Happy Halloween y'all! The spookiest day of the year.
Naturally, ghosts and ghouls are on our minds.
Which means it's a good time to speak about fear.
And if we're being honest, as entrepreneurs/humans, we're all afraid of something…
- Failure
- Not achieving our potential
- Being stuck in a job/life that depletes us
- Being authentic and having people criticize us for it
- Acting out of alignment with the identity we display to the world
But this isn't the problem.
The problem is allowing our fears to direct us and take control of our lives… Rather than recognizing our fears, confronting them head-on, and choosing to lead our lives with courage.
I know this from experience.
There have been times in my entrepreneurial journey where I've allowed fear to be my compass:
- When one of my top executives let me know they're leaving the company for another role immediately before our annual, all-hands summit.
- Running a venture-backed, unprofitable company that was weeks away from not being able to make payroll if we didn't raise more $$.
- Being sued by a former employee for claims that weren't true (and not having employment practices liability insurance in place—doh!).
- COVID completely crushing our 100+ employee, $100M business knowing that if we didn't pivot and pivot fast we were doomed.
And even during better, less chaotic times where I was a less mature, less experienced, and a less capable CEO…when a bad mood or a slight from someone or random negative occurrence could put me into protection (aka fear) mode rather than one of possibility and abundance.
In these times, everything seemed hard. I'd felt disconnected from others, had problems sleeping and would make poorer-than-desired decisions.
It sucks to be in this state. But if we're not cognizant of the state we're in, and able to catch ourselves when we feel fear, it's easy to slip into (and stay in) this unfavorable state.
Because shit happens in life…and life can be very difficult at times.
It can easily be argued that fear is our most natural state.
We have to actively work on
not leading from a place of fear in order to be our best selves. Until we learn how to do this it's an unnatural process.
Great way to get better at leading without fear? FACE your fears head-on. Here's a pic of my buddy Matt Matros doing so via a sub 40 degree cold plunge at Founderland. A daily cold plunge habit is a great way to train yourself to recognize fears and plow through them.
Signs that you may be leading from a place of fear: - You're quick to anger and lash-out at others.
- You put other people down to feel better about yourself.
- You're trying to control everything around you, especially people.
- You constantly feel like people are out to get you or are trying to pull one over on you, rather than thinking the universe is conspiring in your favor.
- You pull inward when confronted with challenges rather than leaning on others for help.
- You spend your time on non-important activities and micro-managing others because these give you certainty (because larger, more strategic initiatives require a sense of calm you don't currently possess).
And companies that are led by fearful leaders perform worse than those who don't. Fear-driven companies experience:
- Less innovation
- Less transparency & trust
- Inconsistent communication that creates confusion
- Higher turnover rates due to a culture of micro-management
- Lower functionality due to an omnipresent focus on competitors
- Over-emphasis on authority & hierarchy rather than collaboration
Not to mention that fear elevates stress and cortisol levels in the body leading to poor health & performance, and premature demise (or at worse, early death).
Fear sucks. But it's always there…
So what can you do to combat fear and ensure you're not directly hurting your company's chances at achieving success?
I've learned that the following protocol works for me:
i) Recognize the Trigger. For me this is noticing tension building in my neck/shoulders. This is my signal that something is bothering me, and I need to tune-in.
ii) Pinpoint the Fear. Go through the process of finding out what caused the trigger rather than just acting on a feeling.
iii) Pause. Is whatever is causing my fear worth the tension it's causing? Should I just let it go or is this something I should lean into and try to solve? It's wild how often I realize that whatever caused the trigger is silly and deserves no further investment of time/energy.
iv) Plan & Act. This is where I either let go or determine to either act now or at some future date/time on whatever needs to be done.
v) Release. I do my best to release my fear and discomfort, recognizing that I have a plan that needs to be executed, and any negative emotion associated with this plan will only make it more difficult to accomplish.
This is the tactical protocol I use to combat fear and lead with courage instead.
And while this usually works for me, I've recognized that it's not necessarily enough.
To truly lead with courage and become the best version of myself, I've needed to change the way I look at the world.
This comes down to:
- Giving People a Break
- Accepting That Life Isn't Fair
- Ditching the Comparison Trap
- Embracing My Own Uniqueness
- Rediscovering Childlike Wonder
- Recognizing that My Path was Meant for Me
- Believing that Life is a Miracle… Appreciate It, and
- Collaborate & Celebrate Other People Daily
I wrote more about this in
THIS thread on X.
Hope you have a wonderful Halloween, and learn to release your fear to experience a better business, and most importantly, a much better life.
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