definition of stretch assignment

Stretch Assignments: What Are They and Is Your Employee Ready For One?

Stretch assignments are a cornerstone of a strong employee development plan. A statement that is backed by a number of research studies. In one conducted by the Harvard Business Review of 823 executives, it was found that 71% of respondents said stretch assignments had the biggest impact on unleashing their potential. In another, this one conducted by Korn Ferry, stretch assignments were named the most valuable developmental experience, ahead of things like mentoring, classroom training, 360-degree assessments, and even exposure to senior leaders.

An intentional and strategic stretch assignment can go a long way in accelerating an employee’s development or supporting the trajectory of their career at your organization, though their success relies heavily on the one assigning the task - their leader.

In the following article, you will learn more about what stretch assignments are, what they are not, how to tell when an employee is ready for one, and more. Let’s begin.

What are Stretch Assignments?

While there are countless ways to define a stretch assignment, the following definition from BeLeaderly perfectly sums it up for the purposes of this article: “Stretch assignments are temporary, internal learning gigs that simultaneously offer an employee a chance to develop new skills while helping the organization solve a real business problem.”

Most commonly, stretch assignments are implemented to prepare an employee for an upcoming promotion, engage a high-performing employee, encourage skill development, or evaluate an employee’s level of interest or aptitude for another role.

As the name implies, stretch assignments mean they “stretch” or challenge an employee to think and act outside their comfort zone or day-to-day job. But what exactly makes a stretch assignment challenging ?

• It presents employees with an unfamiliar challenge
• It challenges an employee to create change
• It gives an employee a high level of responsibility
• It challenges an employee to work cross-functionally

At this point, it is important to define what stretch assignments are not. Stretch assignments are not a chance for you to hand off work you do not want to do. They should also not be what Korn Ferry calls “glass-cliff projects.” According to them, “stretch assignments and glass-cliff projects both involve some risk and often include crisis situations, but one is about building your skills and the other is about proving your worth, despite your many successes. One is encouraging; the other is an affront.”

4 Signs Your Employee Is Ready For a Stretch Assignment

Of course, there is a fine line between “stretching” or challenging an employee and overwhelming them. To help you distinguish if an employee is ready for and can handle a stretch assignment or not, here are a few key things to consider: 

• Their Track Record An employee who is ready for a stretch assignment and can handle it will not only have a history of successful projects and good performance, but will have a track record of asking for help when they need it, respecting boundaries, proactively seeking learning opportunities, and taking accountability for their actions (whether good or bad). These behaviors show a level of discretion that is imperative to the success of a stretch assignment, where an employee is outside of their comfort zone.
• Their Engagement According to Gallup , “engaged employees are highly involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace. They are psychological ‘owners,’ drive high performance and innovation, and move the organization forward.” Whereas, “actively disengaged employees aren't just unhappy at work - they are resentful that their needs aren't being met and are acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers potentially undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.” Fortunately, stretch assignments are an ideal chance to further engage already engaged employees and those bordering on disengaged. You should be quite certain that the individual you will give the assignment to will see it as a positive opportunity and be willing to do their best work, not just because they have to, but because they want to.

An employee who has been given a stretch assignment is going to need your support more so than they would for their everyday job. Therefore, before you give a stretch assignment, be sure you have the availability and capacity to proactively support your employee from start to finish. 

• Your Relationship Given the nature of stretch assignments, there is always a risk of failure and for some employees, failure is hard to handle even if it is a valuable learning experience. That is why it is so important to have a relationship built on trust before delegating a stretch assignment. Your employee needs to feel comfortable sharing their challenges and questions without fear of judgment, or else they might try to “go at it alone,” which is ultimately where people get themselves into trouble.

2 Major Things to Be Aware of With Stretch Assignments

• Stretch Assignments Should Not Impede An Employee’s Day-to-Day Job As a leader, you need to closely monitor the progress of a stretch assignment, the well-being of your employee, and the health of their day-to-day roles and responsibilities. If your employee is suddenly working an exorbitant amount or is showing signs of burnout , then you need to be prepared to step in. While the stretch assignment is important, it should not put your employee's core roles and responsibilities , not to mention their wellbeing, at risk. If this becomes an issue, use it as a learning opportunity to help the employee identify their signs of burnout and set boundaries .
• Stretch Assignments Need to be Fairly Distributed The unfortunate reality is stretch assignments are not always fairly distributed and accessible to all employees. This was highlighted in a study from BeLeaderly , which found that “women are less likely than men to receive challenging stretch assignments.” The report noted that “when stretch assignments are unclear, unadvertised, and unevenly offered, it makes women hesitate even more to pursue them. On the other hand, taking an open, equitable approach to stretch opportunities can create a thriving internal gig economy - one that’s accessible to all. This not only helps employees advance in the short term, but it can also set the course for diversifying, and therefore strengthening, your leadership ranks in the long term.” So, how can you ensure the distribution of stretch assignments is fair? According to a report by Catalyst , they recommend leaders link the distribution of stretch assignments to performance reviews, review the allocation of stretch assignments to ensure equitable distribution among women and equity-seeking groups, as well as consider providing new hires with a stretch assignment or assigning new hires to a team working on a stretch assignment. 

Employees who are given a stretch assignment will require more support, guidance, and encouragement than an average employee. Though the effort is well worth it as stretch assignments contribute to employee engagement, morale, satisfaction, productivity, and success, which in turn contributes to your success as their leader. It’s a win-win!

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That actually explain what's on your next test, stretch assignments, from class:, management of human resources.

Stretch assignments are challenging tasks or projects given to employees that push them beyond their current capabilities, aimed at developing their skills and potential. These assignments often require employees to step out of their comfort zones, enhancing their learning and readiness for future leadership roles. By engaging in stretch assignments, employees can gain valuable experience, showcase their abilities, and prepare for higher responsibilities within an organization.

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5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

• Stretch assignments can improve employee engagement by providing opportunities for growth and development.
• They serve as a critical tool in identifying and nurturing high-potential employees for future leadership positions.
• Organizations that implement stretch assignments often see increased innovation as employees bring fresh perspectives to their roles.
• These assignments can also enhance team dynamics, as employees collaborate on challenging projects that require diverse skill sets.
• Successful completion of stretch assignments can lead to higher job satisfaction and retention rates among employees.

Review Questions

• Stretch assignments play a crucial role in the development of high-potential employees by providing them with challenging tasks that expand their skills and capabilities. By engaging in these assignments, employees are encouraged to step out of their comfort zones, which fosters both personal and professional growth. This approach not only enhances their learning but also prepares them for future leadership roles, ensuring that the organization has a strong pipeline of capable leaders.
• Stretch assignments significantly impact succession planning by identifying individuals who demonstrate potential for higher-level roles. Through these challenging experiences, organizations can evaluate how employees respond to pressure, learn new skills, and adapt to complex situations. This insight allows organizations to make informed decisions about who should be considered for future leadership positions, ultimately strengthening their succession planning process.
• Effectively implementing stretch assignments can have a profound influence on an organization's overall performance and innovation. By encouraging employees to take on challenging projects, organizations foster a culture of continuous learning and adaptability. This not only enhances employee engagement but also leads to innovative solutions as diverse ideas are brought forth in tackling complex tasks. As a result, organizations that embrace stretch assignments are likely to see improved performance metrics and a more dynamic work environment.

Related terms

High-Potential Employees : Individuals identified within an organization as having the potential to grow into leadership roles due to their skills, performance, and capacity for growth.

Mentorship : A developmental relationship where a more experienced individual provides guidance and support to a less experienced person, often helping them navigate challenges in their career.

Career Development : The continuous process of managing one's learning, work experiences, and career path to achieve personal and professional goals.

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• Fundamentals of Creative Development
• Organizational Behavior
• Principles of International Business
• The Dynamics of Leading Organizations

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Stretch Assignment

What Are Stretch Assignments?

Why are stretch assignments beneficial.

• Catalyzes growth. These dynamic projects or tasks are designed to propel employees out of their comfort zones and catapult them into the realm of professional growth. By taking on unfamiliar responsibilities, employees are exposed to fresh challenges and opportunities to develop new skills and knowledge. It's like strapping a rocket to their career trajectory.
• Supercharges engagement and motivation. We all know that engaged employees are the heart and soul of any thriving organization. Stretch assignments inject a much-needed dose of excitement and purpose into the work lives of your employees. By entrusting them with challenging projects, you're sending a clear message: We believe in you. Their commitment, initiative, and creativity skyrocket, resulting in a turbocharged organization firing on all cylinders.
• Builds confidence and resilience. Stretch assignments give employees the perfect training ground for building confidence and resilience. As they conquer challenges and complete demanding projects, their sense of accomplishment skyrockets, boosting confidence levels and fueling a can-do attitude. Plus, the resilience developed through stretch assignments equips employees to navigate change and uncertainty with ease, making them valuable assets to your organization.

Types of Stretch Assignments

The skill-building extravaganza, the cross-functional adventure, the project of epic proportions, the innovation challenge, the client-facing expedition, how to implement stretch assignments in the workplace, step 1: align assignments with development goals, step 2: provide support and resources, step 3: set clear objectives and expectations, step 4: recognize and celebrate achievements, challenges associated with stretch assignments, challenge 1: the comfort zone conundrum.

• Understand the employee's perspective. Recognize that employees may be hesitant to take on stretch assignments due to various reasons such as fear of failure, lack of confidence, or concerns about work-life balance. Take the time to listen and understand their concerns before addressing them.
• Communicate the value . Clearly explain how the assignment can enhance their skill or broaden their experience and highlight the positive impact it can have on their career trajectory.
• Provide support and resources. Assure employees that they will receive the necessary support, guidance, and resources to succeed in the stretch assignment. Offer training, mentorship, and coaching to help them build the skills and confidence required for the task. Reassure them that you are invested in their success.
• Set realistic expectations .Ensure that employees understand the expectations and scope of the stretch assignment. Clearly define the goals, deliverables, and timelines involved. Break down the assignment into manageable steps and provide a roadmap for success. This will help alleviate concerns and make the assignment less daunting.

Challenge 2: Time and Resource Crunch

Challenge 3: skills gaps, challenge 4: balancing act, challenge 5: ensuring equity, evaluation and reflection, assess progress and outcomes, support reflection, refine and improve.

Brandi M Fannell, Ph.D.

How do stretch assignments differ from traditional job assignments?

Can stretch assignments be used for all employees, or are they only for high-performing employees, how long should a stretch assignment last.

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Embracing Learning through Stretch Assignments: A Guide to Success

Updated: Aug 7

Industries now evolve 5 times faster than 5 years ago. With unrelenting change, adaptability is essential. McKinsey ( 2019) finds leaders exposed to 5+ functions and 3+ countries become 69% more change-ready. Harvard Business Review (2020) analysis shows broad experiences expand perspectives to envision transformation. Further studies show experiential learning opportunities directly enable greater agility—employees with wider skillsets adjust up to 40% quicker to disruptions.

This blog explores how "stretch assignments" and experiential learning are not just beneficial but essential for thriving in such a fast-paced environment. We delve into the intricacies of implementing successful stretch assignments and how they can be a key to not only surviving but excelling in today's ever-changing work world.

Stretch assignments are developmental projects that push people beyond their comfort zones. By tackling unfamiliar responsibilities, employees expand their skill sets and perspectives.

Stretch assignments are impactful for several reasons. They provide real-world practice, enhance problem-solving abilities, build resilience, boost engagement, and promote leadership skills. With continuous feedback and learning, employees progress in their careers and become better equipped to drive innovation.

9 key experiences that you should consider as stretch assignments:

Operational Delivery : Leading a project to enhance the efficiency of a critical production process.

Unfamiliar Environment : Taking a short-term role in a different department or geographical location.

People Management : Managing a cross-functional team on a high-profile project.

Global Remit : Overseeing a project with team members from multiple international offices.

Change Management : Leading an initiative to implement a new organisational structure.

Growth:  Developing and executing a plan to enter a new market.

Start-up:  Launching a new product line or service from scratch.

Turnaround : Revitalizing a struggling business unit or product.

Special Project : Managing a corporate social responsibility project with high visibility.

If you want to learn more about these key experiences, download our 9 Key Experiences to Develop Future-ready Leaders Handbook. Click here to download

The effectiveness of 'learning by doing' through stretch assignments critically depends on addressing 4 specific elements essential for success. This comprehensive guide explores these four elements, offering insights and practical strategies to maximise the benefits of learning through stretch assignments.

