What am I so Fearful of?
Fear often has a negative connotation. Fear is usually a protective feeling that’s helpful when walking down a dark alley. You need to be more vigilant of what’s lurking in the night. This feeling can result in the following behaviors: fight – flight – freeze. Way back in the hunting and gathering days, these behaviors may have worked just fine. Even today, they have a place. Recall the dark alley – you hear a suspicious noise – you flee.
What if fear though is more of a frequent or even constant feeling, that pit in your stomach? No dark alley, no bear chasing you. It’s just there and leads to the same behaviors: fight, flight, or freeze. There could be many reasons this fear is there from childhood experiences to workplace trauma.
McKinsey & Company notes, “Our research shows that three fears hold back corporate innovation more than others: fear of criticism, fear of uncertainty, and fear of negative impact on one’s career.”
Tracey Ezard in CEOWorld notes “Fearsome Leadership” as “When leaders are stuck in judgment and condemnation, the leadership becomes myopic and focused on faults only. When this is the default style, the fearsome leader rules through fear. They are also closed to ideation with their teams or senior leaders. There is a lack of psychological safety for those they lead, with people not willing to take any interpersonal risks for fear of retribution.”
This can lead to an above average risk aversion or paralysis when faced with a new challenge or having two dozen reasons X cannot be. This is different than taking an objective look and realizing barriers or issues that need to be addressed – that’s helpful. I’m speaking about not allowing yourself to even think out of the box cradled in fear because staying in the box is where you feel safe (aka trapped.)
When you’re in a leadership role, this type of fear within you and/or within your leadership style, can hinder your ability to enable others to feel safe, curtail innovation, and hamper agility.
Understanding your fear and why, the purpose, this style is your default is critical to effective leadership especially in this day and age when contributors are looking for leaders that create safety and have a growth mindset. If fear is making you say, “This is who I am, take it or leave it” you’re trapped in a belief. Ask yourself – How is this belief effecting my staff? Really look. This mindset (aka mind trap) can be changed. Neuroscience has taught us that.
