Face Your Fears
Face Your Fears
The fundamental idea here is the leadership is uncomfortable.
Little Miguel ordinarily loves all big vehicles from tractor trailers to bulldozers. Today were we were visiting a local supermarket, when he saw a giant backhoe and started jumping and screaming for joy. When I ran over to the parked backhoe to get a closer look and show it to Miguel, I realized that he was still standing 20 feet away frozen. I was surprised that he was not running in front of me. Although, once I thought about it for a moment, it made sense. After all, Miguel is not quite 40 inches tall, and there was a big huge machine that looks scary if you have never been up close to one before. I picked him up and held him close, and we made our way together over to the big backhoe. Miguel started to cry for 3 seconds as his fear took hold of him, then his curiosity started surfacing. This brought a big smile and giggle. He had won over his fear today.
It’s easy for all of us to focus on our fears and stop cold in our tracks. The fundamental idea here is that leadership is uncomfortable. Often, if we stop to think, we can shine a light on our fears so we can face them directly. I deeply encourage you to run at your fears with support or alone. The personal and professional growth on the other side of your fears will be well worth the initial discomfort, I promise. A great quote from Nido Qubein, an entrepreneur and motivational speaker, is “the price of discipline in less than the pain of regret.” I would say to you that fears will ultimately be overwhelming for you if you do not face them head on.