Element 1: Overcoming Organisational Resistance to Experiential Learning

One significant obstacle in implementing stretch assignments is overcoming organisational resistance to experiential learning. This resistance often stems from a lack of understanding of the practical benefits of 'learning by doing,' apprehension about the outcomes, or a preference for more traditional, structured learning methods such as classroom-based or e-learning modules. Overcoming resistance to stretch assignments requires a proactive and positive approach that emphasises educating and showcasing their tangible advantages, which can be achieved through securing management buy-in, effective internal communication of successes, and positioning HR as a facilitator of experiential learning opportunities:

Management Buy-In : Securing the active endorsement and support of top management for stretch assignments is essential. When leaders share their personal experiences with stretch assignments, they highlight their value in personal and organisational growth, effectively linking development with success.

Effective Internal Communication : Consistent communication about the successes and benefits of stretch assignments is critical. Showcasing stories of employee growth and their contributions to organisational objectives can help create a positive outlook towards experiential learning.

HR's Role in Facilitating Experiential Learning : The Human Resources department should be at the forefront of creating and implementing frameworks for experiential learning opportunities. Organising focus groups with senior leaders to discuss and share their experiences with major projects and stretch assignments not only reinforces the value of experiential learning but also serves as a powerful reminder of its effectiveness to the leadership team.

Experiential development is the key to new supercharged leadership qualities: Read here

Element 2: Securing the Right Stretch Role

In the second element of our exploration into stretch assignments, we focus on the critical factors of ensuring that the stretch role that has been selected for an employee is right. This involves careful consideration of several key criteria, including aligning the role with both the individual's career path and the organisation's objectives, determining the optimal level of challenge to encourage growth without overwhelming, and clearly defining role objectives and expectations. By paying close attention to these factors, we can significantly enhance the effectiveness and impact of stretch assignments in employee development. It’s important to set employees up for success.

Let's delve into these critical success factors in more detail.

Firstly, Strategic Alignment: It is crucial to select stretch roles that align with the employee's career trajectory while contributing significantly to the organisation's objectives. This approach ensures the unlocking of potential with precision. When both individual and organisational goals are aligned to the stretch role, both the individual and the organisation are going to care more about making the assignment a success. 

Secondly, Optimal Challenge Level: The role should present an appropriate level of challenge, promoting autonomy and decision-making in employees. This balance fosters innovation and growth while ensuring the role remains achievable and the employee is not overstretched.

To determine if a role offers the right level of stretch, consider these aspects:

Employee’s Reaction and Confidence Level :

Observe the employee's initial reaction to the assignment. Signs of excessive anxiety or doubt may suggest the role is too challenging. In contrast, if they seem too comfortable or unchallenged, the role may not be challenging enough. The ideal stretch induces cautious optimism and an eagerness to embrace the challenge.

Past Performance and Learning Curve : Evaluate the employee’s historical performance and adaptability in similar contexts. If they have consistently managed slightly challenging tasks well, a more demanding assignment could be appropriate. On the other hand, if they have struggled with moderate challenges before, a more modest assignment would be advisable. The role should encourage them to utilise and expand upon their existing skills and knowledge.

Time and Effort Estimation : Assess the required time and effort for the assignment relative to the employee's current workload and abilities. A suitably challenging assignment should necessitate a substantial, yet manageable, increase in effort and time beyond their usual responsibilities. If the role demands an inordinate amount of time or effort well beyond the scope of their current position, it may be excessively challenging.

The final factor in securing the right role is Role Clarity: It is essential to clearly define the objectives and expectations of the stretch role. Regular check-ins and documented goals are vital for maintaining alignment and clarity, particularly in roles that are new or involve novel challenges. For those in the earlier stages of their career, roles with well-defined parameters often prove more successful as stretch assignments.

Element 3: Preparing the Employee for the Stretch Role

This third section is focused on providing employees with the essential preparation and support they need to successfully navigate and thrive in their stretch roles. The right preparation and support are crucial in ensuring the employee is not only ready but also set up for success in their stretch role. 

First, start with a skills assessment. Conducting a skills assessment is vital because it helps to identify the specific competencies an employee currently possesses and the areas where they may need further development. This assessment ensures that the employee is placed in a stretch role that is challenging yet achievable, aligning with their existing skills and potential for growth. By understanding their strengths and weaknesses, the assignment can be tailored to maximise learning and minimise the risk of failure, making the experience both developmental and beneficial for the individual and the organisation.

For high-stretch roles, it pays off to assess additional aspects to ensure the role is both safe and developmental. This can be done through a semi-structured interview. 

Additional aspects to assess include:

Assess the candidate's ability to adapt to new situations and learn quickly from experiences

Consider their level of emotional intelligence, including self-awareness, empathy, and ability to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically

Gauge their tolerance for ambiguity and change and their resilience in the face of challenges

Review their past performances, especially in challenging situations, to predict future potential and development areas

Understand their career goals and motivation to ensure alignment with the objectives of the stretch assignment

Secondly, providing comprehensive and balanced support with realistic goals is crucial in the preparation for a stretch role. This involves offering robust mentorship and guidance to help employees navigate new challenges they might encounter. Furthermore, it's important to set achievable, clearly defined goals that are in alignment with the employee's capabilities and the objectives of the stretch role.

Regular and constructive feedback is essential to aid in their development and to adjust goals as necessary. Encouraging a work-life balance is also key, especially considering the extra effort and time that a stretch role might require; this can be supported through flexible working conditions. Additionally, ensuring that employees have access to the necessary resources and training to develop skills and address knowledge gaps identified in the assessment is vital for their success and growth in the new role.

Finally, creating a safe-to-fail environment : Cultivate a culture where failure is viewed as a stepping stone to learning. Emotional support and recognition of efforts, irrespective of outcomes, are essential. Not every stretch project goes as well as expected, sometimes not through the fault of the employee but because the role has changed. 

Here are our top quick tips for creating a ‘safe to fail environment’ 

Have leaders publicly discuss their own early failures and career detours. Vulnerability from the top makes it psychologically safer.

Separate performance reviews from assignment-based development initiatives. Ensure stretch projects are evaluated independently from day-to-day job effectiveness.

Set explicit expectations that stretch initiatives likely only have a 60% probability of fully realizing the original intent. Frame them as learning journeys.

Build slack time into participant schedules - roughly 20% - for reflection and application of learning during experimental projects.

Establish formal mentorship check-ins for talent in stretch roles to discuss learnings separate from line managers.

Publicly celebrate examples of teams pivoting ambitious initiatives due to external variables rather than viewing them as failures.

Element 4: Recognising and Advancing Career through Stretch Assignments

The recognition of the efforts and learning gained from stretch assignments is vital in ensuring they are seen as valuable experiences. And so is the need to continue an employee’s development journey after the completion of the stretch assignment. 

Continuing an employee's development following a stretch assignment is crucial for several reasons. 

First, it maintains employee engagement by acknowledging and rewarding the extra effort and risks undertaken during the assignment. This recognition helps employees see the tangible benefits of their hard work.

Secondly, ongoing development is key to retaining talent . Without meaningful opportunities for further growth or new challenges post-assignment, employees, particularly those with high potential, might feel undervalued and consider leaving the organisation. This could lead to a loss of critical talent.

Furthermore, it's important for other employees and line managers in the organisation to see the value of taking developmental risks. When they observe that personal and professional growth leads to positive outcomes, it encourages a culture of development and risk-taking for the greater good of the organisation.

Finally, post-assignment development helps in leveraging the investment made in an employee's growth during the stretch assignment. Stretch assignments inherently involve risks, including the possibility of personal or organisational setbacks. However, when employees successfully navigate these challenges, they emerge with enhanced skills and experience. Effectively utilizing these new competencies not only benefits the individual but also contributes significantly to the organisation's growth and success.

At the end of a stretch assignment, it is vital, as a first step, to update the employee’s personal development plan to address outstanding development areas and to capture future career aspirations. This must include inclusion in succession planning to understand and prepare for future roles and responsibilities. As a next step, consideration must be given to the person’s next role. There may not always be the right follow-on role available for an employee who has completed a stretch assignment, however, there are other ways to keep them learning and to harness their new skills and experiences. 

Three ways to continue the development journey in the absence of an immediately suitable role:

Follow-Up Projects: Engage in subsequent projects that build on the skills and experiences gained. This can include cross-functional collaboration working on diverse projects to apply skills in different contexts.

Mentorship or Coaching: Work with a mentor or coach to actively work on any remaining development areas to smooth the way to a new role or promotion.

Networking: Actively facilitate networking with senior stakeholders to open doors to new roles and opportunities. This may include regular meetings with senior leaders or participation in senior leadership meetings. 

When effectively executed and supported, stretch assignments can serve as a catalyst for substantial growth, both for the individual and the organisation. The four essential elements to consider are embracing organisational change, selecting the appropriate stretch role, effectively preparing the employee, and acknowledging their efforts and the insights gained. This comprehensive approach maximises the benefits of learning through stretch assignments. It not only encourages personal development but also contributes to the overall success of the organisation, fostering an environment where continuous learning and adaptability are key.

Having explored the impactful nature of stretch assignments and the strategies for their successful implementation, it's vital to take the next step in advancing your leadership development. To deepen your understanding and enhance your capabilities, we encourage you to download our in-depth guide, '9 Key Experiences to Develop Future-Ready Leaders'.

Download your free copy now 

Not sure which key experience to dive into? Let fate decide! Spin the roulette and embrace the challenge that lands your way. It's a fun, exciting, and somewhat mysterious way to discover what your career might be missing.

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The power and purpose of stretch assignments in career advancement

By Diyaa Mani January 19, 2024

Updated September 12, 2024

What are stretch assignments?

Stuck in a career rut? Feel ready to push boundaries and expand your skill set? Or do you feel ready for more and need the right opportunity to prove it? Enter stretch assignments: challenging projects to propel individuals beyond their comfort zones and ignite career growth. They are professional boot camps offering opportunities to lead cross-functional teams, tackle complex problems, or master entirely new skills.

These aren't just resume fillers; they're springboards to professional advancement. Discover hidden talents, impress key stakeholders, and watch your career ascend. Embrace the learning curve, the inevitable stumbles, and the thrill of overcoming them. It's an investment in your professional future, with the potential to unlock your full potential and take your career to the next level.

Ready to dive deeper? This article will guide you to identify the perfect stretch assignments for you, navigate their challenges with poise, and leverage them for maximum career impact:

• The power of stretch assignments: How they can help you get ahead in your career

The purpose of stretch assignments: How employers can use it to discover employee potential

Navigating the challenges of stretch assignments, fast-track your career with airswift, the power of stretch assignments : how they can help you get ahead in your career.

The power of stretch assignments lies in their ability to propel individuals beyond their comfort zones, acting as catalysts for continuous learning and growth.

These challenging projects develop new skills, boost confidence, enhance visibility, and open doors to unexpected career paths, ultimately shaping a dynamic and resilient professional journey.

Developing new skills and expertise

Learning new things is crucial for professional growth, and stretch assignments are like rocket fuel. These challenging tasks push you outside your comfort zone, forcing you to break free from your usual routine and pick up new skills.

Whether mastering a new software tool, leading a team on a project, or honing your communication skills, stretch assignments make you a more well-rounded professional.

Imagine an IT pro tackling a complex project with a diverse team. They conquer the technical aspects and learn essential project management skills like planning, budgeting, and delegation.

This experience broadens their skills, making them adaptable and ready for any challenge. By the end, they're not just technical whizzes but a well-equipped leader.

The benefits go beyond the individual. When employees learn and grow, the whole organisation thrives. A dynamic workforce with diverse skills and fresh perspectives sparks innovation and continuous improvement.

Those who embrace stretch assignments become valuable assets, bringing new ideas and approaches. This collective growth makes the organisation agile and competitive, able to navigate the ever-changing professional landscape.

Boosting confidence and growth mindset

Tackling challenging tasks is like dipping your toes into a chilly pool – it might be scary at first, but it can feel amazing on the other side. Stretch assignments are challenging projects that push you beyond your usual routine and comfort zone. But here's the thing: they're also powerful tools for building confidence and a growth mindset.

Imagine conquering a complex project you initially felt unsure about. That triumphant feeling? That's the confidence blooming! It's not just about mastering new skills for that specific project; it's about realising you can tackle anything you want.

Overcoming hurdles builds resilience and leaves you feeling like you can take on anything the professional world throws your way.

Stretch assignments are like personal cheerleaders for this way of thinking. They encourage you to see challenges as chances to learn and grow instead of walls to block progress.

