“Courage is the resistance to fear, the mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” – Mark Twain
Way back in January – that seems like years ago – we declared 2025 the year of No. Now that the year is nearly a third over, it seems like a good time to revisit that declaration.
We are clearly living in an era of uncertainty. One of the things uncertainty does is fill our brains with fear and cause us to see safety. There is such a thing as a healthy amount of fear, and safety isn’t by itself a bad thing, but when taken to extremes they can both cause unhealthy paralysis.
I can’t tell you to say No to fear. Fear is an emotion, and feeling fear doesn’t by itself cause a problem. It’s a perfectly natural response to being threatened. The problem is when we allow fear to dictate everything we say and do.
This is especially true for those of us who are leaders. When those of us in leadership roles allow fear to drive everything we do, we become very short-sighted. We assume things will go poorly, which makes potential opportunities look like things to avoid. We want to figuratively dig ourselves a bunker, get in it, and hide from the world. That’s essentially the exact opposite of leadership.
Not only does giving in to that fear cause us to make poor choices as leaders, but the fear mindset trickles down to everyone else in the organization. If the leader leads based on fear, then pretty soon the followers follow based on fear, too. It’s contagious, and leaders, more than anyone else in an organization, have the ability to be solo superspreader events.
Think about the way you approach the world today. In all its craziness, do you focus on your fear and allow it to dictate everything you do? Or do you consider that fear and then figure out how to attack it?
As a leader, you must say No to allowing fear to make your decisions for you. Understand the reality of the world, but don’t fear it. You still have the ability to choose your own adventure. Choose based on what you want to accomplish, not on what you’re trying to hide from.
