Fear can strip you of your most valuable resources: creativity, mental dexterity, the ability to make decisions. Fear and self-doubt cause paralysis and kill off creative thinking. When fear invades an organization, employees begin to react instead of respond. Fear limits innovative and imaginative thinking and can cause negativity. It can be totally immobilizing.
Fear comes in many forms. Consider the following four most prevalent reasons for fear.
Fear of making mistakes. Not allowing your employees to make mistakes is by far the deadliest killer of productivity and idea generation in an organization. When people are afraid to make mistakes, they will not take risks. Avoiding mistakes is avoiding progress. There is very little opportunity for improvement when people become reluctant to take risks.
Fear of looking foolish. Many people will not speak up due to the fear of being ridiculed. Their fear of being humiliated discourages them from expressing who they are, and expressing opinions and points of view. It’s important to build an environment where your team members feel safe enough to be able to voice their points of view.
Fear of rejection. The majority of people have a desire to be liked. To risk being liked is to risk being rejected. You must have a good sense of yourself as well as high self-esteem to avail yourself of other people’s value judgments. As a leader, it is your responsibility to provide an environment where the risk of rejection is nonexistent.
Fear of the unknown. Fear of the unknown keeps us in our comfort zone. Anytime we are out of our comfort zone, we are challenged at both the physical and psychological levels. We all have our own behavioral comfort zone. There is a part of us that desires change and is willing to move to the edge of the zone, and there is a part of us that wants to remain in the middle of the zone where we are isolated from any change.
It’s time to give up the fears and enjoy our successes!
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