Your talent and skills matter, sure, but renowned psychologist Carol Dweck says it's your approach that makes the difference. By embracing this, you will take a major step towards conquering career obstacles such as impostor syndrome .

So, always remember, with this combination of stretch assignments and a growth mindset, you're not just getting skilled up. You're developing a "can-do" attitude that keeps you learning and adapting.

Enhancing visibility and reputation

Taking on a challenging project at work can feel like stepping into the spotlight. Stretch assignments, often involving high-impact tasks or leadership roles, are your chance to show off your skills and make a big impression.

Imagine a marketing whiz leading a complex campaign. Everyone sees their talent in action as they navigate deadlines, budgets, and creative hurdles. Their success doesn't just boost their confidence; it gets noticed by colleagues, bosses, and even other departments. This "buzz" about their abilities opens doors to exciting opportunities: promotions, invitations to key meetings, you name it.

The more individuals tackle tough assignments and deliver results, the more they're seen as competent and proactive. This builds a strong reputation and paves the way for a brighter future within the company.

Completing a stretch assignment isn't just about learning new skills. It's about showcasing your potential and launching yourself towards the next level.

Discovering new career paths

Think of stretch assignments as stepping stones leading beyond your usual work routine. They're your chance to explore different corners of your field, like trying on different shoes to see which fit best. Working on cross-functional projects or tackling tasks outside your comfort zone gives you a taste of what different roles involve.

Imagine an engineer on a cross-functional project suddenly fascinated by product development. Who knew they had a hidden passion for turning ideas into things? This newfound exposure broadens their skills and opens their eyes to exciting career paths they have never considered before.

These discoveries can lead to some amazing things. Our engineer fired up about product development, might start seeking out roles that let them build and craft things. They might seek promotions, ask for projects that align with their new interest, or even create initiatives that blend their existing skills with their newfound passion.

Stretch assignments don't just expand your skillset; they can be the spark that ignites your career and leads you to something you truly love.

Businesses in today's dynamic landscape understand that their greatest asset is their products and their people. To nurture talent, unlock hidden potential, and build a workforce equipped for the future, forward-thinking employers are turning to a powerful tool: stretch assignments.

The purpose of stretch assignments is to transform employees into well-rounded professionals by immersing them in challenging tasks and fostering continuous learning, innovation, and leadership readiness—ultimately creating a workforce that is adaptable, creative, and prepared for the dynamic demands of the business world.

Let's delve deeper into how stretch assignments serve this critical purpose, transforming individuals and fuelling organisational success:

Investing in employee development

Smart companies know their greatest asset is their people. That's why they invest in stretch assignments – challenging tasks that push employees outside their comfort zones. It's like giving them a mini adventure to explore new skills and areas of their work.

Why? Because continuous learning and development are crucial for both the employee and the company. Employees who tackle tough challenges build new skills, gain confidence, and discover hidden talents. This makes them more adaptable and ready for anything the business world throws their way.

For the company, it's like building a stronger team. A diverse skillset across the board means the whole company is more flexible and able to handle change. It sparks creativity and innovation, helping them stay ahead of the competition in this fast-paced world.

Take companies like Google and IBM . They're champions of stretch assignments, and it shows. Their employees get to work on exciting projects, develop new skills, and explore different corners of their roles.

This makes them happier and more engaged and builds a culture of learning and adaptability that keeps the company thriving.

Fostering innovation and creativity

Stepping outside your comfort zone can feel scary, but it can also be incredibly creative. This is precisely what stretch assignments are about – pushing you to tackle new challenges and think outside the box.

Your brain must flex its creative muscles when you're not stuck in the usual routine. You start seeing problems from different angles and coming up with fresh solutions. Imagine a tech company bringing designers, engineers, and marketers together for a cross-functional project.

Suddenly, ideas are bouncing around like ping-pong balls! This clash of perspectives often leads to groundbreaking inventions, like a new gadget you never even knew you needed.

Hence, stretch assignments aren't just about learning new skills and sparking innovation. They create an environment where everyone feels encouraged to experiment and explore .

By stepping outside their comfort zones, individuals contribute to the company's success, discover hidden talents, and unleash their creative potential.

Preparing for future leadership roles

Thinking about taking the helm one day? Stretch assignments are like your leadership training ground . They let you test your skills on challenging projects, like a mid-level manager heading up a high-impact initiative.

Not only do you tackle tough problems, but you also learn to guide and inspire a team towards success. It's hands-on leadership experience preparing you for the captain's chair.

These challenging projects are like obstacle courses for your leadership skills. You'll face tough decisions, navigate uncertainty, and learn to bring your team together. It's like building a well-rounded toolbox for all things leadership, preparing you for bigger roles down the line.

Think of it as an audition for future leadership opportunities. Stretch assignments show your potential, letting everyone see your ability to handle pressure, make smart choices, and motivate others.

This real-world experience makes you a star team member and a potential future leader.

Cultivate your future leaders with Airswift's Employer of Record (EOR) service ; we personalise your search for professionals to build your organisation's human capital pipeline.

Navigating the challenges of stretch assignments involves acknowledging common fears and imposter syndrome. Still, individuals can confidently tackle challenges and turn them into meaningful personal and professional development adventures by reframing these concerns as opportunities for learning and growth and building a strong support system with mentors and colleagues.

Overcoming fear and imposter syndrome

Taking on a big challenge can feel scary. You might worry about failing or feel like you're not good enough. These feelings are normal. Fear and "imposter syndrome" (that voice telling you you're a fraud) are common, but they don't have to stop you.

The key is to remember that stretch assignments are about learning, not just getting everything right. Think of them as adventures to explore new skills and areas of your work. So, instead of focusing on failure, focus on growth. Celebrate small wins and enjoy the journey!

Talking to others can also help. Mentors have been there before and can offer advice and support. They can share their stories about overcoming challenges and help you set realistic goals. Building a support network can make even the toughest stretch assignments feel manageable.

By facing your fears and reframing how you think about stretch assignments, you can turn them into opportunities for personal growth and confidence.

Finding the right stretch assignment for your needs

Choosing the right stretch assignment is like finding the sweet spot between a comfy sofa and a cliffhanger. You want it to challenge you but not send you tumbling. And ideally, it should be something you're interested in, too.

Think about your skills , what you're good at, and what you'd like to learn. Then, look for projects that stretch those muscles without overwhelming you. Don't forget about your passions and long-term goals. Pick something that excites you and helps you move towards your dream career.

This way, the challenge won't just feel good; it'll feel meaningful. And if you can't find the perfect fit, don't be afraid to create it! Talk to colleagues, propose new ideas, and show your boss you're proactive.

Many companies have resources to help you find the right stretch assignment. Human resources might offer career development frameworks like maps for your professional journey. They can show you what skills you need for different roles and suggest projects that match your interests.

Mentors can be another great source of advice. They've been there, done that, and have the wisdom to guide you. Ask them about their career paths and see if they can suggest any stretch assignments that fit your goals.

By combining self-reflection, company resources, and mentorship, you can choose a stretch assignment that's both challenging and meaningful. Remember, it's not just about the destination but the journey of growth and discovery.

Building support systems

Taking on a big challenge can feel like scaling a mountain alone. But you don't have to do it by yourself! Having a support team by your side makes all the difference.

Think of your mentors as Sherpas, guiding you through unfamiliar terrain and sharing their wisdom. They've been there before and can help you navigate any tricky bits. Your colleagues are like your fellow climbers, lending a hand and sharing their perspectives. And your supervisor is the base camp, providing resources and motivating you.

Open communication is key. Talk to your team about your goals, worries, and successes. Mentors can offer advice, colleagues can bounce ideas around, and your supervisor can ensure everything aligns with the company's vision. This teamwork makes the climb way more enjoyable!

Smart companies set up mentorship programs where you can learn from experienced pros. They create peer networks where you can share and learn from each other. They ensure regular check-ins with your supervisor, so you always have someone to talk to and keep you on track.

With this robust support system, you can conquer any stretch assignment. Remember, you're not alone – your team is right there with you, cheering you on every step of the way.

In summary, the power and purpose of stretch assignments in career development are undeniable. These experiences offer many benefits, from skill development and boosted confidence to enhanced visibility and unexpected career paths. Despite the challenges, individuals are encouraged to embrace stretch assignments as opportunities for growth, learning, and career advancement .

As Eleanor Roosevelt aptly said, "Do one thing every day that scares you." Individuals genuinely step into their full potential through these challenges and achieve remarkable professional growth.

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Stretch Assignments that Develop Strategic, Interpersonal, and Personal Skills

Given that most development occurs through experience (McCall, Lombardo, & Morrison, 1988), stretch assignments can provide a great vehicle for driving employee learning and/or leadership development. Stretch assignments are essentially short-term projects or assignments that provide unique and challenging experiences for the purpose of developing employee/leader skills and abilities. Although the use of on-the-job development is clearly on the rise, it is often applied without consideration of the necessary planning and support mechanisms.

The first thing to keep in mind if you’re thinking about leveraging stretch assignments for developmental purposes is the common-sense notion that different stretch assignments develop different abilities (e.g., public speaking skills cannot be developed through writing policy statements or crunching numbers). Because of this, it is important to first identify the specific skill(s) to be developed. Once you have a list of skills, the next step is to identify the available assignments that provide relevant exposure. This article will help you with this first critical stage of using stretch assignments – that is, thinking about competencies and identifying assignments. Below is a list of stretch assignments that have been shown to develop competence in the following three areas: strategic skills, interpersonal skills, or personal effectiveness.

If you would like to share this list, check out our reference guide which contains the same information in a PDF format.

Strategic Skills

These assignments will help develop competencies related to expanding one’s awareness of organizational functions and strategy ( e.g., coping with ambiguous situations, gaining a strategic perspective, influencing others, working with customers, problem solving )

• Spend 3 days with clients and report back (presentation or written report)
• Conduct a customer-needs analysis
• Write a policy statement
• Interview external stakeholders about their opinions of the organization
• Analyze and compare a competitor’s product or service
• Put together a presentation for a senior employee (i.e., supervisor or manager)
• Evaluate a training program
• Join a cross-functional team
• Join work on a project that has been unsuccessful
• Put together a task-force to solve a tough problem
• Monitor a new product or service through its entire life cycle

Interpersonal Skills

These will help develop competencies that increase one’s effectiveness to work with and manage other employees or teams ( e.g., communication, listening, managing conflict, managing relationships, teamwork, negotiation, trust, approachability, delegation, leadership )

• Lead a team meeting
• Become a mentor to a new employee
• Train a new employee in a particular skill
• Represent team concerns to supervisor
• Join a team that’s dealing with conflict
• Negotiate a new customer contract
• Take responsibility in resolving a team conflict
• Troubleshoot a performance issue
• Become a campus recruiter
• Interview customers and report back
• Work with a peer on a developmental opportunity
• Delegate 2 tasks to a peer and ask him/her to delegate 2 to you

Personal Effectiveness

These are oriented around competencies most closely related to your performance and personal development ( e.g., organizing, planning, intellectual acumen, creativity, composure, time management, work/life balance, decision quality, customer service )

• Help launch a new product or service
• Re-launch a product or service that previously failed
• Learn a new tool, process, or approach and give a presentation on it
• Work with someone from another department on a tough issue
• Handle a difficult negotiation with an internal or external client
• Take on a project that others have failed in
• Write a press release
• Teach a seminar on an unfamiliar topic
• Create a customer satisfaction survey
• Take on a task that you do not like to do
• Take on an employee’s tasks who is on vacation
• Conduct interviews with employees on their work/life balance experience & present findings

Note: This list is informed by research presented in Lombardo & Eichinger’s (1989) book entitled “Eighty-eight assignments for development in place,” and Yost & Plunkett’s (2009) book entitled “Real time leadership development.” I highly recommend both books as resources for any organization that currently applies stretch assignments or plans to in the future.

Going Forward…

Going forward, keep in mind that this is only a single piece in effective use of stretch assignments for developmental purposes. There are a number of mechanisms that are critical for actually translating experience into learning and development. Employees who will be given stretch assignments need the active support ant participation of their supervisor before, during, and after:

• Before – to meet with the employee and discuss what skills to develop, then chose a stretch assignment and identify learning goals
• During – to give immediate feedback, support and encouragement, and provide access to resources (e.g., time to participate in assignments, introductions to other people who can provide guidance)
• After – to reflect and debrief on what was learned during the assignment and how that can be applied to their current job or future development

Happy Development!

– Scontrino-Powell

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Expand Your Horizons by Taking on Stretch Assignments

By devry university.

