Insight #372:
I worry about fear in the workplace. Don’t misunderstand me. A little fear is a useful management tool. But I’m talking about too much fear of the kind we have today. Think political divide, on/off war, energy crisis, yes/no recession, and of course, the lurking yes/no AI job killer.
I know, I know, all of these events could have a silver lining, depending on how you look at them. Fear could simple be a personal interpretation of possible negative events where others see opportunities galore.
Regardless, too much fear makes us do stupid things. Like freeze when we should run or run when we should stand still. Or fight when we should cool it. In the moment of fear, we just don’t know which action is appropriate.
Neither do managers who manage fearful people. We teach managers to manage actions to achieve desired results. We don’t teach them how to manage the emotions behind the actions, whether their own emotions or the emotions of their team.
Yet, I have seen a few leaders deal with fear as a way of influencing behavior and actions. Like the CEO, appointed to rescue a bankrupt retailer, who openly discussed his and his team’s fears as he guided the company back to profitability. Like Nelson Mandela, who managed the fears of a nation before being elected president. (I lived there during that fearful time. And I must say, it did not surprise me when many people not of his party helped to vote him into the role of president.)
But the most frightening example of a leader managing fear happened to me in the African bush. A group of us were on a walking safari, which included sleeping in the bush. Our leader was a game ranger with a rifle. And then, surprise, surprise, a lioness charged us. Some of us turned to run like hell. Others froze in fear. But the ranger knew what to do because he was not in fear.
No, he did not manage the situation by shooting the lioness. Instead, he managed our fear. He calmly, yet loudly and firmly, communicated his instructions so that we acted appropriately. We walked away from the lioness, backwards and unharmed. The lioness also walked away unharmed, but not backwards.
Every workday you, the manager, must somehow achieve planned outcomes through other people. Too often we managers focus on the actions that are likely to create those outcomes. And yet, we should focus more on behavior, because behavior leads to action.
So, don’t manage action. Manage behavior. But don’t just manage behavior. Manage fear. Because we know that too much fear makes us behave stupidly.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
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Quote of the Moment:
When afraid, I can never decide whether to fight, flee, or freeze. So I fret instead. The Chief Nonsense Officer.
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