Is It a Stretch Opportunity or Crossing the Line?

There is a time and a place to take on more than what is in your job description. There is also a time and place to push back and make your boundaries clear. We’ve talked in the past about what it looks like to get a stretch opportunity. As well as how important it can be to jump at those when they present themselves.

The flip side of that coin is being asked to work outside of your job requirements, and outside of the boundaries you have established. This creates a gray area. The very point of the stretch opportunity takes you out of your typical day-to-day work in order to stretch your capabilities. It also often requires you to hustle for a short period of time to accomplish it. That is another way of saying you will knowingly push your boundaries. Today, we’ll jump into how you walk that line based off an expert example from one of my clients.

Stretch Opportunities are Critical to Growth

I have to just step up on my soap box for a real quick second here. OK. I’m just going to say, you cannot say no to all stretch opportunities and expect to grow within your profession. You can’t grow anywhere without stretching your mind, body, skills, so why would it be any different at work? Growth comes from the breaking down and building back process so don’t expect it to happen without a little bit of that.

Stretch opportunities are also how organizations show value often times. When you start to get into the mid tiers of The Value Hierarchy, you find that stretch opportunities are a vote of confidence, respect, and give you the opportunity to learn and apply more. If you want to learn more about that, get access to the exclusive audio version of The Value Hierarchy here. Now, there is a time and place to say no. There is also a way to say no that is pretty important to call out too. Let’s dive in.

I Won’t Do it Ida

Meet Ida. Ida is a woman who knows where she is going. We started working together because while she knew what she wanted in her career she needed a little guidance on channeling all of her energy into the most productive ways to get there. Ida is driven, smart, and strong. She is one of those people who would likely be amazing in any role you put her in. (Thus, the reason we needed to channel the energy.) Ida has developed great clarity on where she is going in life. Her vision is crystalized in her mind and all of the goals are falling in line behind it. She has already taken on one stretch opportunity that lead to a promotion. Things were going really well.

Where Ida Entered the Gray Area

To build on her momentum, Ida presented an option for a stretch opportunity herself. This project was creative. It allowed her to build her leadership skills and design a new work plan focused on efficiency. Ida was excited but presenting your own idea is a high risk, high reward step to take. On one hand it shows initiative and drive to make improvements. On the other hand, you can put a pile of work in to present and be told no. (Check out Not Taking Feedback Personally for more on how to handle that.) Ida, unfortunately got a no on her recommendation. Her boss approached with another opportunity, however.

This alternative opportunity required a lot of technical work. It would be intense work that required a lot of head down time and long hours. Is Ida capable of completing this work well, yes. It’s a more intensive version of what she does every day. Is it an area Ida needs, or wants, to stretch into? Not really. She does well with this type of work but wants the opportunity to own and design a project that can make a big splash. Does it cross a boundary, sure does. She already works many hours and does not want to increase them. With two kids in school, she has activities she wants to run them to and wouldn’t be able to take on more time and do that.

So, she said no, sort of.

Ida wasn’t interested in working more hours essentially doing more of the same work. She wanted bigger things for that kind of sacrifice. Besides that, this opportunity wasn’t aligned with what she wanted in the end. It wouldn’t get her closer to her overall vision. So, we devised a response. Ida told her boss that she understood how important it was that this new project get done. She clarified what her project and task priorities were at the time and made a couple of suggestions. There were others that could complete the project based on their skills. They also likely would appreciate a stretch opportunity. She came up with a way to reprioritize her current work so that she could fit this project into her current schedule. Finally, she explained that this isn’t the type of opportunity she was looking for and it wouldn’t take her in the direction she wanted to go.

Didn’t I Say This Was Expert Level?

Ida handled this like a pro. She aligned herself with her vision, took a high-risk chance and fell. She then was given an option that she took the time to mirror against her goals, skills, and boundaries. When it didn’t align she took a leader approach to offer recommendations on how the work could get done, benefit others, and even reasserted her vision and boundaries. (Extra credit points for that last one.)

You Can Own Your Stretch Opportunities Too

Know your vision and how to get there

I seriously can’t say this enough. Create a vision for your life and use it as a north star. Because Ida knows where she’s going, she doesn’t have to waste time, energy, or mistakes on determining where she wants to be. She is able to save all of those for deciding how to get there.

Understand the ask and the impact

Have a very clear picture of what is your responsibility, start getting under this right now if you’re not sure. Ideally, you’d know prior to getting the stretch opportunity. Understand how much time and effort you need to devote to each of them, know what the priorities are and what order they go in.

With that understanding you can more easily identify a stretch opportunity and if you have capacity for it. Also, it will help you determine how it will impact your boundaries. For example, if you can only make about an hour of capacity during your normal work time to complete it, because of everything that currently falls in your responsibility, you need to decide if you can put in more hours. If you’re committed to not spending time with a specific toxic person, and this opportunity would require it, can you do that in the short term?

Communicate your decision

If all is well and the answer is yes. Awesome. Share the good news, with some of the details so your boss understands how you arrived here. Kick off your stretch opportunity and show your stuff!

If not, you may be able to go Ida’s way and avoid a full out no. You’ve done the work through making the decisions so let’s look at some examples on how to communicate.

1. Explain how adding the work that doesn’t serve what you are responsible for will impact the work that you are. Include, how it will impact the most important priorities.
2. Be upfront about what your boundaries are and why you’re not willing to compromise on them. It might be that this isn’t the right project, time, or specific boundary to push. You can share specifically why you’re saying no based on that.
3. Give ideas for people who would be a good fit to do the work. Or an alternative way for the work to get done. Your boss may not take the idea but making that type of suggestion speaks volumes for your critical thinking.
4. Explain your goals and how you’d like to get there. Your development is driven by you. Others can provide suggestions but you own it so taking this initiative is not only good for your clarity but will likely be appreciate by them too.

Have someone to work with

Ida had me to bounce stuff off of and create a plan and strategy with. You need to have someone too. You can work with a friend to be your accountability partner. Find a mentor in your organization to help develop a plan. Or work with a professional coach or consultant for guidance. Find someone you can create a strategy with, celebrate with when it goes well, and who will help dust you off when you fall.