What’s Holding You Back? (#219)

The Confident Leader

BOOST YOUR LEADERSHIP IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

I reflected on my coaching sessions over the past few weeks when thinking about this week’s newsletter topic. Across each of the different discussions, I was shocked to see one consistent theme.

“The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.”

― Nathaniel Braden (American psychologist)

This Week’s Edition

Understanding what’s holding you back is the first step toward real action and charting a new trajectory.

Clarify Your Thinking

I was stunned to realize that each coaching session was connected by a consistent theme… fear!

1. A CEO dealing with a challenging founder: fear the founder will not like the business decisions and galvanize the board against him.
   
2. A CEO’s desire to push the team harder: fear that slowing down will cede market share to competitors lurking in the shadows.
   
3. A CEO’s realization that he needs to remove a top leader: fear the person will not receive it well and torch the company as they leave.
   
4. A CEO’s prospective sale of his business: fear that he will not manage the financial success well.
   
5. A CEO’s constant battle with limited time: fear that a critical ball will get dropped and the business will suffer.
   
6. A CEO’s loss of a dear friend: fear that he is not using his time well before his time is up.
   
7. A CEO’s instinct to reorganize the company for future growth: fear of the unknown.
   
8. A CEO’s desire to train his leaders: fear they won’t adopt the program and that he’ll discover they aren’t the right leaders for the business.

Old Thinking: I wouldn’t say I’m fearful, just very concerned and worried. I need to think about it more, analyze things further, wait a little longer, etc…I’m not ready to act. I guess I am a tad fearful. 

New Thinking: I’ve defined the problem. I’ve come up with a solution. The timing is right. I need to act. I am concerned, worried, and a bit fearful, but delaying will only make things worse. 

Thoughts Lead to Actions

Fear is a natural part of the leadership journey. Some shake hands with fear because it motivates them. While that may be true, fear as a motivator can be quite damaging over the long run. 

Most of the time, I see fear in the leaders I work with as a corrosive emotion that stops them from pursuing a course of action that would give them good intel and possibly solve the underlying problem

Each CEO’s situation above highlights capable leaders who are stalled in their ability to make a decision. But at least they are talking about it. 

The coaching approach outlined below helped each leader fully understand their “fear” and unlocked their next strategic move. I asked them the following questions:

1. What is the challenge you are experiencing?
   • This allows you to determine the problem you need to solve. 
   • Usually, you’ve amassed plenty of examples to define the problem.
     
2. Do you have options to solve the problem?
   • Often, you’ve got an inkling on a possible solution.
   • It’s helpful for you to say them out loud.
     
3. What’s holding you back?
   • This power question allows you to identify the “fear.” 
   • The more precise you can be, the better.
     
4. What’s the worst-case scenario?
   • This allows you to voice how bad it could be.
     
5. What’s the likelihood that the worst-case scenario will materialize?
   • The typical response is, “oh… it’s small. Maybe one or two percent.” 
   • This a point of possible revelation: “why am I so paralyzed when the worst-case scenario that I’m fearing has such a low probability of occurring?”

After this coaching conversation, each CEO realized their fear was not a factor sufficient to prevent them from making the leadership decision they knew they needed to make. 

This is true leadership freedom… being liberated from the fear narrative that is playing on repeat in your head. 

Boost Your Performance

Watch this week’s video to hear how you can isolate what’s holding you back, coach yourself through your own “fear,” and take the action you know you need to take.

What’s Your Opinion?

What’s holding you back? Let me know: robin.pou@robinpou.com

If you are going to be a leader, you might as well be a good one. Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!

Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist

We live to make bad leadership extinct so forward this newsletter to others who strive to be confident leaders. 

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What is “The Confident Leader”?

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.