In this week’s newsletter, I discussed the importance of recognizing the difference between leaving your comfort zone and leaving your home.

One of the essential comforts of home is the comfort of like-minded people.  And lately, I’ve been reminded just how tricky finding those people can sometimes be.  These days it feels about as awkward and confusing as braving a cafeteria full of cliques at one’s new junior high school.

On the one hand, my heart wants the company of people I will genuinely enjoy.  On the other, a part of my mind wants the company of people with some influence and power.  In junior high, for me, these were mutually exclusive.  But as an adult businessperson, it seems possible to have both.

So, I’ve been trying different lunch tables, like Goldilocks, looking for those that feel just right.  But my quest  is leaving me feeling among the freaks and geeks.  Which isn’t a bad thing – it just came as a bit of a surprise, as I see myself as fairly “ordinary.”

So, really, nothing has changed since junior high after all.

Except this time, instead of changing my clothes or my speech or my friends to fit in – instead of looking outside myself for acceptance – I am inclined to create my own table.  Because I seriously cannot be the only “ordinary businessperson” who is wandering the periphery of the cafeteria, holding her lunch tray, looking for a place to sit.

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Where do you find your professional peers?  Does connecting with like-minded people come easily, or has it proved challenging?

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