It’s hard to believe but my time with Challenge Detroit is quickly winding down – much to my dismay.  This past Friday was our last Leadership Friday and we spent some time reflecting on what we had gained from the program.  I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting lately and I keep thinking back to my first blog on Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone.  I wrote about how this group of people, who had been complete strangers just a few hours earlier, had encouraged and assisted me with stepping outside of my comfort zone.  As I think back on these past 10 months, I realize that they have never stopped supporting and pushing me.

I would say 85% of my being doesn’t really care for change; it’s the other 15% that brought me to Challenge Detroit.  Since the whole point of the program is to create change, I clearly should have realized I would be surrounded by a bunch of people who are constantly challenging the status quo. But I’ve always been a rule follower and assume that there must be a logical reason for why something is the way it is.  I mean what’s so terrible about driving your car 2 miles, and why can’t we do the presentation the same way we did it the last 5 times?  This year has taught me the importance of not getting stuck in a routine.

I’d like to say that I’ve completely embraced change but it’s something that I still find difficult.  However, I have learned that you should ALWAYS surround yourself with people who live for making change.  They push you outside your comfort zone, challenge you to think differently, and make you grow in ways you didn’t know were possible.  I am a better person than I was 10 months ago because of this opportunity, and even though we’ll all be traveling down different paths after Challenge, I know that I can reach out to any of these change agents years down the road and within 15 minutes (tops) they will be challenging my thoughts and forcing me to step outside my comfort zone.  For that, I am grateful.

Challenge Detroit Year 3 Fellows

Challenge Detroit Year 3 Fellows