Why Not Go Out On A Limb? That's Where The Fruit Is.

How many little decisions do you make in a day?  A dozen?  A hundred?  Most of the time these little decisions pass us by with nary an afterthought because it really doesn’t matter if we wear the black pants or the navy blue pants, or if we go to the bank before or after we go to the post office.

But sometimes these little decisions do matter – a yes versus a no can take our lives in completely different directions, even if we don’t realize it at the time.  I distinctly remember when I made one of those seemingly inconsequential choices that ended up changing my life, and it occurred on August 4, 2006.

Before I tell you about that, however, let me take you back to 2002 when I first joined the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers.  At the time, I was a newly formed one-person training department whose sole experience was in operations.  After becoming a member of CHART, I suddenly found that I had access to the knowledge base of hundreds of other hospitality trainers, and it really opened up my eyes to what I could accomplish in my job.  I convinced my boss that I need to attend one conference per year, and I went to every session offered to learn as much as I possibly could.  I networked with other trainers to learn how they were doing things back at their companies, and I brought dozens and dozens of great ideas back with me to Ivar’s.  And I started giving back as much I could to CHART – I served as a mentor to First-Time Attendees, I volunteered my time for various conference tasks, and I participated in the service events.

I was learning, sharing, growing, and caring with the very best people, and I told myself that I was getting everything possible out of my CHART membership.

But in reality, I wasn’t getting as much out of it as I could because I was only participating in tasks that were well-within my comfort zone.  I wasn’t really using CHART to stretch my skills or improve myself, but rather to simply learn how to effectively train others.  My membership was helping to transform the employees and managers in my company, but not necessarily helping to transform me.

And then came August 4, 2006.  On that day, just after our summer conference, I received an email from CHART Board Member Curt Archambault in which he asked: “Would you like to be the Regional Training Forum director for the Northwest?  I think you would do a great job.”

My mind immediately filled with reasons why I should decline.  I am too busy.  I don’t know how.  I would never do as good of a job as the previous director.  I’m really way too busy.  I’m scared to fail.  I’m terrible at speaking in public.  Seriously – I am way, way, way too busy to take on that task.

But that’s not how I responded.  Even though my first (and second and third and fourth) inclination was to say no, I didn’t want to let Curt down because he had helped me so much in the past.  So I sent him an email later that day in which I said: “It seems like it’ll be a fun challenge!”  I think I included the exclamation point so that Curt would think I was really excited, but honestly I was pretty sure it would be a disaster.

I got to work and planned my first meeting that fall, and afterward I found out what Curt seemed to know all along: I could do it, and the attendees gave us high marks for the forum.  I was able to overcome the butterflies I had felt in my stomach and do something completely outside of my normal work routine, and the feeling of achievement was incredible.  My professional life really began to change after that day because of the surge of confidence that came from successfully expanding the boundaries of my comfort zone.

I began to see that I could use the opportunities provided by CHART to keep pushing those boundaries and make my comfort zone even bigger, so I decided to volunteer for a conference team.  I ended up as one of the Facilities Directors in Washington, DC, which caused those butterflies to come rushing back – we didn’t even have a projector at Ivar’s yet, so how could I possibly serve as a Facilities Director?  Fortunately, I was paired with an amazingly hard-working partner, Jason Forbes of the Keg Restaurant, and we learned everything we needed to know for the event and were able to get the job done.  Butterflies quashed once again.

I decided to keep pushing myself to try new things and ended up serving on conference teams in Portland, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Las Vegas.  Everything that I had been afraid of in the beginning just sort of faded away more and more after each experience, while at the same time I was able to greatly improve my time management, leadership, and communication skills.  I even worked up enough nerve to deliver two different breakout sessions at CHART conferences in Cleveland and Las Vegas, plus present educational sessions at three National Restaurant Association shows – that was a huge change for me, as I had been terrified of public speaking a few years earlier.

Finally, last year I decided to throw my hat into the ring and run for the CHART Board, and I was lucky enough to win the election (and win again in 2012).  It’s been a fantastic experience so far working with the other board members, and I continue to learn valuable lessons along the way, such as the art of negotiation and the power of small group collaboration.  I’m still pushing my comfort zone bigger and bigger and trying new things, and every time I do it ends up helping me back at my regular job at Ivar’s.

I may have started this journey with a lot of self-doubt, but now I feel like I could handle just about anything thrown my way.  That to me is the real power of an organization like CHART – yes, you can have a great experience just attending the conferences and networking with others, but why settle for simply great when you could have a transformational experience instead?  If you raise your hand, say yes to new opportunities, and push out the walls of your comfort zone, you may be surprised by the tremendous amount of growth that can follow.  For me, answering Curt’s email with “it seems like it’ll be a fun challenge” has helped me more than any other professional decision I have ever made, and I don’t even like to think about how far back I would be as a trainer and a leader if I had said “no.”

So when the chance presents itself, please consider more than just attending a CHART conference or a forum and volunteer to serve in whatever capacity you can – it could literally change your life.  I know it might seem scary and risky at first, but that’s the only way to get the rewards.  Or as Will Rogers once said: “Why not go out on a limb?  That's where the fruit is.”