Your Wheelhouse: Why It Needs to Grow!

Is your wheelhouse ready?

In business or education, competition is all around us.  Whether it's in your technology tools or business practices, change is a constant.  Being flexible and adaptive can go along way to making your work place more enjoyable, often less stressful and more productive.  Your "wheelhouse", a term that refers to someones skills level, personal strengths, or level of comfort with something, needs to grow to meet that level of competition!  As a technology coordinator at a private school, when planning new technology training sessions or challenging faculty with new project ideas, I hear all to often that faculty are uncomfortable with change or the dreaded phrase "That's just not in my wheelhouse."  That phrase tells more about you than you might think or want for that matter.  In fact, its a phrase you should rarely use, if at all!  The phrase itself is synonymous with the mindset that ones wheelhouse is a set number of skills, or in some way an unchangeable level of comfort. When in fact it needs to be the opposite.  The point here is that your "wheelhouse" needs to grow!

Age is only a problem if you stop growing!

"This is not about age, but rather in your ability and willingness to change."

Having said that, change is hard.  You have to recognize that the older we get or the bigger and older  the company becomes, whether we are in business or education (though they are more alike than many think) change is hard and often slow.  But the reality is that we are living in an increasingly competitive world where the market we thought we were competing was geographically small.  That's not completely true anymore.  Companies compete with other companies from around the globe.  Education is no different.  Competition comes in many forms like school voucher programs, online schools, magnet schools and private schools are everywhere and available to almost anyone who applies.  We are a more competitive entity than ever before and education is no exception.

"As leaders in business or education you have to create a positive culture that change is a constant and adaptation just might be the most important skill you can bring to the table. "

How you prepare for that level of competition really depends on your "wheelhouse."  As leaders in business or education you have to create a positive culture that change is a constant and adaptation just might be the most important skill you can bring to the table.  That failure happens, but understanding that you need it to grow (just not that often!).  Does your organization have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset?  In case you were wondering, just take a look at new initiatives and directions your work place is moving, if any.  Who are they hiring and what skills do they bring to the table (hiring tips here!)?  Are you being asked to do things you have never done before?  Feeling uncomfortable?  Then chances are your organization is growing and changing...and your wheelhouse needs to grow with it!  I've had the chance to be part of a team that has input on who we hire.  As you may have guessed, not only are we looking for people who have certain skills, but also for those who can adapt and grow.  The sports analogy, which I try and refrain from, is that colleges are looking for more 3 sport athletes than the student who played just one sport.  Why?  Because they have a bigger wheelhouse and can adapt and grow when needed.

These times they are a changin'...are you?

Questions to consider:
So how do you cultivate that kind of development?  How can you push your employees to grow while still maintaining a constant level of competency and accomplishments?  How can you shift your school or companies course and vision to adapt and compete at new levels?

It comes down to leadership and people.  Leadership development is about taking people out of their comfort zone putting them in a place that's not in their wheelhouse. Putting your employees in a place where there is an opportunity to develop new tools and skills that they don't have in their wheelhouse yet.  This is not about age, but rather in your ability and willingness to change.  Great leadership understands that failure is part of growth, but also that at some point the onus is on you to grow...or get out of the way.