??Facing the Fears Haunting You and Your Organisation??

3 min read...

In the spirit of Halloween??, we’re diving into a powerful, yet frequently overlooked driver of behaviour in our workplace: FEAR.??

Fear isn’t lurking in the shadows, or in horror stories. We see it show up in leaders and organisations daily. We live in a rapidly changing world, which is becoming increasingly chaotic, polarised and complex. The pendulum is swinging from one polarity to the next, and we do not know exactly where it will land. We want transparency and privacy, we want diversity and individuality, we want freedom and control. To exist in such extremes is confusing, and at times, fearful.

To be a leader navigating such demands is more than a challenge. If we imagine uncertainty, chaos and polarisation as catalysts, then fear is one of its symptoms, and it is spreading between leaders and within their organisations.

So, this October, let’s unmask the shadows, debunk some myths and think of new ways to understand and approach fear.

What is fear and why does it matter?

How do we define fear? It is overly simplistic to define it as just an emotion or feeling. Fear is strongly connected to our physiology, and often initiates a physical reaction or response. Think about a time you were hesitant to challenge the status quo in a meeting, faced a critical high-stake strategic decision, or had to deliver difficult news to your team. We can all remember feeling an element of fear at work.

The nausea, stomach aches, tight breathing … this is our bodies reaction to what it believes to be a threat. From an evolutionary perspective, our brains are wired for certainty and safety. Therefore, when we go through something unknown or unpredictable like the opposing opinion of a colleague, or presenting something with high stakes, our bodies can initiate a fight, flight or freeze response. With our nervous systems largely impaired, our ability to identify a perceived vs. legitimate threat is distorted due to constant social, psychological changes we face. This is further compounded by our lack of tools to effectively handle such change.

Being surrounded by fear in environments we rely on for belonging (like organisations), can cause widespread distress, maladaptive behaviours, and over or underreactions like shutting down, avoidance, irritability, overwhelm, or even manifesting into anxiety or depression.

As humans we have a range of needs that must be met for us to reach our full potential. Reflecting on the concept of Maslow’s hierarchy, we see safety as one of the foundational requirements –our most core, basic need. Without this, it is a challenge to reach other levels of potential. If we apply this to an organisational setting, feeling unsafe and fearful can hinder us from reaching our maximum capabilities.

Furthermore, to say we can totally eradicate fear from people and organisations would be not only unfeasible, but suboptimal. Fear can act as a driver, a motivating force for our work. However, once we exceed a certain level, it leads to performance decrease. It is now common knowledge that anxiety and fearing your leader or workplace environment can hinder productivity. Motivating with fear is not only having an emotional cost, it is having an economical one. According to a recent 2023 global study conducted by leader Margot Faraci with over 2500 respondents, researchers found fearful workplaces led to a $36 billion loss to the economy annually. To break this down, Faraci identified ‘fear-based’ leaders as individuals who frequently experience anxiety, anger, and resist giving or receiving feedback. These leaders lost approximately 10 hours a week in productivity and output due to disengagement and issues stemming from their approach. Evidently, creating cultures of fear fosters psychologically unsafe environments, which come with a cascade of risk including feeling unable to speak up, call out errors, and reduced creativity.

So, what next? What can we do to help us and lead when we feel ‘fearful’?

By adopting some strategies, leaders can harness fear as a tool for learning rather than a barrier. Here are 3 practical tips to help face and navigate fear:

1)Recognise

A central part of addressing fear in our workplaces is recognising and acknowledging it. We already work with a number of clients to help them shift the dialogue about fear. Our work assists leaders in developing self-awareness, to help them not lead with fear, instead identify it, and use their emotional intelligence as capital. It is not something we should avoid or ignore, but it can be something we acknowledge and address.

2)Reframe

Our brains are more adaptable than we believe. Neuroplasticity is the idea that our brains can adapt and rewire through practice. So, if we increase our self-awareness and ability to detect threats accurately, this will allow us to take more control of our reactions, emotions and behaviours. We can also reframe how we view fear, instead of fearing the concept itself. Rather than perceive it as a threat, we can look at it as a signal. It highlights potential spaces that need attention, growth, or planning, in ourselves, our teams and our organisations.

3)React

Fear-evoking stimuli exist in our day to day. Taking proactive steps to develop mindsets and cultures that break fear-driven patterns and promote qualities like trust and growth, can make a difference. But sometimes fear is unavoidable. Something that appears almost daily in organisations is conflict. Not only is this a common trigger for fear, but it can be destructive towards relationships if we avoid or fail to navigate it. Yet, reacting to conflict and working toward reparation can be a more impactful, often overlooked, aspect of this process. We can reduce fears that arise through learning to repair, confront things when they go wrong and being reactive to fear?

So, as we all revel in the scary Halloween celebrations, let’s take a moment to face our fears and think about where it is showing up in our work!??