This week our guest blogger is Clare Norman who works in Leadership Development for a global professional service firm. We have been learning together for about ten years since she participated in our Action Learning Set Facilitator Training.
Clare writes: “I am about to embark on a new period of study, learning how to be a coach supervisor. As I get prepared, I have been reminding myself that there are going to be periods of discomfort, as I learn this new skill. We don’t go on courses to do things that we already find easy, after all. We go to stretch ourselves and discover new ways of doing things. And discomfort will be a side-effect of that process.
Brene Brown, in her book Daring Greatly, talks about why we often don’t give feedback. One of the reasons is discomfort. We shy away from things that are hard. But she rightly points out that we need to normalize what’s difficult. Giving feedback isn’t a comfortable experience for the most part. But that doesn’t automatically make it a bad thing, or something to be avoided. On the contrary, it helps the receiver to learn and grow. If you want people around you to think critically and to change, you need to get used to the discomfort of giving feedback. It might get easier over time, but don’t expect that – expect discomfort, see it as normal, and start communicating more directly with people around you.
If you’re comfortable, then you are not teaching and others are not learning.”
If you liked this post, hop over to Clare’s blog Being a Sunbeam, and sign up to receive her posts.
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