Fear: managerial engine or vector of failure?
Taking initiative and even taking risks are constants in the life of a manager. Quite often, leadership is put to the test when big decisions have to be made or new measures have to be implemented within a team.
How do experienced managers use recent events to be success influencers?
How does fear paralyze?
The desire to set an example, pressure, perfectionism are all factors that can bring about the same feeling: fear. In the global economic market, fear is either an insurmountable obstacle or a tool to surpass oneself and overcome economic adversity.
A vivid example that illustrates how fear can dominate beyond abilities is that of the PSG team during their showdown against Barca in the Champions League this year. A magnificent score in the first leg: 4-0. No need to explain that after such a result, you feel your wings growing, you feel invincible, well above any defeat. We are cheered, applauded, saluted!
But what about the return match? This is when you forget your strengths and leave room for doubt. And if…
… And if after all the defeat was possible? Putting yourself in the shoes of the coach, Unay Emery, might you have thought something like: ” Lose ? No ! … you would have to concede at least 5 goals without scoring a single one. Barça is a challenging team but we have never overcome such a gap in the history of the UCL… Let’s be careful, it will be harder than you think! We risk losing or at best making a draw but from there to take 5… ”
“ Courage is not the absence of fear – it is inspiring others to overcome it ” – Nelson Mandela
No doubt PSG would have won their return match with such an attitude… Wasn’t the role of the captain, the coach and the governing bodies to move forward, to go up to the front with a confident gaze, to inspire players to victory? Unfortunately, the pre-match attitude was quite different. Here is what Thomas Meunier, unfortunate but objective actor of the Parisian rout, expressed:
“Everyone only warned us that we were leaving with a 4-goal lead. So I think that unconsciously it weighed in the balance (…) Everyone, whether it’s the press, whether it’s the coach, whether it’s the staff, whether it’s the players between us, those who played at Barca etc. I mean everyone really, we said to ourselves “guys it’s not done.” For me it really put us in doubt. »
Group pressure, negative comments, the lack of a courageous leader, this is the perfect recipe for guaranteed failure. In a market where leadership is a key element for business success, there is more than ever a need for managers capable of inspiring their teams.
“Experience builds courage, influencers make it contagious”
Being all human, fear is or will be part of our career, the question is how to overcome it to make it a strength.Very often, all the cards are in the hands of the members of the management committees and the experience helps them to hold the helm firmly during the storm or even in good times when it comes to questioning themselves.
They know how to transform the most anxiety-provoking trials into strength through strong cohesion with field teams and human values intrinsic to the corporate culture. Thus, the manager does not yield under pressure, but uses each challenge as a training opportunity for his partners, to guide them towards victory.
