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You're listening to the Mental Notes Podcast. In this episode, founder Scott Dow explains how to help people grow beyond their comfort zone.

Every boss has a reputation, and the best reputation you can have is being a good teacher. The next time you interview somebody, ask them to describe the very best boss they ever worked for. I bet they talk about how much they learned from that boss. If you want to be a good boss, you have to be a good teacher. Good teachers help their students go beyond their comfort zone.

How do you do that? To help someone go beyond their comfort zone, you have to help them develop four things: interest, opportunities, confidence, and resilience. Without these four things, people tend to stay in their comfort zone.

Think about it. You have to develop interest in something outside their comfort zone or they'll lack the motivation to venture outside of it. You have to develop opportunities for them to get outside the comfort zone, or they'll lack the direction. You have to develop their confidence to try new things, or they'll lack courage. You have to develop the resilience to keep trying or they'll give up easily.

Interest is based on curiosity so you need to get people curious about something outside their comfort zone. How do you do that? You focus on their aspirations. Aspirations require something new. A new skill, experience, relationship, or accomplishment. Just because something is new doesn't make me curious, but if that something new is tied to something I really want, then I get curious. Now you've got my attention. You've captured my interest.

The best opportunity is a chance to learn through trial and error. If someone needs to improve their presentation skills, have them make a lot of presentations. If they lack confidence, creating opportunities for them to watch others making presentations, they can learn and grow confidence vicariously.

To develop resilience, have people talk about their past accomplishments. People love to talk about what they've done, and their story almost always includes setbacks, disappointments, and adversity.

Sometimes people just need to be reminded that the things they are most proud of didn't come easy, and that if they aspire to something new, that's outside of their comfort zone, they're going to have to be resilient again.

A quick recap. Good managers are good teachers and good teachers help their students go beyond their comfort zones. To do that, you have to generate interest, opportunities, confidence, and resilience.

The best way to practice this is on yourself. From time to time, stop and ask yourself these questions: What are my aspirations? What skills do these aspirations require? What opportunities can I pursue or ask for? Which of my strengths can I play to? What adversity can I expect? What are the similar challenges I've already overcome?

Self reflection is a part of your self coaching practice, and this is a form of self reflection. The more repetitions you get practicing this on yourself, the easier it's going to be to apply with others.

You've got a good teacher in your background. Remember what they were like, remember how they served you, then pay that forward to the people working for you today.