November 18, 2021 5 min read

There's a reason why almost every video game has increasing levels of difficulties: to keep gamers at the edge of their seat, excited and curious about the challenges that lie ahead. No matter what their goals and ambitions are, people tend to crave adventure and new hurdles to overcome.

That's also the reason why taking on stretch assignments has become a new and appealing strategy for discovering new skills and abilities you never knew you had.

What Is a Stretch Assignment?

In its most basic sense, a stretch assignment is any kind of project or task that is beyond your current skill set or expertise. Usually, it can be a  short-term activity  or even a permanent venture into a new field that will provide you with challenging experiences meant to expand your growing list of abilities.

The keyword here is "stretch," which means that stretch assignments can extend your range of knowledge and help you unfold your hidden skills.

What Are the Benefits of Stretch Assignments?

Taking on a stretch assignment isn't just a step toward skill development — it's also a fun step toward individual progress and character development.

It Helps Build Up Your Resiliency in Tough Situations

Resiliency is that never-give-up attitude you need when you're in the middle of getting out of a tough situation. You can read books about grit and endurance, or even watch a documentary of a successful athlete who battled numerous injuries in his or her career. But there's no better way of improving your resiliency than being in a new environment filled with various hurdles to overcome.

Trying to overcome new challenges will help increase your resiliency level — even if there are times that lead to failure. The process is what counts, as acquiring new skills will get you out of your comfort zone and even help you build a new one. A stretch assignment will not just make the unfamiliar familiar to you, but it will also increase your endurance when another unexpected problem comes your way.

It Provides a Much-Needed Breather From the Routine

Nothing can exhaust you of your creativity and motivation more than being stuck in a routine where you do the same thing over and over for a long period of time. That is when we start to lose inspiration and the quality of our work decreases.

Stretch assignments will give you the chance to breathe in some fresh air and recharge your battery. After you finish a stretch assignment, you can go back to your original role, but this time you'll feel reenergized and inspired.

What Are Some Stretch Assignment Examples?

Stretch assignments can vary in type and duration, but here are some stretch assignment examples that may be found across different fields or industries:

Mentoring a Teammate or a New Member of the Group

Being great at what you do is one thing, but teaching someone to also be great at what you do takes another level of patience and commitment. Of course, it goes without saying that before you become a mentor, you have to become proficient in your own work first. It can take time — even years — to hone your skills.

When you become good at your job, and you know that you're ready for whatever challenges it might provide, then that knowledge will give you the confidence to be a mentor to a younger teammate or a new member of your group.

Assuming a Leadership Role

A stretch assignment can also help mold you into a great leader, as it doesn't just broaden your knowledge but can also  enhance your interpersonal skills . These interpersonal skills can help you relate more to your team and interact with them, which, in turn, may help them respond well to your brand of leadership.

It may help your development to observe and study great leaders who came before you. Developing leadership skills can take time, and you can learn a lot by following the lead of your manager or of those you admire. The important thing is to not cheat the process. Stay patient and committed, and pursue the opportunity to lead when you think you're ready.

How Will You Ask Your Manager to Give You a Stretch Assignment?

If you feel like you're ready to move out of your comfort zone and take the next step, here's how you can approach your manager to ask for a stretch assignment:

Make Sure That You're Ready

When you ask your manager or supervisor to give you a stretch assignment, make sure that you're mentally and emotionally ready to take on a new task that is beyond your expertise. Stretch assignments will not just expand your skillset, but they can also test your patience and level of commitment. You can’t quit when the situation gets tough.

Come Up With a Plan on How to Help the Team

Sure, you are willing to learn a new role, but how could that help the team or the company move forward? Stretch assignments may be one of the best ways to grow individually, but remember that it’s also important to be a valuable asset to the team. Back up your stretch assignment request by laying out the ways where you think your new role can help your team achieve more success in the near future.

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Use Stretch Assignments to Get a Raise, a Promotion and Anything Else You Want at Work

Want to uncover a bigger, bolder vision for your career than you can imagine today? Try taking on a stretch assignment — a project that can’t be completed using your current expertise.

A stretch opportunity could be a temporary assignment or project that you oversee for a few weeks or a few months. Or it could be taking on a new, permanent role that increases your scope.

Examples of stretch assignments include:

• Delivering a presentation to a VIP client
• Structuring and communicating a rollout for a key change
• Leading the implementation of new tools to replace manual processes
• Convening or serving on a task force created to solve a difficult problem
• Relaunching an internal initiative that previously failed
• Performing data analysis to find business efficiencies
• Turning around a failing product or launching a new product

When you take on such an assignment, you’ll be compelled to develop new technical, business or leadership skills. As you engage in the process, you’ll build relationships with new stakeholders, and increase your visibility and your chances of earning a promotion or raise.

Why Stretch Opportunities Can Be Career-making

“There’s now towering evidence to confirm the career-transforming power of stretch roles and stretch assignments,” says Jo Miller, CEO of Be Leaderly , a firm dedicated to helping organizations develop a pipeline of qualified and engaged emerging women leaders.

According to McKinsey & Company, people who get advice from managers about how to advance — and who then land stretch assignments — are more likely to to receive raises . Similar research from Korn Ferry names stretch or rotational assignments as the most valuable experiences for career development , ahead of action learning, mentoring, relationships, 360-degree assessments, exposure to more senior leaders and formal classroom training.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that stretch assignments provide so many benefits to individuals’ careers, men and women are not on a level playing field when it comes to those opportunities.

Women More Likely to Feel Unsure About Whether They’re Ready

Recently, Be Leaderly conducted a study on workers’ attitudes and experiences around stretch assignments . They found that both men and women have similar ambitions: both genders are equally interested in being promoted into director or vice president positions and ultimately advancing into C-suite roles.

Yet, most women don’t feel their employers make it easy to gauge if they are ready for a promotion, while most men think their employers help them to know whether they are prepared to advance.

Additionally, when women assess how ready they are for a new job, they are less likely than men to overestimate or “round up” their skills, and more likely to underestimate or “round down” what they know or can do.

What might account for these differences between male and female professionals?

Selena Rezvani — VP of Research at Be Leaderly and co-author of this report — suggests that “women may be more sensitive than men to social cues signaling readiness to advance. [So] when stretch opportunities are unclear, unadvertised and unevenly offered, it makes women hesitate even more to pursue them.”

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Most women don’t feel their employers make it easy to gauge if they are ready for a promotion, while most men think their employers help them to know whether they are prepared to advance.” quote=”Most women don’t feel their employers make it easy to gauge if they are ready for a promotion, while most men think their employers help them to know whether they are prepared to advance.”]

How Men Versus Women Evaluate Stretch Opportunities

For both genders, the top criteria for deciding whether to take a stretch assignment are having the influence to create a positive outcome, and getting an assignment that aligns with their career goals. Yet, men are 3.5 times more likely than women to cite pay as an important factor in evaluating the appeal of a new assignment, job or level!

9 Ways to Make the Most Out of Stretch Opportunities

How can you make the most of stretch opportunities at your organization, knowing that your organization might not advertise these assignments or provide clear clues as to how ready you are? Below are some key tips from some experts in the leadership development space, including the authors of Be Leaderly’s report on stretch assignments and others.

1. Chart Your course

If you understand your passions, innate strengths and the direction you want to take your career, it will be much easier to identify the stretches that make sense for you. What types of work do you naturally feel passionate about or gravitate toward? Look beyond your immediate role and identify those unmet needs in your organization that you have an interest in solving. Once you have ideas, find evidence to support why they would be helpful. Discuss your proposal with management and share why you’re excited about the part you could play.

2. Gather Your Own Data to Assess Your Readiness

Be proactive in assessing your own readiness to advance. Seek out clear, frequent feedback on your work — both formal and informal — that is tied to business outcomes. For example, send a survey to those who work with you and ask them for their perspective for your strengths and how you show up at work. Include questions to help you understand how others see you, such as “What three to five words would you use to describe me?,” “What’s a success or a big win I had in the last six months?” and “What one adjustment would you encourage me to make?.”

And here’s another important piece of advice from Selena: “If you’re a woman, aim to round up rather than round down your qualifications when deciding if you’ve got enough to go after a certain role or assignment.”

3. Trust in What You Already Know and Bring It Forth

You may have a hard time “rounding up” your qualifications because you feel that you haven’t learned enough or don’t know enough to tackle a new challenge. Tara Mohr, author of Playing Big and career coach to emerging women leaders, identified this as an issue for many of her female coaching clients. She believes that the reason women and men feel this way is because our experience in schools have taught us to value external knowledge over our own lived experiences and judgment.

Tara, in her book, points that in many schools, the dominant activity is absorbing information from the outside — whether from a book, a teacher’s lecture or the internet — and then internalizing it.

In school, most assignments follow this pattern: 1) do the readings/research, 2) absorb the information, 3) apply it through writing a paper/report/making a presentation. The message is that the value we have to contribute on a topic comes from information absorbed from an external source — from teachers, homework reading and research.

When we carry this sort of conditioning into our professional lives, we are led to believe that we need another qualification, degree or certificate before we can tackle a stretch assignment. But to reach our full potential, we must start to value who we are as much as what we know.

“Playing big often requires assessing what we already know, trusting its value and bringing it forth. This is particularly true as women advance to senior levels in their careers, where they need to be the source of ideas and of thought leadership,” says Tara.

4. Identify your champions and talk to them about your career goals

In addition to your manager, there are others in your organization who could become champions for you and refer you opportunities you may not be aware of. This group includes your manager’s manager, more senior colleagues from groups/teams you work with and staff from your HR team. Build relationships with these people, make sure they know your work and what you aspire to do. When they have this knowledge, they’re likely to have you in mind when an opportunity opens up.

5. Make informed decisions and ask for what you need to be successful

Don’t agree to do the extra work without the extra pay. Remember, men are 3.5 times as likely than women to cite pay as an important factor in evaluating the appeal of a new assignment, job or level.

Gather the details on what the new opportunity entails, including compensation, recognition and career options that a stretch might lead to. “Don’t be afraid to ask, ‘If I do an excellent job on this project, what can I expect as a result?” says Jo and Selena in their report.

Also, make sure you negotiate for what you need — resources, authority and support — to be successful in the role.

6. Take a Project No One Wants

Some projects are shiny, cool and trendy (e.g. working with a hip new client). But what about the riskier assignments no one else wants? When you raise your hand for the assignment that makes others nervous or uncomfortable, it demonstrates your confidence in your abilities and commitment to your organization. These projects can give you the opportunity to prove yourself as a problem-solver, change agent or emerging leader.

7. Focus on Learning as Much as the Outcome

Don’t be quick to judge the gaps in your knowledge when you take on a new role or project. Embrace your newcomer status and find joy in your learning process. Think of yourself as a student of the problem you’re solving.

8. Translate the experience and spotlight what you accomplish

Did your new assignment help you develop new technical skills? Did you learn a better way of working with a group? Document your learnings so others know what you have gained from an assignment. Identify at least three actions you can take in your current role based on what you learned.

9. Market what you accomplish

Even if you knocked the project out of the park, it won’t mean much if no one knows what you’ve accomplished. “In your pre-deal negotiation, request that your stretch assignment be marketed internally. For example, ask that it serve as a best practice story and be shared on appropriate company channels, whether it’s via an internal newsletter, social network, or even in a brown-bag information session,” suggests Jo and Selena.

Tell Us What You Think

Have you taken on a stretch assignment recently? We want to hear from you. Share your results in the comments or join the conversation on Twitter .

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I’m a well-regarded planning technician in the Community Development Department of a mid-sized city.  I’ve been in my current position for three years and have mastered most of the technical aspects of my job.  I want to move up in my department but need exposure to other elements of planning, building, and development services, plus the opportunity to develop new knowledge and skills.

I believe that I have good potential, but I worry that others don’t see what I have to offer beyond my current position. 

So, how do I start?   Should I take some courses and workshops?  What do you suggest?

The fundamental question is, how do you accelerate your development.  The best way to accelerate your growth and development is through a series of stretching job assignments coupled with helpful and candid feedback or coaching.

What is a “stretch” assignment?

A University of Michigan School of Medicine paper provided the following definition:

“A stretch assignment is a project or task given to an employee which is beyond their current knowledge or skills level in order to ‘stretch’ the employee developmentally.  The stretch assignment challenges employees by placing them into uncomfortable situations in order that they learn and grow.”

What are the benefits of stretch assignments?

For employees, a successful stretch experience can

• Help you develop new technical and/or “soft” leadership skills.
• Provide new knowledge.
• Expose you to other areas of the department or other city services.
• Develop new relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Reshape other people’s perceptions of your capabilities.

