Miranda is the Global Chief Client Officer for Teleperformance.
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Fear is a universal human experience, and the office is not immune to its effects. In some workplaces, toxic leadership creates a culture of fear. But you don’t necessarily have to work in a toxic workplace to feel fear—most of us live with our own internal fears, such as imposter syndrome and the fear of failure.
Fear is like fire—once it is allowed to ignite in the workplace, it could burn through every corner of the office, taking our big ideas, creative thinking and innovative spirit with it. We wouldn’t live in a home without a smoke detector, and in the same way, we shouldn’t work in an atmosphere that doesn’t recognize fear as a part of life and actively works to combat it.
If we want to implement new, big ideas and create the best possible outcomes for our company, we cannot allow fear to hold us back. What could we accomplish if we weren’t afraid?
Everyone Is Afraid
Everyone in the workplace is human and has fears and insecurities.
Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross explained that emotions are either derived from fear or love, which means that fear can manifest in various ways. Perhaps an employee is quick to anger at any sign of disagreement; what seems like anger or frustration can likely be boiled down to their deeply rooted fear of making mistakes or looking “stupid.” Fear can show up as jealousy, anger, depression or anxiety, and we all, no matter how much we may boast fearlessness, experience it from time to time.
We must recognize that everyone we work with has their own set of fears they navigate when they show up to work each day. As leaders, it’s on us to acknowledge these fears and establish a workplace where employees feel empowered, safe and supported.
A Culture Of Risk-Taking
So what can we do to create a culture where fear is not a shameful emotion but an everyday human experience? How can we as leaders foster a culture where employees feel safe to innovate and excited to take risks?
It will not come about without intention, and it may be uncomfortable at first to push back against standard practices. However, the effort is necessary if we want to innovate and forge ahead in our industries.
Every leader will combat fear differently, but I can offer my practices as one possible solution. I begin every internal meeting by explaining my leadership principles and the culture I seek to drive on my team. One of my core tenets is “take risks.” If we don’t occasionally fail, we aren’t trying hard enough; we have to fail fast, adapt and overcome.
Make sure your team is comfortable taking risks. Furthermore, encourage compassion, transparency and open communication—the very qualities that enable us to overcome our fears and feel supported by our co-workers. By leading with your priorities and then putting those values into practice every day, you can create a culture of safety, allowing your employees to harness their fear and turn it into the engine driving them forward.
That being said, fear originates in our minds, so if we don’t tackle our mindset, we cannot tackle our fear. Fear is the nagging devil on our shoulders, listing everything that might go wrong and everything we cannot accomplish. If we start each day with this voice in our head, we will probably not get very far before we feel discouraged and disengaged.
We don’t have to live this way—we can kick fear to the curb by adopting an abundance mindset. Begin each project by asking, “In a perfect scenario, what would the best outcome be? What would be the best possible result if money, time and resources were not a barrier?” The constraints of our current systems may still exist, but if we never imagine anything beyond them, they may only become more entrenched. By allowing ourselves to think beyond the possible and toward the limitless, we empower ourselves with fearlessness, accomplishing more than the nagging voice on our shoulders ever could have dreamed.
We Can Do Hard Things
I spent years of my early career staying quiet in many meetings. I knew I had valuable things to share, but I was afraid to blurt out my idea and potentially look naïve. During one meeting, I sat with a group of really important people as they debated a problem. Within the first five minutes, I had an idea to solve the problem, but as the most junior person in the room, I felt too nervous to share it. About 30 minutes into the meeting, another person in the room said exactly what I had been thinking and everyone applauded his creative thinking. I was kicking myself. I went to my mentor, explaining my frustration. In response, she asked me a question that I now ask myself any time I am feeling hesitant: If you had shared your idea, what’s the worst thing that could have happened? They would say no and move on? Is that so bad?
I knew she was right, and today I strive to empower my employees in the same way my mentor empowered me—to speak up, share their ideas and be unafraid of making mistakes. I am practically a broken record when it comes to encouraging my team to face their fears, reminding them over and over again, “We can do hard things.”
We must bring fear out of the shameful corner it has been relegated to and into the light. Sure, we are all afraid. And yet, we must continue to try and fail and try again—what’s the worst that could happen?
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