What a great question! I think it is one of the hidden fears most of us have. As team leaders, we have to face and acknowledge it ourselves first before we can get past this with our team members.
I am grappling with this same fear myself. I have so many shortcomings and limitations as a team leader. Should I become successful and reach the top, how will I handle it? How will I keep that success forever?
There are active PSAs/CSAs in my team who are probably like me. I suspect they too are afraid to get deeper in SFI and become successful and so stays in their comfort zones.
Being stuck in my present rank for many months has given me this time to question myself, too, and look deeper within me, what is hindering me from reaching my potential.
Like being in a rocking chair, it can give a false sense of security and of being active. Although in constant motion we know we’ll never get anywhere.
I want to share an old Indian fable related by Bill Newman in his book: “The Ten Laws of Leadership”.
It tells of a mouse which was in constant distress because of its fear of the rat. A magician took pity on it and turned it into a cat. Immediately it became afraid of the dog. So the magician turned it into a tiger. Immediately it began to fear the hunter. Then, the magician said, “Be a mouse again. You have only the heart of a mouse and I cannot help you.”.
We cannot lead our team and help them conquer the fear of success if we have the heart of a mouse.
To keep our dreams and goals alive and vivid before us all the time, we need to share them with our team. Once when we take off our eyes on our dreams and goals. we only see obstacles.
Eleanor Roosevelt has this to say of conquering fear. “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience but you need to stop, and look fear in the face… You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
And Mark Twain said that courage is not the absence of fear but the mastery of it.
"Success is never final, failure is never final, it is the courage that counts." - Anon.
Fears will stop us from trying. Fears will stop us unless we stop them first. This, for me, sums it up.
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What a great question! I think it is one of the hidden fears most of us have. As team leaders, we have to face and acknowledge it ourselves first before we can get past this with our team members.
I am grappling with this same fear myself. I have so many shortcomings and limitations as a team leader. Should I become successful and reach the top, how will I handle it? How will I keep that success forever?
There are active PSAs/CSAs in my team who are probably like me.
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