For the organization, stretch assignments offer many benefits as well.  They provide

• Low-cost employee development. Stretch assignments cost little.
• Leadership “try-outs.” Special projects or team assignments can try out emerging leaders as formal or informal leaders.
• Succession development. Since a wave of baby-boomer professionals and managers are retiring from local government, organizations can’t wait for people to develop. We need to accelerate development now and identify possible successors.

What are some examples of stretch projects?

As a plan checker in the Community Development Department, a stretch assignment for you could be any of the following

• Participating in a department budget team.
• Researching new “green” development practices.
• Serving on a multidepartment team to develop a specific plan for a new growth area in the city.
• Evaluating with other staff members potential vendors of new software that tracks development applications and activities.
• Leading a small workgroup to identify best practices and make recommendations for a telework program or alternative work schedules for department staff.

What do I need to know about stretch opportunities?

Learn through doing. Both managers and their direct reports often believe that the best way to learn is to attend a workshop or class.  A seminar or class is an excellent way to develop a conceptual framework about new behavior, but it doesn’t create new behavior.  Only if you apply the material to your work does new behavior or authentic learning emerge.

Adults (as well as children) learn best through doing. A stretching job assignment immediately exposes you to new areas of knowledge and produces opportunities to learn new skills.  These kinds of special projects or team assignments accelerate your development if they are paired with feedback and coaching.  Constructive feedback helps you acknowledge mistakes or missteps and learn from them.

Seek the “sweet spot” of learning. When discussing a potential stretch assignment with your boss or others, seek the “sweet spot” of learning and development.  The sweet spot is when you have a 50-70% chance of success.  If your chance of success is only 40%, the project will tend to overwhelm you, and it will be too stressful.  With a 90% chance of success, the stretch project will be too easy, and you won’t learn anything new.

If a stretch assignment is in your sweet spot, you will be uncomfortable but not too uncomfortable.  Learning happens when you are uncomfortable but not overwhelmed or distressed.

Understand the ideal mix of development. The ideal mix of development is 70/20/10: 70% of your development activities should be learning through doing; 20% of your development should be getting coaching; and 10% should be classroom training or education.

Ensure adequate support. Before accepting a stretch assignment, you must ensure you have adequate support.  Adequate support comes in many varieties:

• Management support, such as the community development director communicating to department staff the importance of the project.
• Sufficient time for work on the project (this is a critical area of support).
• Any budget monies needed for the project.
• A good mix of people on your team if the project involves a workgroup.
• Someone in management who can help you overcome any obstacles that arise or otherwise provide guidance and feedback.
• Adequate decision-making authority within certain “guide-rails.”

Assuming you are offered a special project, you should negotiate adequate support before embarking on the project.

Ask key questions!  In her article " 15 Questions To Ask Before Accepting A Stretch Assignment " (Forbes. March 14, 2019) Jo Miller identified several themes, which include

Support from the top:  Always ensure that expectations are agreed on, and you have support from leadership. 

Work-life balance:  Work-life balance is important, especially in a career like local government that often requires after-hours investment of time. 

Is this something new?  When you take a stretch assignment, it's important that you stretch! If you're just adding more work of a similar level to your task list, that's only making more work. Make sure you're using new or different skills, or skills you want to brush up on, are meeting different people, or advancing the organization's goals beyond your usual scope. 

Keep one eye on the way forward:  If you set yourself up for success by answering all the questions in Jo's article, these assignments will be career-building. But, always ask if the investment if time will deliver a return, or otherwise "open more doors" in the paths ahead.

How do I secure a stretch assignment?

While your manager or another manager may approach you with a stretch project, don’t wait for someone to offer you the opportunity.  You must take charge of your own learning and career development.

Be on the lookout for opportunities

To seek out a stretch project, you must first ensure that you continue to handle your current job responsibilities successfully.  You won’t get new opportunities unless you are seen as a good performer in your current position.

Second, you must be on the lookout for new projects (and ask your colleagues to also be on the lookout for you).  Know the kinds of new challenges facing the city council, city manager, and the community development director, and keep your ears open for opportunities to participate as new initiatives begin to emerge.

Third, make it known that you’d like a stretch opportunity.  Have a development conversation with your supervisor and/or manager or other key managers inside and outside your department.  In a development conversation, you can discuss your career aspirations, new areas of knowledge or skills that you desire, new stretch assignments that may accelerate your development, and any support you may need.

Through these formal or informal development conversations, you want to “hook” the supervisor or manager on your development as an active supporter.  As part of the discussion, you should ask the manager to let you know of any new project opportunities.

Depending on your relationship, ask for the manager to “sponsor” or recommend you for the new team or project.

Ensure 2 + 1

To provide feedback as well as help in securing stretch opportunities, you must have support, especially from a formal or informal coach.

You should go beyond your immediate supervisor or manager who may serve as a coach.  The minimum number of coaches is 2 + 1.

For adequate coaching support, you need a formal or informal coach in your department who knows your work or the workings of the department.  You also need a coach in another city department who has a bigger picture view and a good feel for the organization and knows how things work.  These are the “2.”

In addition, you must have a coach outside the city organization who can provide advice and generally guide you.  That’s the “1.”

The coach outside your organization can suggest some involvements in professional associations in order to enhance your knowledge, skills, and network (see Career Compass #48 entitled “How Do I Benefit From a Coach?” ).

How do I maximize the stretch opportunity?

Here are some tips to leverage your stretch assignment:

1. Be an agile learner

Since you won’t be a subject-matter expert in your new assignment, be curious, ask questions, seek advice, and learn as you go.  For example, ask:

• Why is this special project important?
• What’s the “why” behind the effort?
• What do we all need to learn?
• What am I missing?
• What else should I consider?
• What would be a completely different approach for addressing the challenge?

2. Engage people in many conversations

Go out of your way to engage diverse people inside and outside the organization in conversation about the issue and the effort.  Listen and be open to the conversation.  By doing so, you will expand your perspectives and your network.

3. Try out new roles

As you engage in the project, try out some new roles.  For instance, if you are good at analysis, try out public speaking about the challenge and project (start in a safe environment).  Again, learning and skills-building happen when you get uncomfortable.

4. Leverage the assignment

Over-deliver if possible.  Over-delivering will get you future stretch projects and additional opportunities to learn and grow. 

(For other suggestions on how to maximize the stretch experience, see Jo Miller, “ 4 Ways To Execute a Stretch Assignment Like a Rock Star ,” forbes.com , Dec 16, 2017.)

A Catalyst for Growth

Stretch experiences coupled with helpful and candid feedback are catalysts for rapid career growth.  In addition to new learning, relationships and skills-building, stretching job assignments help people see you in a new light (see also Career Compass #52 entitled “Recasting My Rep ”).

These experiences shape other people’s perceptions of you that are more aligned with your potential and career aspirations. 

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4 Stretch Assignment Examples for Upskilling Your Workforce

There’s a reason why doctors and fitness experts encourage regular stretching. Doing so improves your performance, increases your range of motion, and builds flexibility. 

Likewise, employees can improve their performance and expand their skills when they stretch their abilities in the workplace. 

This can be done by taking on stretch assignments: projects or tasks that are beyond their current skill set or expertise. Stretch assignments play a critical role in upskilling programs by strengthening employees’ career prospects, enhancing performance in the workplace, and extending an individual’s range of knowledge.

Here are several types of stretch assignments you can assign employees to help them upskill for career development and internal mobility :

• Teaching a class or developing a course
• Leading or working on a cross-functional project
• Coaching or mentoring a teammate 

Sound interesting? Next we'll jump into more detail on each type of stretch assignment and what kinds of skills they help employees develop.

Scale your L&D program with peer mentoring.

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1. Ask subject-matter experts to teach peers

The protégé effect states that the best way for a person to learn is to teach. Therefore, empowering your internal subject matter experts to teach a class or create a course allows them to refresh existing knowledge and learn new skills in the process.

These employees learn how to better communicate their thoughts clearly and precisely, so colleagues who are taking the course can pick up the material quickly. This type of exercise also requires subject-matter experts to use their imagination and creativity to work out how to best deliver the content in an engaging and effective manner.

Take for example, a senior graphic designer who is creating a beginner Photoshop course for her organization. Even though she knows how to navigate the software like the back of her hand, she will still need to learn how to explain design concepts in a manner that non-designers can easily and quickly pick up.

To encourage more frequent peer training in your organization, consider investing in an LMS with an authoring tool that enables anyone to create internal courses in minutes. The most flexible employee training programs enable users to create and participate in both employer and employee-led learning remotely and asynchronously. 

Google, for example, has a formal employee-to-employee training system called “G2G” (Googler-to-Googler), in which employees volunteer to teach and train their peers. They can create a course on any topic that they’re interested and experienced in, which has covered topics as diverse as coding, cooking, and ballroom dancing.

This initiative has also created tangible benefits for volunteer teachers, such as improved performance and new hard and soft skills. A Google engineer even taught his co-workers how to fly airplanes , and in the process, he largely improved his skill and confidence in public speaking and presentation.

2. Assign employees to work on cross-functional projects

Although online learning and remote work give employees greater autonomy on how they learn and work, they can also be isolating . One way to offset this is to have your employees upskill and challenge themselves by participating in or leading cross-functional projects within your organization. For example, you could have an employee in product management work with the marketing and customer success teams on a new product launch. 

When employees collaborate with other teams or departments, they can share their expertise and learn from fellow colleagues, while expanding their own knowledge and skills. This could mean gaining tactical skills and discovering helpful new tools, but also developing communication and interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, and teamwork. This transfer of knowledge and expertise also allows team members to exchange ideas and share different perspectives, which can help stimulate creative thinking and problem-solving.

3. Have experienced employees coach junior team members

Becoming an effective leader isn’t as easy as just reading a book or taking a course. It requires hands-on experience acquired through interpersonal interactions in the workplace. Help your employees gain this experience with an internal program teaching them how to coach their peers .

In the workplace, a coach is a person involved in the instruction, direction, or training of an individual or team to help them grow and develop their skills. A leadership coaching survey showed that 72% of companies offer some type of leadership coaching to improve the leadership skills of their employees. This type of stretch assignment is well-suited for employees who want to guide others in reaching specific goals, and to develop leadership skills like emotional intelligence, empathy, and self-awareness. 

There are two ways to support your employees with a coaching program:

• One-on-one coaching : This occurs when a more knowledgeable or skilled employee works with a more junior team member in the same field to guide them on their professional development. This method allows the coach to follow their trainee’s work and habits to determine how they can help improve their performance. For example, in a design agency, a lead designer can coach a junior designer and help them plan and strategize their work.
• Peer-to-peer coaching : This is a more informal method where two or more employees with similar levels of experience and seniority work together to help each reach their goals. It can be as simple as connecting to ask questions, review work, provide feedback, or help someone join a new project or team. For example, assigning onboarding buddies to new hires helps the latter acclimate to the company and their role–and gives the former an opportunity to take on more responsibility and engage with their work in a new way. 

4. Increase workplace engagement with a mentoring culture

Research from Gallup found that a whopping 60% of workers are emotionally detached at work. Giving your employees rewarding opportunities to become mentors can increase their engagement and satisfaction in the workplace. A study from the Harvard Business Review revealed that employees who served as mentors “described their job as more meaningful than those who did not mentor.” And mentors also experienced lower levels of anxiety than their non-mentoring counterparts.

Like coaching, mentoring is a relationship in which employees learn from someone else’s experience. Coaching is more performance-driven and often designed to help trainees reach milestones and achieve specific goals. On the other hand, mentoring is more focused on passing a mentor’s knowledge onto the mentee, rather than following direct instructions.

For example, desired outcomes of a mentor-mentee relationship are often: helping an individual realize their potential, accelerating their development, or supporting them in furthering their career. A mentor looks at their mentee’s holistic improvement, rather than specific skills that can be learned through practice. 

Mentorship also enables mentors to transform their individual knowledge into institutional knowledge . And this process of sharing their skills and ideas with others helps them improve their interpersonal and communication skills.

To make your mentorship program a greater success, pair mentors with mentees who have different experiences, knowledge, and skill sets. This encourages mentors to get outside their comfort zone and challenges them to think or see things differently. As part of its four-step mentorship program , Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution matches mentees with mentors who work in different locations. This approach creates more opportunities for interesting conversations and fresh perspectives because employees can interact with team members they wouldn’t normally encounter in their day-to-day work.

"Stretch" your employees to strengthen your organization

It’s easier for employees to excel at stretch assignments in a collaborative learning environment. A collaborative learning culture ensures that your employees are regularly sharing knowledge and building new skills, whether through peer-learning opportunities or mentorship and coaching programs.

