“Face your fears and let’s go!” Those were the words from my dad whenever I would get scared about doing something. He never contributed to my fears or let me dwell on them. I have taken those words to heart in all aspects of my life when fear begins to arise, especially in leadership.
Part of leading your business to success is confronting the fears that we find inside of ourselves as leaders. Indeed, this process can be a challenging and scary one, yet on the other side, you will find not only a personal sense of achievement but also a better way of running your business.
With this in mind, read on to find out what some of the most common fears for business leaders are, and why it’s so vital that you overcome them.
Not Being In Control
Delegating work to someone other than yourself can be terrifying as a leader. What if they get it wrong and make a mistake? What if they don’t care about the outcome as much as you do? Often it seems easier to avoid potential catastrophe by just doing the task yourself.
However, micromanagement of your team can be destructive for so many reasons including that it is an inefficient use of your time, can add unnecessary stress to your employees, and cause issues with job satisfaction and retention in the long run.
Instead, the solution is to show employees that you trust them by giving them responsibilities, something that frees you up to deal with mission-critical tasks with a clear head.
Financial Risk
Financial risk is another fear that effective leaders must face if their organization is to succeed. Indeed, without taking financial risks, even well-calculated ones, it’s likely that your company will stagnate and fail to grow.
One of the most significant risks that any business leader takes when running a company is to find the initial funding to begin. After all, if the company fails then they will be left owing investors, banks, or loan providers a significant sum.
Ironically, those that are willing to embrace slightly more risk in the beginning, finding the initial start-up money via investments in things like Forex Trading, might help to negate further risk later on. The reason is that by raising the full amount in this way, they are free to fail without any risk to their own finances.
Being Human and Fallible
Being seen as a competent professional is important to many of us that are leaders. Indeed, having the respect of our peers and employees can lead us to think that we must be perfect at all times. However, the pressure of being perfect can reality take its toll, not to mention the toxic culture it can give rise to where no one feels as if they can make mistakes, or be human.
Instead, truly successful leaders embrace their humanity and forgive themselves for their fallibility. Along the way reaping the benefits of a better connection with their team, a healthier work culture, and less self-imposed stress.
Final Thoughts
Yes, of course, it can be scary to admit that you don’t know something, have got something wrong, or even need some time off. Yet, over the long term embracing your own humanity will allow you to embrace the humanity of both your clients and employees and help you build a stronger, more flexible, and ultimately successful business that can withstand whatever is thrown at it. Wouldn’t you agree?
