Tag: Fear

Leading Through Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

From What’s In It for Me (WIFM), to Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS), there are countless acronyms we’ve all heard, and used, throughout our careers. Given today’s challenging climate, a leader’s mettle is tested in times of (FUD) fear, uncertainty and doubt. Leading from the front when the wind is at your back is far easier than walking into gale force winds in your face. Said differently, any average leader can lead with tailwinds, but high performing leaders are those that can advance the cause in the face of the strongest headwinds…in the face of fear, uncertainty and doubt.

Many of us are having to do just that today – lean into the headwinds. Macro conditions are reeking havoc on buyers and accelerating the FUD factor. As buyer behavior changes, FUD spills over into our teams…how can it not? As I spend time self-reflecting on the leadership behaviors and attributes that I have experienced during other times of fear, uncertainty and doubt, including Y2K, the dot-com bust, 9/11, and the Great Recession to name a few, it became evident to me that:

  • Leaders must balance confidence and reality with empathy. Too much confidence makes you appear disconnected. Too much reality can create more fear. Empathy makes you human…relatable.
  • Leaders need to be curious. In times of FUD, leaders need to ask questions. Go deep. Get under the covers. Learn first hand what’s going on. Your curiosity is responsible for identifying new paths forward for your team thereby calming the troops.
  • Leaders need to have courage. Not every decision will be right. In fact, many will be flat out wrong…once you have hindsight. You make the best decisions you can, in the moment, with the best available data…and own it.
  • Leaders need to have conviction. The decision is your decision. Right or wrong, you own it. There’s no escape. The art of decision making is knowing when to lean in, and knowing when to admit that a course correction is necessary.
  • Leaders are responsible for identifying and communicating the silver lining. Economic cycles come and go. History tells us that there are bull markets, and there are bear markets. Markets move. Every rain storm is preceded by sunny skies, as well as being followed by sunny skies. It’s the leaders job to reassure their teams that while it may be raining at the moment, the sun will in fact shine again…that’s a fact.
  • Finally, leaders need to be visible, in the trenches, shoulder to shoulder with their teams. Great leaders don’t hide behind Zoom, or a curtain, (we used to refer to the ivory tower), but instead face the same heat/fire their people face with customers, vendors, suppliers, investors, etc. After all, as Stephen Covey said, “people don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care”. Great leaders demonstrate this by being present.

Recently I had a conversation with a colleague. Story telling, analogies, and metaphors have always been my go-to communication style. I got to thinking about our role as leaders as it relates to a ship’s captain…

The waters are rough…it’s beyond your control…

The ship is creaking and rocking…you can’t control that…

As captain you’re not sure whether the boat will stay together or start breaking apart…you can’t control that either…

You embrace the storm knowing you’ve sailed through storms before and made it through…this experience gives you conviction…

You’ve carried your crew through rough waters before and they’re counting on you to get them to solid ground…

You chart your course and sail into the wind…this is your decision…

While your internal doubts may be high, you push those doubts into a corner of your brain and lock them there while you focus on sailing through the storm and delivering your crew to solid ground…

You never give up fighting for your crew. That’s the captain’s job.

Type A Personalities – 3 ways to confront anxiety

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Worker thinks solution of his problems

Hard charging, Type A personalities, often struggle with taming their fear of failure.  Most would agree that fear, when kept in check and under control, is an emotion that can both protect and propel us.  Understanding the cause of the fear you’re experiencing is the first step to developing a plan to calm it, contain it, control it.

Anxiety is the result, or symptom, of fear. If I fear I won’t be able to hit the ball, anxiety causes me to dread my up-at-bat.  If I fear I will fail my statistics class, then anxiety will kick in and cause me to block any learning that will ultimately help me pass the class. If I fear I will miss my monthly sales number, my anxiety will cause me to go into rapid-fire mode doing as many things as I can simply to create the appearance that I’m working hard.

Anxiety perpetuates fear, creates the stress, and force, strong enough to shut you down.  Dealing with anxiety is critical to successfully navigating change, taking risk, and managing failure.  Here are 3 ways to keep your anxiety in check:

  1. Ask the question “why not me?” When we think we will fail it is because we don’t feel competent, smart enough, savvy enough, or insightful enough to win.  Why not? Rather than thinking about the failure, replace that thought with the question why not me.  I’m smart, why not me?  I’m intelligent, why not me?  I’ve accomplished a number of great things, why not me?
  2. Turn anxiety into excitement. Replace, what if I fail, with what will I learn? Replace what if this doesn’t last, with how much better will I be no matter how long this lasts?  What will I have experienced that will make me more valuable, more fulfilled?
  3. Breath. The power of 10 minutes of just breathing is quite powerful.  Call it meditation, self-reflection, self-empowerment, or self-love, whatever you call it the purpose of this 10 minutes is to rebalance your inner self.  To bring calm to any internal bubbling that’s taking place.  There are thousands of books on this subject, apps for your smartphone, and calming music for your ears.  Get one, or some, but act now to calm the storm from building.

3 Hints to Help You Hit Your Goals in 2016: Hint #3 – Tell People

On By Joe DeRosaIn LeadershipLeave a comment

Goals

In my previous two blogs I wrote about the power of visualization, and the importance of writing down your goals with as much detail as possible.  You spent time thinking about your goal, what it looks like and feels like.  You captured those details on paper and keep it somewhere visible where you can see it daily.  Now you’re ready for the third, and perhaps the most difficult hint in helping you reach your goals.  Tell people!

Fear is undoubtedly the biggest driver for why we don’t achieve our goals.  Be it the fear of failure, the fear of getting started and not finishing, the fear of embarrassment, or the fear of having to ask for help, fear is the #1 reason people don’t accomplish their goals.

All of these fears are based upon our desire to fit in, to be accepted, to be normal.  As such we crave average.  Don’t shoot too high but don’t aim too low.  That’s the thinking of average.  Once we declare our goal publicly we’re now on the hook.  We’re staring that fear straight down.  We’re saying to the world “I will do this”, not try, not attempt, not hope to…but will.

Courage is perhaps the single greatest trait of successful people.  The courage to believe so deeply in yourself that even if you fail, you know you’re not a failure.  That same courage allows you to not be afraid to go after your dreams and accomplish your goals.  Courage enables you to tell the world exactly what you’re going to do.  This isn’t easy stuff.  But then again, nothing worth accomplishing is easy.

The fact is that most people are fearful of declaring their goals.  They immediately get bogged down by the “what ifs”.  They haven’t even given themselves a chance to start before they begin to identify all the obstacles and reasons why they’ll never do it, never make it, never get it, never reach it.

Surrounding yourself with the right people is crucial to your success. Your network should be filled with people who encourage you to go for the gold.  No one ever sets out to win bronze.  Tell your friends, your peers, your mentors exactly what your goal is.  Tell them when you’re going to reach it.  Make a declaration.  Write that down too.

Doing these 3 things will help you reach your goals, not just in 2016, but well beyond.