Investing in a comprehensive learning platform like 360Learning allows employees to declare their learning needs in real-time–enabling L&D teams and SMEs to create courses that address the most immediate skills gaps within your organization.

Want to read about more upskilling strategies to develop a highly skilled, engaged, and loyal workforce that’s ready to take on new challenges and propel your business to greater heights? Explore more articles on the topic below, or book a personalized demo of 360Learning here .

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Stretch Responsibilities

Dear HBR: answers your questions with the help of professional coach Jerry Colonna.

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Are you being pushed outside your comfort zone? In this episode of HBR’s advice podcast, Dear HBR: , cohosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn answer your questions with the help of Jerry Colonna , a professional coach, former venture capitalist, and the author of the book Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up . They talk through what to do when you don’t feel qualified for your new role, you’re covering an absentee boss’s responsibilities, or you have been assigned to lead a team but haven’t been given formal power.

Download this podcast

Listen to more episodes and find out how to subscribe on the Dear HBR: page . Email your questions about your workplace dilemmas to Dan and Alison at [email protected].

From Alison and Dan’s reading list for this episode:

The New York Times : Feel Like a Fraud? At Times, Maybe You Should by Benedict Carey — “Social psychologists have studied what they call the impostor phenomenon since at least the 1970s, when a pair of therapists at Georgia State University used the phrase to describe the internal experience of a group of high-achieving women who had a secret sense they were not as capable as others thought. Since then researchers have documented such fears in adults of all ages, as well as adolescents.”

Book : Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up by Jerry Colonna — “Take any random group of entrepreneurs, for example, and do a quick unscientific survey by asking them to raise their hands if they grew up in an environment where at least one parent had disappeared or left or was never present. Most hands will shoot up. Early promotion into adulthood is often painful and equally often a sign of an early promotion into leadership.”

HBR : Helping an Employee Overcome Their Self-Doubt by Tara Sophia Mohr — “The negative impact of that voice is tremendous. If someone on your team is hampered by a harsh inner critic, they’re likely to talk themselves out of sharing their ideas and insights. Held back by self-doubt, some of your most talented people will shy away from leading projects or teams, or put off going for the big opportunities – new clients, new business lines, innovative moves – that could help your business grow.”

HBR : Position Yourself for a Stretch Assignment by Claudio Fernández-Aráoz — “Explain very clearly why you should get the assignment. Demonstrate that you have the competence required, even if your previous experience doesn’t look too relevant. For example, a track record of effectively working across functions or units may be a relevant indicator of your ability to work in a larger global role.”

DAN MCGINN: Welcome to Dear HBR: from Harvard Business Review. I’m Dan McGinn.

ALISON BEARD: And I’m Alison Beard. Work can be frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be. We don’t need to let the conflicts get us down.

DAN MCGINN: That’s where Dear HBR: comes in. We take your questions, look at the research, talk to the experts, and help you move forward.

ALISON BEARD: Today we’re talking about stretch goals with Jerry Colonna. He’s an executive coach and former venture capitalist, and the author of the book Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up . Jerry, thanks so much for coming on the show.

JERRY COLONNA: Oh, thanks for having me. It’s a blast to be here.

ALISON BEARD: So, when you were a VC, you were often investing in unproven people, and now you’re a coach. How can you tell when someone is ready to stretch?

JERRY COLONNA: Well, usually they break out in a sweat and start shaking. [LAUGHTER] Ugh, do I really have to grow, I don’t really want to grow, oh my god, I’m growing!

ALISON BEARD: But how do you know that they’re ready?

JERRY COLONNA: I watch and see the ways in which they are responding to new assignments, and this may sound odd, the mistakes that they’re making. As a father of a friend of mine likes to say, if you’re not standing on the edge, you’re taking too much space.

ALISON BEARD: There is this inherent risk of failure though, have you seen people take stretch goals and not do them well?

JERRY COLONNA: Of course. And, but Alison, you say that like, as if failure’s the problem. You know, not to get all Zen Buddhism on you, but there’s something really, really powerful and liberating when we think about each step in that stretching towards doing something new as precisely that. And the expectation is we are going to get it wrong. That’s growth, that’s learning.

DAN MCGINN: Dear HBR: A year and a half ago I relocated with my family to a new part of the country. I took a job at a new industry, and in a role that was completely new to me. I was hired for some of the finance skills I had developed in previous jobs. Also, to put it bluntly, my new employers is a small firm in a small market, my manager was struggling to find qualified people. The roll was a bit of a step back, however, I worked hard and we made it through a novel company-wide project. It received a lot of attention from senior management, and from the board. Because of his visibility on this project, and his skills, my boss quickly moved up, creating a need for someone to take his position. He believed I could fill the role. I was very hesitant, but eventually, they offered me the job, and I didn’t feel like I could turn it down. The bump in income will help at home. The increase in responsibility scares me. Here’s what I’m worried about before I got here. I had never even seen or heard a lot of the types of work that I’m now involved in. I still have so much to learn and get up to speed on. My boss understands my concerns. He’s assured me that at least for the first year or so, things won’t change much from the way we handled the work last year and that he will help me out whenever I need it. Part of me worries that eventually, he’s going to drop something in my lap and say good luck. The reality is he’s busy. Most of the guidance I get from him is on the fly. I’m beginning to understand what people mean by Imposter Syndrome. I feel like a total fraud. It’s a fairly small office, and everyone recognizes how new I am. They have to know that I don’t have experience in this kind of technical role. I worry people will think I should not have been promoted. What can I do? Jerry, what’s your initial reaction?

JERRY COLONNA: New job, new city, new circumstances, new, new, new. Well, there’s that stretching. I’m, I’m doing things I have never done before. I’m being asked to do things I’ve never done before. The thing that occurs to me, one of the last episodes of Mad Men . Do you remember that TV show?

DAN MCGINN: Sure.

ALISON BEARD: Mm-hmm.

JERRY COLONNA: I loved that show. And, what was the name of the executive assistant who worked for Don?

ALISON BEARD: Peggy.

JERRY COLONNA: Peggy, Peggy, Peggy.

DAN MCGINN: She got promoted up, sure.

JERRY COLONNA: Right, so she gets promoted up to the ranks, and, and one of my favorite scenes is Peggy’s basically the boss, and she’s coming to Don trying to figure out what to do. And she’s just like breathless and filled with anxiety. And she’s like Don, I don’t, I don’t know what, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to, and he looks at her in that sort of weird sage-like way, and he says welcome to the not knowing.

ALISON BEARD: Because he’s the master of faking it till you make it. So, is that what you’re supposed to do?

JERRY COLONNA: He is not only the master of faking it till you make it, but he’s actually saying something that’s genuine and true. Which is that leading and stepping into that leadership is welcome to the not knowing.

DAN MCGINN: Yeah, I think one of the things that’s important about Imposter Syndrome is that everybody feels that way at some point.

JERRY COLONNA: Exactly.

DAN MCGINN: It’s a universal feeling, everybody thinks oh, it’s just me, I’m the only one that doesn’t know what I’m doing. No, everybody feels that way.

JERRY COLONNA: That’s right. Buried within the universality is the opportunity for your own self-growth, because wait a minute, wait a minute, so here I am in that Imposter Syndrome moment, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, I’m worried everybody’s going to figure it out. Wait, everybody’s walking around feeling that way?

ALISON BEARD: Yeah, so just to clarify Imposter Syndrome is a term originally coined by two psychologists. It basically means having self-doubt, insecurity, worry that you’re inadequate, and it’s going to be discovered.

JERRY COLONNA: That last bit, Alison, that you just shared, that it’s going to be discovered, I think that’s really important because it’s not merely having self-doubt, but it’s having self-doubt in the midst of a bunch of people who somehow have figured out that you don’t know what you’re doing.

DAN MCGINN: So, even if this is totally normal though, it’s still not very pleasant. What constructive advice can we give him to try and reduce these unpleasant insecure feelings?

JERRY COLONNA: Well, first connect with the universality of it. Don’t fake it. Don’t walk around and pretend that you know when you, in fact, don’t know. Cause I actually think that that feeds the Imposter Syndrome.

ALISON BEARD: Absolutely. We published a great piece by Andy Molinsky at Brandeis who talks about recognizing the benefits of being a novice. You know, don’t act as if you are an expert, understand that you’re not, and then ask really smart questions.

JERRY COLONNA: Yeah, I think the, I think the most under-utilized statement in these situations is, I don’t know, I haven’t done this before, what would you do.

DAN MCGINN: I think there’s a happy medium in terms of, of advertising his lack of technical skill and his novice status. But, I think he probably wants to err on the side of acknowledging he’s not a super technical person and he’s going to need some learning curve and some help with this.

ALISON BEARD: And I think that will go a long way into his employees embracing him as a leader.

JERRY COLONNA: Can I add a corollary to this?

ALISON BEARD: Yeah.

JERRY COLONNA: When a leader, in a new situation, in a stretch goal, is able to sort of connect with the reality of what they know and they don’t know and speak truthfully from that, there’s this lovely, lovely corollary benefit that occurs called trust. Then all of a sudden you start to pull the team together and people start rooting for you.

DAN MCGINN: In terms of people rooting for him, the thing that I like most about our listener situation here is that it sounds like his boss is a really good guy, it sounds like the boss wants him to succeed, has the technical skills to help him succeed, how can our listener get the knowledge he needs from a supportive boss who’s crazy busy?

JERRY COLONNA: Well, the first thing to also, I would add, is it sounds like the boss believes in the listener.

ALISON BEARD: And there are clearly other people in the organization who feel the same way because they offered him this promotion.

JERRY COLONNA: That’s right, that’s right. And that’s a reality. I mean, we can see it because we’re not in that listener’s body feeling the panic. So, that’s the first thing is like okay, if I believe in these people, and they believe in me, then maybe this Imposter Syndrome isn’t 100% accurate. Then to walk in and say look, I know you’re really busy, to send an email or something, I know you’re really busy. Some point in the next two weeks, can I get an hour. And you just want to sort of develop that communication and that cadence, and that will go a long way to easing some of the anxiety.

DAN MCGINN: It sounds like our listener is reluctant to bother his busy boss with questions, which makes sense, you know, everybody wants to be respectful of their boss’s time. But at the same time, it’s in everybody’s best interest here for this knowledge to get transferred and for him to succeed in this. Because if he fails, it’s not just him that fails, it’s going to be problematic for the organization. He’s already said that this is an organization that really has a hard time finding qualified people. So, organizationally everybody here wants him to succeed and he needs to think about that when he’s sort of reluctantly asking for time.

ALISON BEARD: And going back to the team rooting for him, you know, he talks about it being a small office, he doesn’t talk about anyone being resentful, you know, or some rival being angry that they haven’t been promoted to the position, so I do think that he’s underestimating everyone’s support for him.

JERRY COLONNA: I think you’re right, I think you’re spot on.

DAN MCGINN: Do you think that any of the people below him in the hierarchy, the team, might have some of these skills? Instead of just looking upward up the ladder to get the training and technical know-how he needs, I wonder if he could look downward and see if the people that are on his new team might be able to transfer some of those skills.

JERRY COLONNA: That’s a great observation and insight. Those people quote below them, may, in fact, be dying to be able to share that technical knowledge. They may be looking for that opportunity to shine. And that’s also something a good leader can do.

ALISON BEARD: I also wonder whether he could find a training program, or work with a consultant, just to build those skills as rapidly as they possibly can without taking too much time from his boss should he not be able to find it within the organization itself.

JERRY COLONNA: Yeah, I’d add to that too, peer groups, getting groups of people together cross-functionally within the same organization, or even outside your own organization, but people who have similar responsibilities. That can be an enormous resource for people. But you have to be willing to admit that you don’t know something in order to get the value out of a peer relationship.

DAN MCGINN: Since part of his problem seems to be confidence here, maybe he can talk directly with the boss and say look, you know, you just, we just did this big project together that was successful when I was in my old role, is there anything we can do in the first three months in this new role I’m in that will be a success, give us a W, and maybe give me a little bit of a boost I need to feel like I’m actually qualified to do this.

JERRY COLONNA: I feel like those early wins are a great way to foster that sense of, of shared accomplishment of a goal as well.

ALISON BEARD: Is there any chance that our letter writer is right and that he has been promoted beyond his abilities?

JERRY COLONNA: Sure. And I think that that’s sort of an interesting stretch-point, right, because people are promoted beyond their abilities or promoted, let’s call it prematurely, all the time. That’s what fast-growing companies need to do. There are many people within the organization who are probably being stretched by being promoted into positions that under traditional circumstances they may not have otherwise qualified for.

