Risk, loneliness, and perception: each carries a hidden duality—one side of fear, the other of opportunity

Risk, loneliness, and perception: each carries its own hidden duality—one side of fear, the other of opportunity. In embracing both fear and opportunity, we unlock growth and success where others only see limits.

Remember that childhood nightmare where you're suddenly naked in front of your classmates? You wake up in a cold sweat, relieved to find yourself safe, clothed, and comfortable in your bed. For me, that nightmare became all too real—on stage, at a two-hour event, with no WiFi to access my talking points in the cloud. I stood there, utterly "naked" without my notes, facing two hours of uncertainty.

The fear of failure was intense. Could I remember all the names and details for the people I was introducing? Did I have the program flow locked in? Could I survive without collapsing under the spotlight?

By the end, I was backstage, on the verge of tears. Though I smiled through it all, inside, I felt I had failed—failed the audience, the organization, and the sponsors. My perception of the event? A total flop. And in that moment, as the leader, the loneliness was overwhelming. Despite surviving it, I didn’t feel success, only isolation. Enter #StrategyIRL.

But here's the reality: perception, loneliness, and success are intertwined in ways we often overlook. Perception is critical, especially in strategy—whether you're running a startup raising funds or leading a high-profile event. It's not just about the data; it's about how you're perceived.?

Over the past months I’ve intentionally taken risks as an entrepreneur, before in a startup, and to revive part of a global organization. Were there risks of failure? Maybe. More importantly though, there were opportunities to grow, to push beyond complacency for myself and for the organizations with which I work. Therein lies the duality of fear and opportunity that I’ve been exploring in this #StrategyIRL reflection across the interplay of risk, loneliness, and perception, all of which have the potential to fuel strategic growth and success, even if the road is uncomfortable.

Opportunity: Failure is in the eye of the beholder.?

We fear humiliation, but is that really a risk? Sandrine Tshiamala , an entrepreneur who works with organizations globally, delineates that true risk is job scarcity or losing a home. Her experiences working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo underscore how risk and opportunity are two fold and highly determined by perception. What may seem to some as a set of challenges, she sees entrepreneurs in Africa tackle as opportunities to innovate, problem solve, and lead.?

In business, I’ve witnessed executives avoid difficult conversations for fear of a perceived failure of being disliked. In these situations, however, the dislike often ends up coming from unintended audiences like the hard workers left to pick up others’ pieces, the employees looking to grow and not receiving feedback, or the investors who find other companies more worthy of resources. Perception of failure therefore in the eyes of a few can outweigh the true failure of an organization.?

Failure is rarely about truly failing—it's about not meeting our own expectations, or worse, our perception of what others expect. For me on that stage, I focused too much on the perception of a few rather than the experience of many. The reaction of the few who had to join me in improvising pales in impact to the experience of award winners’ pride and joy.?

Growth: Complacency is the greatest risk to success.

Author Rita Mae Brown wrote “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I’d offer that complacency and insanity have a lot in common when it comes to strategy. To grow an organization, it takes a willingness to make the tough decisions to try, fail forward, and ultimately learn and succeed… albeit easier said than done.?

As leaders, we often carry the weight of risk alone, putting on a smile while feeling the pressure. Being an executive decision-maker can be lonely even when surrounded by data and colleagues. For organizations that need to grow, so too do their leaders. Pushing through the fear of risk or isolation is a key to unlocking both personal and organizational growth. Doing so requires building the strength and capacity - just like conditioning any muscle - to go further and faster.?

Next year should I repeat the event I’m determined to apply lessons, such as outsourcing production. Authentically celebrating what went well and transparently sharing what will change are ‘muscles’ that leaders need to develop not only for themselves but to model for and cultivate others.

Success: Choose metrics that matter.

While standing on stage sans notes, I worried that sponsors accustomed to highly curated and scripted productions would pull support if we had to improvise. My definition of success was anchored in their funding, just one of many diverse metrics in reality.???

Metrics that matter for achieving success need to be more diverse and adjusted for the breadth of stakeholders perspectives that fuel your organization. Similarly, success needs to be as much rooted in the qualitative impact that facing fear and overcoming obstacles can yield as it is in quantitative measures.

This is where brand, experience, culture, and other key attributes of an organization’s strategy come into play. Often because of their intangible nature (despite survey results and measurable data), these components of strategy success don’t mitigate the fear or loneliness leaders feel when driving growth. Doing things differently or charting new paths take time to be reflected in these forms of success.?

Embracing the duality of fear and opportunity…

… is essential for empowering opportunity, growth, and success. In the days since being under the spotlights on stage, I realize now more than ever that risk and loneliness are part of the path to success, and that perception is not reality—it’s a tool we can shape, and a narrative we can control.?

Cheers to the leaders and organizations out there who are flexing their muscles to overcome fear or loneliness to better navigate perception to what really matters for their strategy.??

NBG Strategy Consulting is here for you, ready to wake you up from the naked school nightmare and remind you you’re on the right path for growth.