognition helps them see it more objectively, removing some of the emotional pull back to old habits.
2. Lean into it. This is a technique my son, Drew, taught me while we were snow skiing years ago.  I am not much of a skier, and I was forever losing my balance and falling. He watched me one day and said one simple thing, “Lean into it, dad.  You are tensing and standing up. When you stand up, your balance is off. That’s why you fall.”  Wow! It worked! I went from green slopes to blues in a matter of minutes. The tendency when emotions rise is to back away. Pulling back puts your team member off balance emotionally and physically just like when I was skiing. When this happens, the tendency is for them to stumble. Instead, help people move toward their fears. This is counterintuitive, but it works to reduce the impact of their fears. Don’t run from them. Instead explore them. Help them do the opposite of what their brain is telling them to do. (The only obvious exception is when physical harm could occur.)
3. Ride the wave emotionally. Emotions are just like waves in the ocean. They start small and rise in intensity. They eventually hit a peak and begin to subside. When emotions are rising and reaching their peak it is difficult to think clearly and act in ways that supports growth. If your team member refuses to give into the fear or emotion, though, it will eventually subside. They can then think clearly again. After the emotion subsides, they can reflect, adjust, and act again because they know what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. 
4. Recognize the edge & move one step beyond. This part of the process seems counterintuitive, but it is a key for role growth. When people are riding the emotional wave, there comes a point when they realize that the emotion is getting stronger, and they want to give in. Help them recognize that moment and take one more step, make one more call, complete one more form. There is a high probability that when they take one more step, they will succeed in some way. When this happens, smile – cheer – explore with them what they learned. Then help them apply what they learned and go again.
5. Reflect and build a new plan. Whether their actions were successful or not, reflect with your team members on what happened. What did they learn? What do they need to keep doing? What do they need to stop doing? Help them learn to listening to their body. It is important that they begin paying attention to how their emotions impact their body and their thinking. When they listen to their body, they can also find the strength to keep growing.

One Final Note about Transitions. 

When you build strong relationships between people and their craft and create a learning environment that fosters self-discovery, most people naturally begin channeling their energy in ways that create new growth. This means that you spend less time helping people get unstuck, and more time supporting and encouraging new growth. More time is spent creating a learning environment that inspires people to keep growing in their role. More time is spent adapting for the future rather than protecting the past. The centrifugal force begins spinning your organization is a forward direction. When that happens, you have created a Growth Culture.