ALISON BEARD: Right. I guess you can be promoted beyond your abilities, but then as long as you are on a perpetual learning path, eventually you’ll be able to handle the job no problem. I think that was another great bit of advice from Annie Molinsky that you should measure yourself not by everything that you’re getting done or how much you know, but by how much you’re learning each day, how much better are you getting.

DAN MCGINN: That’s a great point. That can almost be part of our listener’s messaging here, which is, look, I realize I’m not the perfect person for this job, but the company seems to think that I’m the best available under these circumstances, and I’m going to do my best to learn and get up to speed.

JERRY COLONNA: Yeah, I think that’s great. And what I would add to that is, and I welcome your feedback when you see the things that I could be learning and growing further around. And that just opens up all the space for growth for everybody.

ALISON BEARD: So, Dan, what are we telling our letter writer who feels like an imposter?

DAN MCGINN: Well, first he’s not an imposter. What he’s feeling is totally normal and widespread, and we think he’s really well situated here because he has a good boss, who’s invested in him, who has the know-how to help him learn the skills he needs. So, I think they need to get into a very good structured check-in kind of schedule. Don’t look upon this as a burden, this is the boss’s job, and he needs to structure a way to make time for it. At the same time, the listener should recognize that there might be other sources of know-how that he can tap into. He can look towards peers or even subordinates in the organization, some of whom may have the technical skills that he lacks. He can look outside the organization, whether it’s informally through peer organizations or whether it’s through some sort of a more formal training program. And finally, we think it would be great if he and the boss came up with a plan to get him some early wins in the new role to help develop his confidence and to help to prove to everybody that he is making progress in getting up to speed and the requirements of the job.

ALISON BEARD: Dear HBR: I’m a junior communications manager at a small but very quickly growing software company. Our director of operations is this all-star player, who’s practically running the company by herself for a few years. We’re restructuring in order to spread out the work, but her schedule is still so full, that it’s been a real problem. She frequently misses meetings and ignores emails. She comes in and out of the office so quickly that catching her in person is nearly impossible. We pride ourselves on our awesome company culture, I feel that she is detracting from it by not being present or even approachable. It seems like she doesn’t respect my time, or anyone else’s, and can’t be bothered to change her ways. This is having a negative impact on my own work as a new manager. I’ve been tasked with taking over some of her responsibilities, but I can’t meet with her to discuss expectations and transitional steps. I feel like I’m floundering. How can I succeed without knowing how, or even sometimes what she needs me to do? How can I navigate our relationship to make sure it doesn’t sour? What can I do to stay out of her way, and still deliver on my job?

JERRY COLONNA: So, the main thing that occurs to me is like our last listener, there’s an opportunity here to talk to some peers. I can almost guarantee that our listener, and this letter writer, is not the only one who’s struggling with this and that there are other people within the organization. In this case I wouldn’t even necessarily go outside yet to some of the other peers, but to really sort of gather together, and to ask people how are you handling situations, and to really talk about defining your own KPIs, to defining your own OKRs, defining your own stretch goals, and really sort of handing those back to the organization.

DAN MCGINN: Do you think it’s important for the listener to recognize that there are great things that come from being at a quickly growing start-up, but that one of the downsides of it is that people are going to be stretched, people are going to be busy, that the culture is probably a little bit less structured than General Electric or the US Army.

JERRY COLONNA: Yeah, I’m glad you asked that, Dan, because the first thing I wrote down was quickly growing. And yes, there’s definitely opportunity implicit in that, because in that constant shift and that constant challenge, oftentimes there is opportunity that gets created for people to sort of rise up and take on more responsibility, to stretch. I would go back to encouraging the listener to set up a dialogue within the organization to talk about the pros and cons of this quickly growing culture.

ALISON BEARD: I think that’s hard to ask for in this very busy environment. We’ve published, you know, research that’s showing even outside the start-up world absentee leadership is the most common form of incompetent leadership. Many managers are just too busy to be fair to their employees. You know, they’re under lots of time pressure, and so they just can’t treat employees as well as they might like to. So, this is the reality, the idea that she can change that culture or change her boss might be a stretch.

JERRY COLONNA: Oh, yeah, and a stretch in a way that’s a set up for feeling terrible. I would say there may be more of an opportunity to change the culture than there is to change the boss. You know, one of the gifts of less competent management is we have a very clear model of what we don’t want to do as a manager ourselves. And there is that opportunity in there, it’s like learning by observing, we made that point before, and observing what works and what doesn’t work.

ALISON BEARD: And how does she do that without creating sort of an us-versus-them dynamic?

JERRY COLONNA: Well, you know, it’s funny. It brings me back to my early 20’s when I was promoted early. And I remember giving one of my employees an extra week of vacation because he had a sick child and he needed some extra time at home. And I remember being chastised by the HR department, how could you do this, what do you think you’re trying to create a better organization than the rest of the organization. It’s unfortunate that that might get perceived as an us-versus-them culture, but I’d encourage our listener to be the kind of manager, to be the kind of leader that she herself would like to be led by.

DAN MCGINN: Is there an argument that what’s going on here is that simply the communication’s function at this company is not the priority and not the biggest problem that the director of operations has? Maybe, for instance, getting the software out the door, making sure customers are happy, making sure quality is there, could this director of operations actually be doing the right thing by making communications a lower priority at this moment in the start-up’s life?

JERRY COLONNA: Possibly. That doesn’t feel particularly sustainable though. I often say to a client that you’re in the process of building a company, you’re not just building a product. We’re trying to build exquisite, beautiful products and services while simultaneously building a company that can sustain that and go for the long term. And I don’t hear that latter part going on in this quote awesome culture.

ALISON BEARD: It’s clear to me that our letter writer should be more proactive. Absolutely, like you said, Jerry, in talking to her peers, but I think also in just sort of figuring out what her own priorities should be what her role is.

DAN MCGINN: I’ll go even further. On paper it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have the communications person reporting to the director of operations, those are two kinds of really disparate functions. How about our listener identifies somebody else in the organization that she would like to be her boss, that there’s some logical connection with, and say, hey, I noticed you’re so busy you’ve skipped our last five meetings together, maybe I should be reporting over to this person who has a little bit more time and makes a little bit more sense to oversee communications, what do you think?

ALISON BEARD: Tricky conversation, but a great idea.

JERRY COLONNA: Yeah, I agree. It’s a tricky conversation depending on the culture, but I do like the direction that you’re headed with that, Dan.

ALISON BEARD: One of our author Amy Jen Su says that you know, there are two questions to ask when your boss is not prioritizing your work for you, and that is what is my highest contribution, and what am I passionate about. So, where can I make the most impact in this organization? And then, I think, she can, once she sets out those goals for herself, share them with the boss, solicit feedback, but in a way that’s not as needy as she seems to be approaching it now.

JERRY COLONNA: Can I add a question to Amy’s questions?

JERRY COLONNA: What kind of leader am I? And I think that there’s a self-reflective component in that. Or what kind of adult do I want to be? What kind of company do I want to work for? I think that those kinds of self-orientation questions can be super helpful in these kinds of situations, especially when your, your supposed manager is absent, right? Cause it puts it back into your very capable hands and says, okay, I lack a model, so I’m going to be my model, I’m going to be that person that I need to be. And I think that’s super empowering, even in the midst of the whole chaos here.

DAN MCGINN: Are there some people who are just not cut out for the chaos that you’re going to experience at some point in the growth of the start-up? Could this just be a personality kind of issue for her?

JERRY COLONNA: Sure. Almost implicit in every start-up is a varying degree of dysfunctionality. And then there’s, you know, and I’ve unfortunately had to be in these situations, there are companies where, you know, there are fist fights breaking out on the floor. And what individuals have to do is have to look, they have to look inward and say is this really for me, is this the company I want to work for. And if it’s not, then I really have two kinds of choices. Can I alter that company, can I alter the trajectory of that culture or not, by my growth or my agency, or is it time for me to actually find a different place.

DAN MCGINN: Alison, what’s our message to this listener?

ALISON BEARD: So, first we completely understand her frustration. Her boss is supposed to be helping her make this transition and is actually an impediment. At the same time, she’s working in a really fast-moving environment, her boss is probably always going to be extremely busy, and this is why she’s getting more responsibility. So, we think that she should talk to her peers about how they’re handling it, how the work is happening, and how they can help each other. We also think that she should think about her own goals and priorities and be proactive. She should ask what value she adds, and what kind of leader she wants to be. And then she should communicate what she’s going to do to her boss, and maybe not even expect a reply. And last, we’d just like her to consider the broader context. How important is communications to the company right now? Maybe she could even look at the org chart and figure out whether there’s another team where she more logically fits.

DAN MCGINN: Dear HBR: I work in the tech field. I’ve recently changed jobs going from a huge organization to a much smaller one. I’m not the most senior engineer in my immediate team of five. My manager wants me to provide technical leadership to the team. Before I joined, the other four members had been working on the project for about four months. They’re a very smart bunch, even though some of them are barely out of college. I’ve never been in a similar situation before. I’ve either joined an established team with more senior engineers who helped me out, or I started from scratch and had other engineers join in later. This is the first time I’m expected to come in and lead from behind. My manager has not given me useful guidance on this. What should I do?

JERRY COLONNA: Well, I love this question because there’s, there’s an implicit understanding about leadership that I think is somewhat false, that I think that leadership is only coming from one position, the front. And I applaud the organization first of all for being able to ask people at various levels to lead in a particular conversation. This is really good training. You know, earlier we made reference to the notion of the battlefield promotion, that military notion of someone all the sudden being thrust into a leadership position. One of the great things a culture to do is to give people small bits of leadership opportunity throughout the organizational structure. So, hats off to the manager who asked our listener to step in.

ALISON BEARD: So, one tension I see here is that it’s unclear whether the manager has told the rest of the team that he wants our letter writer to be their leader. It’s unclear whether he has any formal leadership role. So, how does he navigate that?

JERRY COLONNA: That’s a great point. I think one of the first things to do would be to clarify that that has been communicated, because otherwise, the listener is kind of in danger of being perceived as a little bit arrogant, a little bit assuming too much. So, that would be the first thing I would ask for.

DAN MCGINN: This kind of leadership seems a little bit tricky cause it doesn’t sound like these people are going to report to him, it doesn’t sound like he’s going to have a lot of authority, it sounds more like sort of a coaching, sort of wisdom passing on, this technical leadership, but not being the manager. Is that a particularly tricky role?

JERRY COLONNA: I think it is, but I think it’s a particularly rewarding role as well.

DAN MCGINN: Why?

JERRY COLONNA: Because it’s leadership without power.

ALISON BEARD: That sounds, does not sound rewarding to me. [LAUGHTER]

JERRY COLONNA: Don’t be so terrified. It’s leadership that stems from the internal capacity of the individual. It stems from kind of the way in which the individual holds themselves. The manager who is asking for this is seeing something in our listener that that listener may not see, and that’s really fascinating to me. They’re kind of calling forth leadership with a lower case L, and they’re being asked to take that position, without, you know, having the dint of some sort of organization chart that says I’m the boss.

ALISON BEARD: There does seem to be a generational element here too. You know, he’s an older person coming into an existing team of younger people, and A, trying to break his way onto the team, but now being tasked with leading them, how does he get over the perception that he’s just the old guy coming in and telling everyone what to do?

JERRY COLONNA: I would embrace the gravitas that comes from wisdom and life experience. And gravitas is a great word, it’s I’m here. I would not pretend and fake that I have authority, that I might not have authority.

DAN MCGINN: In this situation, it seems like figuring out whether he wants to have a push system or a pull system would be important. Is his role going to be to proactively teach and correct and instruct, or is it more to wait for questions to come up and be kind of like the local help desk that the younger people can come to? Sort of figuring that dynamic out seems like it would be important to be effective and to fit in.

ALISON BEARD: I vote for pull.

DAN MCGINN: You vote for pull?

ALISON BEARD: Yeah, I think he should get to know people, and then explain that his door or cubicle is always open.

JERRY COLONNA: Can, can I vote for the middle way?

DAN MCGINN: Sure, how does that work? Tell us.

JERRY COLONNA: I’m a Buddhist and I can’t help but vote for the middle way. I would advise them to sort of listen a heck of a lot, so I’m like you, Alison, right, to sort of lean in on that, but then I would use the word coax, and to create conditions for people to sort of come forward. I wouldn’t necessarily take the posture of imposing wisdom, let me tell you how to do it. Cause I think that that can create all sorts of negative dynamic. But ask some really, really powerful questions that come from that place. And the questions should be open and honest to sort of coax and invite more participation.

