Top 6+ Ways to Teach Your Team to Rise Above Fear
Whether you are a leader, an individual contributor or a solo entrepreneur, you must face the fact fear is a fierce foe forged to fight hard. Hardwired in every human, in many ways, it has served to perpetuate the survival of our species. In other ways, it has crippled us, constrained us, and even enshackled us.
On many days, fear works to diminish you and the success of your team or company. Unfettered, and often unfounded, fear can mentally wear you down and will not be vanquished quickly or easily. Especially in times like these, it is important we understand fear is fundamentally a part of our day and find ways to overcome it so that we may achieve the greatness we are destined for….
We discussed conquering fear with two of our recent podcast guests – David Rutherford and Shep Hyken. What follows are some of the ideas and thoughts arising from those discussions.
Empowerment
Especially as a leader, even if you are on a team of one, it is essential to your future success people around you feel empowered. This is achieved mostly by earning their confidence then creating a culture where experimentation, within a set of guidelines, is not only encouraged but rewarded. Make it safe to fail.
First, form the framework within which everyone can safely operate, then develop your team members through ongoing training in such a way they start to think like an owner equipped to take risks. “It is good to have policy,” says Hyken, “but it is even better to have guidelines.”
Give them great structure that also provides them great freedom to test the boundaries and think outside the nine dots. Equip, enable and encourage them. Show them how far they can go by getting creative.
This process should be disciplined and yet also thoughtful. When they fail, retrain.
And, when they succeed, then find those magic moments where you can catch people doing something extraordinary. It is in these celebrations the team begins to understand they are capable…and capable of far MORE.
Be Interested and Involved
This should in no way be misconstrued as being a micromanager. That simply crushes the will of people to do wonderful things and creates fear verses empowerment. Micromanagement, in fact, is likely a leadership model coming from a place of fear in the leader. That is an entirely separate discussion.
Instead, this is about being present, making it clear you understand and are empathetic…and here to help. You will run through walls for your people, right? Then they will be willing to run through walls for you.
Rather than micromanagement, create a culture of close and open collaboration. The future success of any endeavor does deeply depend on this. And, while individual achievement is important, place huge value on the potential of close, well-coordinated cooperation that makes the team better and motivates others to contribute more.
Sharpen the Saw
Refine your efforts every day. At least some portion of the construct you create around your guidelines should include the idea constant and continuous improvement will create customer preference for your products and solutions.
This is a somewhat unfamiliar environment we operate in, and we all have to learn to new ways to achieve success and overcome challenges. Unfamiliarity with how to be successful in this attention economy creates some fear in and unto itself.
Overcoming that unfamiliarity and uncertainty will require we constantly tweak and adjust. “It is not a matter of training out mistakes,” says Rutherford. “Don’t train until you get it right. Train until you don’t get it wrong.”
Make it Safe
A willingness to fail is something you want to cultivate. First off, it is inevitable, at least if you and your team are truly giving it all you have got. Beyond that, you will want to encourage resilience and perseverance. These can only be learned by trying, missing the mark, then working to be successful using the lessons you learned.
The team needs to know you embrace this. IN some companies, they now have weekly meetings where they not only celebrate successes but monumental failures. In many ways, it is in the finding ways to NOT do something we find the pathway to what does truly need to be done. Edison was famous for thinking this way. SO was Tesla and most other pioneers and peak performers.
Get Clear
One of the things your team will look to you for is confidence, and they will draw some comfort from the clarity that confidence and your decisiveness delivers. You have to guide and even shape the collective corporate conscience on some level, now, more than ever. Any confusion or lack of clarity will compound fear. I have seen many great companies lately start down the road to destruction by constantly waffling on guidance.
Draw the target and get out of the way!
Your mission or mantra should be the single compelling force in your work, yet the reality remains: your team is routinely inundated with profoundly disruptive information…and misinformation. We cannot turn it off, as hard as we may try. And, without getting too political, Rutherford says, “The fact remains that some of today’s information is intended to manipulate and can alter perspectives.”
What you need is facts, and, certainly, finding and focusing on fact is exceedingly difficult today. It may be one of the most challenging parts of leadership in the [post]pandemic economy. Yet, you must invest the time to dig deep; vet meaningful and well documented fact, then use it to act, or not.
Get Real
Inevitably, we will all deal with fear. Sure, there are a small number of people on the planet that have underdeveloped amygdalas, so they may be immune, but the rest of us will face it.
The real question is, will it derail you? Rutherford suggests going through the following exercise over a period of a few weeks:
- Write down everything you are afraid of, including past, present and future fears.
- Deconstruct and segregate them. Decide whether they are real and truly limiting, tangible yet tolerable, or simply unfounded. He mentioned a fear I share – spiders. Real? Well, only six people die from their bites globally every year, yet I just don’t want to be in the mix.
- Take real action. Eliminate, overcome, or face them. Real and deeply rooted fears (we are born with the fear of edges and loud sounds), especially for childhood or other trauma, will likely require counseling. Get it or help others find it if you recognize they need help!
Conclusion
If your team is ever going to discover, create and build greatness — if they are ever going to achieve more and contribute more abundantly than even you ever thought possible — you must work to diminish fear. Decide the team mission, mantra and goals are BIGGER, BETTER, BRIGHTER and far more meaningful than the comfort of not confronting fear.
Develop the corporate culture where the courage to accomplish more than ever before is developed, encourage and celebrated. Decide you have everything you need to face every obstacle and advance toward every goal, Exceeding Expectations, with an indomitable, unstoppable, and unbeatable spirit.
The rewards for overcoming fear are profoundly important and abundant. You will gain greater freedom, more peace of mind, and even larger opportunities.
At Cerca, we are professionals working with professionals to fine tune talent branding. If you are a leader looking to expand your team with professionals who are fearlessly delivering work in which they take pride, and you can be proud of, every day, then we would be privileged to help you in the process. Having been pros ourselves in the fields where we focus, we know the ins and outs of the companies, the business and the customers.
That’s a good match for any company. Partner with the group that can talk shop and gain rapport with the pros who will lead your business fearlessly into the future. Just email me today at [email protected], and we will begin the process of finding you Top Talent that helps you set records.
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Scott Rivers is the Managing Director of Cerca Talent+, a talent agency for the Oncology, Genetics and Life Science Industries. Scott's recruiting experience extends into the areas of Diagnostics, Equipment and Device, Genomics and BioInformatics. His team manages recruitment for businesses focused on these areas in all roles.
As a leader who has worked at every level of commercial, medical sales and global marketing, Scott is an intense professional who partners with organizations to fine tune talent branding. If you are a leader looking to expand your team with professionals who are focused on delivering work in which they take pride, and you can be proud of, every day, then Scott would be privileged to help you in the process. Having been a professional in the fields where you focus, Scott knows the ins and outs of the companies, the business and the customers you are working to come alongside.
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