Why are we, humans, so afraid to leave our comfort zone?
Even if it compromises our values, dignity, integrity, passions, belief… and even sanity?
This is a crippling mindset to have. This fear/dislike of anything new is the reason why so many people in our world exist… rather than LIVE the life that they could!
Let me give you a further explanation…
I’m interning for an entrepreneur (or should i say “was” because I’ve already resigned) and the whole internship is pointless. Besides, I’m not passionate about the vision of the company nor do I fully understand it (I was placed here through a program.. it wasn’t my choice) so I won’t be as productive as i need to be. I’m also at a point in my life where i want to see impact.. MY impact on a project, person, proposal, etc. as oppose to simply doing busy work. I know, i know what you may be thinking readers, “Well, you have to start from somewhere” and guess what I already have! I’ve had a number of internships under my belt and the kind of mundane, pointless, busy/administrative work I’m doing now.. i DID THEN! But, this stage of my life is entirely Different!
Let me explain…
Graduating college has helped me to recognize some of the gifts and talents that I’ve been endowed with and I refuse to live a wasted life or better yet the “Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda” life.
At my internship, I work with the entrepreneur (whom we’ll call CEO from now on) and another gentleman (who is a full-time paid employee). I’ve watched several encounters with this gentleman and CEO and I’m wondering why this fellow is still working there. The CEO is not a leader at all! There’s a difference between entrepreneurs and leaders that i discussed in another post (Link Here). Anyway, this CEO tries to impose his work ethics/ brainstorming/task-completing styles (which in his eyes are the “Almighty Ways”) on everyone including the guy he works with.
Side Note: We all know, any natural born leader would want his/her employees to have reverence/respect for her/him NOT fear. But this gentleman is scared of the CEO…
Today, CEO gave me a mundane research task to do and I was a bit confused because I didn’t see the correlation between the work I was doing and the organization or my role there. So, to get some understanding, I asked the fellow to explain to me what the vision of the organization was in relation to CEO’s overall vision, to which he replied “I don’t know honestly. Sometimes, I think I know what this company does but then he (the owner) asks for more and I’m just like oh, there’s more.”
When I heard this, I laughed thinking it was a joke but this fellow was actually quite serious. [This just shows that there is a clear difference between entrepreneurship and leadership].
Anyway this fellow pointed to the “brain board” (which the two use to jot down event/partnership ideas) and started explaining some of the upcoming programs they’ve planned with a hope that I could figure out the vision from there. 10 minutes into his explanation, our boss (the CEO) walked in and he immediately sat down. Uh.. Whoa! (was my reaction). I didn’t get it… was he afraid to leave his desk because of what the CEO might say? Was there no freedom in the office? Was he not allowed to help an intern with work that would ultimately BENEFIT the CEO?
I know you’re thinking “Oh M, you’re being dramatic… He probably had an urgent project that needed to be completed before the boss came in and fraternizing with you would give CEO the wrong impression..”
Listen, I’m not here to bad-mouth the CEO or the fellow in the scenarios described above by any chance. I’m just honestly interested as to why a person would choose not to a) change the dynamic of the work environment—that is if the boss is inviting/accepting of suggestions or feedback OR b) leave that kind of environment entirely.
Listen, you need to be at a company/organization that correlates with YOUR values. You should WANT to work for someone who takes an interest in you as well no matter how slight.
We as people need to recognize our worth/value (with all humility of course) and sometimes reevaluate the conditions or environments we find ourselves in. Sometimes… where we are may not at all be the right fit.
But I am hopefully optimistic that when one door closes, another one opens! **I hope this encourages you**
OMI:sourceofsustenance 