The deep-end theory of development

Facing the challenge of blogging has certainly been an experience, and has even helped my business. POLLYANNA LENKIC

By Pollyanna Lenkic

While I was wondering what to write about today, I was reminded about how important it is to constantly challenge yourself and your image of what you can and can’t do.

I reflected back on the year of writing for SmartCompany. When Amanda Gome first invited me to write for SmartCompany I thought she must be desperate and completely nuts, as I can’t write and I have no experience of writing.

While I have mentioned before that a lack of investment into personal and professional development came with a cost, it struck me just how expensive that cost was to me.

Think of a world class soccer player who can only kick with his right foot; still a good player, just a one dimensional player. It is easy to get caught up into working hard at what you are good at because you are getting good results – the danger is there is no expansion, place for creativity, real learning, fun, growth and development.

So like that soccer player I was good at one aspect of my role, and stayed that way until I sold my share of the business. It’s quite sad really, and I am grateful for the learning that I have from this experience. I encourage you to get off the dance floor for awhile, hang out on the balcony and look down at your day-to-day way of operating.

• Have you challenged yourself lately?
• Have you morphed into the big fish in small pond? If so, is there any fear about leaving the pond?
• What’s a skill that you feel you can’t do, how about challenging yourself and giving it a go? The benefits will come for both you and your business.

It strikes me how much ambiguity there is in being an entrepreneur, fearless to dive in and also terrified to move from the path of what you know.

So thank you Amanda for pushing me to contribute. Here are some of the tangible benefits I have received from blogging for SmartCompany:

• I write better proposals, faster and more concise with clearer messages, which has benefited me from a time management point of view and I am consistently winning more business.
• I have more confidence in my ability to express what I need to communicate.
• My friends are grateful that they are not required to proof read yet another document.
• By reflecting on where I messed up in the past I continue to behave and respond differently, the learning is re-enforced.

I encourage you to make a commitment to do something different, develop a skill that you are sure you can’t do. Ask a friend or colleague to give you some ideas – the one that you back away from the fastest is the one to try.

Have fun.

Pollyanna Lenkic is the founder of Perspectives Coaching, an Australian based coaching and training company. She is an experienced facilitator, certified coach and a certified practitioner of NLP. In 1990 she co-founded a specialist IT recruitment consultancy in London, which grew to employ 18 people and turnover £11 million ($27 million). This blog is about the mistakes she made and the lessons she learned building a business the first time round and how to do it better second time round. For more information go to www.perspectivescoaching.com.au

For more Second Time Around, click here.