Always do what you are afraid to do. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Living near the coast in South Carolina, I love the water. I love to swim. But getting there was anything but a pleasant journey.
It all started with my swim lessons at the local YMCA when I was a little boy. My mom took me to my lessons each week. They taught me all the basics of how to swim, tread water, etc. But, I still had a lingering fear of the water that was hard to overcome.
The lessons were going well until they weren’t. In order to pass, you had to jump off the diving board into the deep end of the water. Well, let’s just say that I don’t have a certificate from the YMCA certifying that I learned how to swim.
In my late teens, I’m with some friends in Nassau. We had enjoyed a full day of fun at the beach which included some snorkeling. Not paying attention to how long I had been in the water, I had grown tired and was trying to make my way back to the shore. I got caught up in the wake of a passing boat and I was just too tired to continue.
Struggling desperately to tread water, I began to panic. I knew for sure that I was moments away from drowning. Thankfully, one of my friends spotted me and realized what was happening, and came to my aid.
Later in life, I knew that to overcome those lingering fears I would have to do something bold in order to overcome it. The time had come to face my fear head-on. I signed up for scuba diving lessons. I took and passed the course, having gone through all the paces with my divemaster in the cool spring waters in Florida.
In leadership, you will face many fears and challenges that will come your way. We all do. As a leader, you do not want fear to hold you back. So how do we keep that from happening? How do you know when fear is holding you back? Here are a few ways to know.
Fear is holding you back when you exaggerate your problems
Every leader I know faces challenges and obstacles. It comes with the territory. But when you allow fear to magnify them beyond what they truly are then you are allowing fear to win. Make it a point to surround yourself with people who will help you put things in perspective. See the challenge for what it is but don’t allow fear to make more out of it than what’s there.
Fear is holding you back when you entertain negative attitudes
When negative attitudes infiltrate our minds or come to us from the people around us, it can cause fear to be present. Negative attitudes feed our worst fears. It magnifies our problems, displaces hope, and diminishes confidence. This is why you must approach the challenges to your leadership based on sound judgment and a proper perspective and not one based on fear and negative attitudes.
Fear is holding you back when you are unwilling to take risks
Here’s a sad truth – many leaders never reach the full potential of their leadership and giftedness because they’d rather play it safe and settle than take a risk. This not only hurts you but caps the potential of the people and organization you lead. Fear is one of the leading causes of dreams being deferred and goals being unattained. You certainly don’t want to throw caution to the wind and be careless, but you will never be all you can be until you decide fear is not going to hold you back any longer.
Fear is holding you back when you don’t embrace it
I know this sounds like a contradiction of everything you’ve just read, but fear can be a healthy thing when channeled properly. It’s only when you acknowledge your fear, confront it, and resolve to not let it control your life that you will overcome it. Your fears exist for a reason and so it’s not good to always dismiss them out-of-hand. Discover the underlying reasons for it and act accordingly. Don’t be afraid of fear – figure it out and move forward.
Final Thoughts
Christian Nestell Bovee said, “We fear things in proportion to our ignorance of them”. And that’s why we must not be afraid to confront our fears or allow them to hold us back. Move forward in faith and with a confidence that comes not from a fear of jumping off the diving board but fear of missing out on the wonders beneath the ocean.
©2021 Doug Dickerson
