Stepping out of your comfort zone in prison

Hannah usually sits behind a desk at StandOut HQ but recently stepped out of her comfort zone and into the classroom at HMP Pentonville to coach the most recent cohort of StandOut participants.

When Amy – our Lead Coach at HMP Pentonville – asked if I wanted to coach a section of the curriculum on an upcoming course, I thought she was joking. I’m the Communications and Policy Manager. My day-to-day is developing our communications strategy, writing our supporter newsletter, and responding to government consultations on prison reform. That’s where I live, behind the scenes. Not standing up in front of a classroom of StandOut participants and leading a discussion on the power of resilience.

Before I could say no, something popped into my head. “Growth mindset”, it said. My kneejerk “no, thank you” was classic fixed mindset, the belief that I couldn’t do it – coaches were born coaches and I, most certainly, was not. You might say, too, fear of failure. But at StandOut we are constantly reminded – whether participant, coach, or comms manager – to live in our growth mindset. To believe that skills improve with practice, mistakes are part of learning, and challenges are opportunities – not threats.

So, I said yes. And, before I knew it, coaching allocations had been made, and I was to lead on not one but four sections of the curriculum in just a few weeks’ time. I imagined standing at the front of a prison classroom – a far cry from my desk in Vauxhall – and tried not to panic.

But then I thought of the participants, who are asked to step out of their comfort zone every single day. The coaches invite them to do all kinds of things – present on the legacy they want to leave behind, participate in mock interviews with professionals they’ve never met before, play silly energisers at the start of sessions. If they could do all of that – in an environment in which vulnerability is rarely rewarded – I could manage 50 minutes of group facilitation.

And, earlier this week, I did just that. I used my Coaching for Leadership training and the knowledge and experience of my fellow (am I a coach now?) StandOut coaches to lead discussions around earning legal money and the cost-of-living crisis, resilience, managing your emotions while looking for work, and CV-writing. The conversations in the room were rich and insightful, with the men reflecting deeply on where they had been and where they wanted to go. It was a privilege to be able to open up a discussion, stand back, and let it unfold.

Stepping out of my comfort zone stretched my skills, but it also shifted my perspective. Being in that room, learning alongside the men, reminded me that growth is something we all practise – not just something we talk about. I walked back to my desk feeling braver, more connected to our work, and a little more willing to say “yes” to the next opportunity.