Common Fears of Leaders in their leadership positions

Most of us aspire for leadership roles and work towards achieving that growth in our career trajectory. Having got there, we realise that it’s not a cakewalk, and in spite of being groomed in developing competencies, there are some fears & misconceptions that hang on our heads as a draconian sword.  

This article addresses some of the most common ones:

Fear that the mask of “I am invincible” may slip – A common assumption amongst most of us leaders is that we must come across as people who know everything. At no point should we appear to be vulnerable or incompetent. Interestingly leaders become so paranoid with this fear, that they isolate themselves in the glass room and the obvious result is incompetent outputs. Super teams are led by leaders who align individual strengths & talents.

Great leadership is seeded in Humility, accept that you cannot know it all. Leadership is not about shutting yourself in your cabin, so walk around, communicate with your team, show respect to their talent, trust them, share your fears & apprehensions and be prepared for a surprise- a bonded engaged team.

Fear of expectation to be inspirational in all situations good, bad or ugly – While being inspirational is a trade mark of inspiring leadership, playacting it all the time can have serious repercussions on the leader and his team. He/she can feel burned out; the team can see through the façade & lose respect & trust.

Be natural, practice mindfulness & reflect on your responses, body language, and choice of words.

A word of caution, don’t fake or over try

Fear of Criticism – Leaders are in the spotlight; hence their shortcomings are noticed, and highlighted more than their strengths. For most people being a leader means being invincible, and always making correct decisions. We know that is not the reality, leaders make mistakes and misjudge sometimes.

Learn to grow thick skin and get used to it.

Self- Awareness & Self – Mastery are the roots of great leadership.

Ask for informal feedback, get a 360-degree review and debunk the persona that a leader is perfect, use humility to listen to others & what is expected from you.

Fear of failure – Most of us hate failure, however, we know that when we fail, normally we gain wisdom. Remember that failures will happen, own them and work with the teams to move to corrective actions.

Leaders with high emotional intelligence are more graceful & centred to handle these situations. Build your EI quotient.

Fear of not making the correct decision – This is a tricky one, whether you delay a decision or make one too quickly, both can have potential challenges. Use your intuition & wisdom to either make a decision based on the data on hand or wait for more data.  Either way be proactive to take correct remedial action.

Fear of juniors being more knowledgeable in their roles-related aspects – This will happen & honestly, it should. You are not expected to know the technicalities as a role incumbent should.

You can use your wisdom & team knowledge to move ahead in these situations.

Speaking with gravitas & confidence to create engagement – Considered almost the number one fear, even among seasoned leaders.

The challenge here is not the content, but to speak with confidence, belief, and aspiration to ensure the team is engaged to follow.

While the simplest way forward would be to practice- practice & practice, we suggest formal training to fast forward the process.  Get a coach to master techniques like storytelling, facilitation, insightful questioning skills, getting people to think deeper & building gravitas for influencing. 

Finally remember the buck stops with the leader & the rot also begins with his/ her thinking, unconscious biases, and perceptions.