ALISON BEARD: Yeah, I think that’s great advice. You know, when I’m thinking about people starting a new job and particularly taking new leadership roles, I always go to Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days , and he talks about questions that you can ask right out of the starting gate just to get people aligned. They are what will we accomplish, why are we doing it, how are we going to do it, and who’s going to do what. And just to set the team up for that sort of group discussion, to allow people to have input, but then it just opens a conversation for all of these technical issues that they need to figure out together. With our letter writer’s leadership.

JERRY COLONNA: Yeah, I mean, I’d add questions like, specifically for this listener, how would we know that the project’s succeeded? What would the benefit to the organization be if the project succeeded? What resources would we need in order to accomplish this, right? And the whole idea is early on in that process to kind of coax an imagination, and to pull the team together to jointly come up with that image.

ALISON BEARD: Yeah, Dan you talked earlier about early wins, and I think that is critical here, you know, demonstrating that he’s adding value by pulling the team together and getting them to execute on something sort of more quickly or more efficiently, or at higher quality than they would have otherwise.

JERRY COLONNA: It does not feel like leading from behind, what we’re describing, it feels like it’s leading from shoulder to shoulder standing together, right, leaning into the work that’s in front of us. And to me, yeah, that’s harder. To your point earlier Alison, that’s harder, cause you’re leading by dint of your gravitas, not necessarily by dint of some sort of De Juro organizational structure. You’re the boss, therefore you make the decision. I think leadership that’s like that just inculcates a much healthier culture and allows everybody to step up and grow up.

ALISON BEARD: On a more personal level though, how does he step in and make all of these people feel like a team, feel like peers, especially when there’s an age gap.

JERRY COLONNA: My default answer in all those questions is actually to model it themselves.

DAN MCGINN: I wonder if there are structural things they can do as a team to try and create more of a culture of teaching. For instance, I’ve heard of organizations, whether you are programmers or sales people where you create a structure where people come in and talk about, you know, a sale that we just made, and what the keys to it were, and what the lessons that could be learned from this particular closing this deal were, or if you’re a software programmer, how you sort of cracked this stuff problem. Basically giving people a forum to talk about a recent success, try to draw some lessons from it, and put everybody into this role of teacher, at least for a few minutes.

JERRY COLONNA: Yeah, I mean one of my favorite tactics is the notion of a blameless post-mortem. And it’s especially helpful for a failure where you are analyzing what happened, what were the processes by which decisions got made, what were the questions we were seeking answers to, and how did things unfold. And the most important piece of that is the notion of not seeking blame, but really creating a learning retrospective. You know, Dan, you were speaking about the successes, but I think that here is where you can create a culture where okay, let’s examine what went wrong, understand what happened, and then go back in and re-engineer processes and organizational structure to be able to respond to that.

ALISON BEARD: And I don’t actually think that it has to be as formal as you all are describing. I think that our letter writer can start to create a learning culture just by demonstrating that he wants to learn from his colleagues too, even though he has more experience, and maybe more skills, surely there are elements of their work that they are expert at, that he can take away lessons from them.

JERRY COLONNA: Really well said. I agree.

ALISON BEARD: So, Dan, what are we telling our listener?

DAN MCGINN: So, leadership as our listener recognizes, doesn’t only come from the front. And he’s being asked to provide leadership in a different kind of structure than he’s used to, so this is a good thing, this is a growth opportunity for him, and hats off to the organization for setting up this kind of structure. It does take a little bit of getting used to, you’re leading without a lot of formal power, without a lot of formal authority. The leadership mechanism here will probably feel a little bit more like coaching. We think you should utilize his experience, his age, his gravitas. He should listen and ask a lot of questions and coax, and try and create an environment and a mechanism where people will bring him questions and problems, rather than sort of intrusively getting into their business all the time. We think that it would also be great if he created a format for a learning retrospective so that the whole team feels like they’re sharing and teaching other rather than having a very sort of top-down environment. Lastly, it’s important in this kind of soft leadership environment that he not fake authority that he doesn’t have, and that he work appropriately to be more of an advisor than a boss.

ALISON BEARD: Great. Jerry, thanks so much for talking with us today.

JERRY COLONNA: Can I just say this was a blast, guys?

ALISON BEARD: That’s Jerry Colonna. He’s an executive coach, and his new book is entitled Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up .

DAN MCGINN: Thanks to the listeners who wrote us with their questions. Now we want to know your questions. Send us an email with your workplace challenge and how we can help. The email address is [email protected].

ALISON BEARD: On our next episode we’ll be talking with Joan Garry about the challenges of working at a non-profit.

JOAN GARRY:  At the end of the day, when you work at a non-profit, you’re not motivated by that big fat year-end bonus, cause it ain’t coming.

DAN MCGINN: I’m Dan McGinn.

ALISON BEARD: And I’m Alison Beard. Thanks for listening to Dear HBR: .

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Tackling the stretch assignment

• People and leadership skills
• Career development

For accountants and finance professionals, today’s workplace demands courage and technical competence — as well as the ability to wear many hats. Indeed, given the fast-changing nature of financial work, management accountants are constantly being challenged with stretch assignments.

For Michelle Janse van Rensburg, currently managing director at Pretoria-based Nimacc Business Lounge, moving out of her corporate comfort zone in South Africa saw her taking on a rather unconventional stretch assignment in Mozambique for an asset management company that was handling agricultural projects across Africa, where she was tasked with implementing new financial and operational systems.

“If we’re talking unknown territory, this was definitely it. The most I knew about systems at the time was how to draw up a set of financials and process a journal,” Janse van Rensburg said. “Managing this process was not exactly in my wheelhouse at the time. However, it taught me the underestimated value of understanding the detail in each business process and aligning these with an efficient, integrated system.”

Although this particular mission was certainly out of the ordinary and, in fact, required trips to several African countries, Janse van Rensburg said that within accounting and finance, stretch assignments are becoming the norm.

“When we look at the speed at which technology is changing, we as accountants are forced out of our comfort zone more often than not — with assignments requiring knowledge and skill that we did not exactly learn while paging through the Principles of Managerial Finance ,” she said.

For Lyndy van den Barselaar, FCMA, CGMA, her role as managing director at ManpowerGroup South Africa is “a continuous stretch assignment”.

“I was a purely financial person who was given the opportunity to lead an organisation as the operational and financial head,” van den Barselaar said. “It was something that I had never considered before, and the idea was quite daunting. But my company took a gamble on me, and I stepped up.”

According to van den Barselaar, every year as managing director brings new stretch assignments in terms of being able to deliver the required results in a very depressed South African economy. Beyond ensuring financial profitability, such assignments have included managing a diverse senior management team and keeping the business compliant in the face of key legislative changes affecting workforce solutions.

“To this day, I remain afraid, never once thinking that I have arrived,” she said. “I think this is a good thing though, as it keeps a person on their toes and does not allow you to become complacent.”

Stretch assignments can be a good way to improve your skillset and advance your career, especially amid the rapid evolution of the finance profession. While you should not take a job that you are not qualified for, here are a few tips on how to utilise stretch assignments to grow your career.

Moving forward

While the actual definition of a stretch assignment is highly subjective and up for debate, Janse van Rensburg asserted that management accountants have to actively take on certain roles and challenging projects to keep themselves professionally relevant.

“Involvement in assignments where we need to understand and improve the business processes in all areas of the business — incorporated with technology enhancements — are, in my mind, a rocket ship seat!” she said.

For van den Barselaar, there is no question as to the value of stretch assignments, and she urged finance professionals to always be ready for new challenges.

“Anyone should always be ready to take on these assignments, as they allow us to learn more and grow,” she said. “We need to be constantly learning new things and pushing ourselves to ensure that we stay relevant in a constantly changing environment.”

Wedded to perfection?

However, while some accounting professionals regard stretch assignments as a valuable ticket to growth, others may find the prospect of entering the unknown and risking failure far less enticing.

Adelle Wapnick, an executive coach and director of Futurenow Consulting in South Africa, said that the biggest challenge for today’s finance professionals is not the availability of growth opportunities — rather, it is their ability “to put themselves forward”.

A key factor is the individual’s need for learning and development, which Wapnick said relates to ambition, the flow of work, and the need to find a balance between comfort and stretch, avoiding boredom on the one hand and burnout on the other.

“Stretch assignments typically enable exposure to key stakeholders, mentors, and sponsors,” Wapnick said. “If the assignment aligns with your career goals, then it would make sense to take up the opportunity. More than anything, however, is the intrinsic motivation to opt in.”

A good indication that “intrinsic motivation” is present is when the assignment is naturally satisfying and you are not purely motivated by recognition and reward.

Janse van Rensburg echoed this sentiment and noted that stretch assignments should always be closely aligned to your career plan and objectives. “What we take on needs to be measurable,” she said. “Stick to your core and become exceptional at it!”

Even if the stretch assignment seems intrinsically motivating, relevant, and aligned with your career development plan, Wapnick cautioned against taking on challenges in situations in which there is little or no support from key leaders or peers.

Importantly, however, accounting and finance professionals have to learn to articulate and ask for the support, influence, and resources that they need — which may be a stretch assignment of its own.

— Jessica Hubbard is a freelance writer based in the UK. To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Drew Adamek, an FM magazine senior editor, at [email protected] .

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15 questions to ask before accepting a stretch assignment.

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Young tired businesswoman stretching at laptop indoors

Stretch assignments are like the Instant Pot of career development. An intensely challenging, ambitious, go-big-or-go-home work project, they are a catalyst for rapid development of business acumen, technical expertise and leadership skills. They’re also great for building relat ionships with influential stakeholders, and exposing your skills, value and work ethic to individuals outside of your core team. Sure, the pressure will be high, but it will get your career cooking. No other form of career development comes close .

If, like many of the women I speak to, your potential outpaces how others perceive you, a carefully chosen stretch assignment can close that gap. It’s a way to take your budding strengths and aspirations and fortify them with measurable successes that will make your organization sit up and pay attention.

To better understand what motivates people to accept or reject such an opportunity, Selena Rezvani and I surveyed 1,549 U.S.-based professionals, inquiring about their experiences with sizing up stretch assignments and higher-level roles. Here's what our findings revealed.

What Makes A Stretch Assignment Appealing?

Interestingly, women and men have similar criteria for saying “yes” to a stretch assignment. Top considerations were having enough personal influence and organizational support to drive the project to successful completion.

“My readiness for the next assignment depends on making sure I have a blank check to make tough decisions,” said one female leader.  One early-career woman with a financial software company said having adequate support is a deciding factor. “Otherwise, I won't take the assignment since it may not come with the resources I would need to be successful,” she wrote. 

Another highly-ranked criteria was whether an assignment aligned with career goals. A woman working at the director level in a hospital asks: “Will it feel like play, feed my purpose, and allow me to grow in a meaningful way?”

What Makes A Stretch Assignment A Non-Starter?

Given previous research showing that more than half of U.S. employees feel overworked or overwhelmed at least some of the time , it came as no surprise to discover that ‘threat of overwork’ ranks highly as a red flag. “It boils down whether I am able to balance my personal life with the next assignment,” one entry-level man at an internet company told us. “If it jeopardizes my personal time, then it's not worth it.” (There’s a reason one executive I interviewed jokingly referred to stretch assignments as “night jobs.”) The next most cited misgiving was lack of guidance from insiders or mentors.

15 Questions To Ask Before Saying Yes To A Stretch Assignment

We asked respondents how they decide if a potential stretch is a good fit. Here are some key themes that emerged, along with specific questions they ask.

Management Support

• Are there clear expectations?
• Is there support from senior leaders?
• Will I have the resources and authority to succeed?

Work-Life Balance

• How does this impact my work-life balance?
• Will the time commitment mesh with my family responsibilities?
• Is it worth the amount of time it will take to be successful?

New Challenges

• How challenging is the assignment and what will I learn?
• Is it personally challenging or “more of the same”?
• Will it require me to think on a deeper level or use my skill set in new ways?

Purpose and Passion

• Does it align with my personal mission?
• Does it truly spark my passion?
• How will it make a difference in the world?

Future Prospects

• Does it align with my career aspirations?
• Is it going to take me where I ultimately want to go or is the detour worth it?
• How might the role open doors to other opportunities?

Stretch assignments are proven career shortcuts—a way to rapidly reshape how others view you, so that their perceptions can more closely match your potential and aspirations. By asking the right questions, you can choose your next one well.

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