Consider this common scenario: You’re committed to transparent communication with your staff about organizational changes. As the moment approaches to share potentially bad news, your internal dialogue raises doubts.
Thoughts about team morale, personal relationships, and potential reactions create emotional barriers to your committed course of action. You feel anxious and tighten up. “Maybe we can just delay a little longer,” you might think.
Seeing the Leadership Opportunity- Even When It’s Hard
The opportunity to lead emerges in these pivotal moments. Delivering necessary but difficult feedback, implementing organizational changes, and upholding standards during times of upheaval are essential leadership actions.
Yet fear and anxiety can barge in and prevent you from honoring your commitments to transparency and authenticity. When your commitment clashes with these fearful feelings, it can test your resolve big time.
Fear is not evil. It exists to keep you safe, to warn you about potential danger. And sometimes it goes into overdrive. The challenge as a leader is to keep fear in its proper place–acknowledge it, look for the message, and then release it.
Ask yourself these essential leadership questions:
- How does fear influence your commitments?
- What is the true cost of allowing temporary discomfort to override important commitments?
5 Amare Ways to Uphold Commitments When You Feel Afraid
1. Deepen your emotional awareness. Think back to the last 3-5 challenges you experienced as a leader. Identify any fear reactions and recognize how they may have influenced your actions.
2. Strengthen your commitments. Document and review your core commitments regularly, especially before challenging situations. Let these principles guide your actions when emotions suggest a path of avoidance.
3. Work with your fears. Whenever you feel your internal dialogue becoming fear-driven, take a few minutes to sit quietly. Listen to your emotions, acknowledge the concerns, and thank them for being there for you. Then, decide what will serve you moving forward and what won’t.
4. Implement strategic practices. Establish specific protocols for handling emotionally challenging leadership moments. Develop a structured approach to difficult conversations, decision-making, and commitment follow-through.
5. Identify accountability partners. Connect regularly with trusted friends and colleagues who understand leadership challenges. Ask them to help hold you accountable to maintaining your commitments despite emotional resistance.
Finding the Balance
Effective Amare leadership requires a delicate balance between acknowledging emotions and maintaining your commitments. Your ability to navigate this balance directly impacts your organization’s culture and success.
True leadership emerges not in the absence of emotional challenges but in your consistent ability to honor commitments in the face of them.
Do You Feel Called to Improve as a Leader?
Do fears hold you back from being the best leader you can possibly be? Reach out today to explore how coaching can help you lead through your fears and with greater focus and impact.
Today’s Amare Wave Wednesday Quote
“It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.”
— Zig Ziglar
Click here and read more Amare Wave Wednesday newsletters on related topics:
The Power of Discernment to Make Business Better
5 Powerful Steps to Recognize and Trust Your Instincts: Master This Critical Leadership Skill
One Provocative Question and 3 Love-Powered Ways to Learn to Lead from the Inside Out
Fulfill All Your Leadership Potential by Facing & Freeing Your Deepest Fear
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