Over time I found that the main difference between good and bad leaders is how they manage their fear and anxiety.
Leaders that try to change things or create something new are always submitted to huge quantities of stress and of fear – personal fear as well as organizational fear.
Bad leaders transmit fear and stress to their team. It cascades down, creating negative feelings throughout the organization, hampering true work, destroying creativity and innovation. People just wait for the next outburst of stress and try to avoid being in the way. That occupies most of their time.
Good leaders on the contrary, still faced with the same situation, know how to tame their fear and most importantly, act as a filter for their team, making sure people remain in a situation where they can do their best work. At the end, there will be a tremendous difference in the outcome from the organization.
Above all, don’t think that transmitting fear to your team is a good personal solution that would avoid yourself facing it. Because the final outcome will be bad, it will only reinforce your anxiety and that can easily be very destructive.
If you want to become a better leader, you need to learn to manage your fears and anxiety by yourself.
Hat tip to Gapingvoid for the inspiration
