Beyond the Comfort Zone: How Saying Yes Can Change a Career

“Don’t Volunteer for Anything.”

That was the advice passed down by more than one seasoned agent when I started in federal law enforcement. Keep your head down. Don’t raise your hand. Just do your time.

I understood where that mindset came from: burnout, bureaucracy, maybe a little self-preservation. But public service doesn’t thrive on caution alone. Real growth often starts when we say yes to the unfamiliar.

Research backs that up: stretch assignments, which are those that demand new thinking or skills, are among the most powerful drivers of leadership development (McCauley et al., 1994). And they rarely come when it’s convenient.

Growth Doesn’t Come Scheduled

No one ever feels fully ready for that first out-of-scope assignment. But saying yes anyway can open doors you didn’t know existed and shape a career in unexpected ways.

Early in my career, I volunteered to teach new investigators at a law enforcement academy in Mexico. Thirty days of adapting across cultures and languages pushed me harder than I expected. But that one “yes” gave me the confidence to raise my hand again.

Since then, I’ve accepted roles that took me across the southern and northern borders, into headquarters policy work in D.C., temporarily running the expansion of a national victim assistance program, and crisis operations resettling displaced populations. Some roles lasted weeks or months. Others became turning points. Each one taught me something new about systems, leadership, and myself.

This discomfort has a name in psychology: productive struggle. The Yerkes-Dodson Law suggests that moderate stress, not panic, can lead to optimal learning and performance (Yerkes & Dodson, 1908).

When Experience Isn’t Enough

For years, I believed experience was enough. I wasn’t the academic type, and I didn’t think formal education would make me more capable. But at some point, I realized I wanted to sharpen my thinking, not just my instincts.

With some encouragement (okay, a push) from my wife, I enrolled in graduate school. Balancing work, life, and study was one of the most uncomfortable things I’ve ever done, but also one of the most rewarding. I recently earned my master’s in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Harvard.

That shift from relying on instinct to integrating research, reflection, and theory mirrors Kolb’s experiential learning model. Experience is powerful, but only when we pause to reflect and reframe it (Kolb, 1984).

A Shared Challenge

None of the moves I’ve made were required. All of them stretched me. But every step outside my comfort zone added a new layer to what I could contribute.

And it’s not too late to grow. Adult development research shows we’re capable of building more complex ways of thinking well into midlife and beyond, especially when we confront new demands (Kegan, 1994).

If you're working in local government, federal service, or anywhere in between, here’s the truth: the discomfort of saying yes to something new is temporary. The value it adds lasts a lifetime.

A Question for You

What opportunity have you been sitting on because it felt outside your lane?

Will you say yes when the uncomfortable presents itself?

That might be the one that changes everything.

Further Reading & References

McCauley, C. D., Ruderman, M. N., Ohlott, P. J., & Morrow, J. E. (1994). Assessing the developmental components of managerial jobs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(4), 544–560.

Yerkes, R. M., & Dodson, J. D. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 18(5), 459–482.

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice-Hall.

Kegan, R. (1994). In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life. Harvard University Press.