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I was having a coaching call with a client recently
She is a senior leader within the tech industry and was being lined up for a promotion to a global role
“I am very excited” she said “It is like a dream come true!”
And then she paused....
“But I am scared” she said hesitantly “It is a huge responsibility. It is a big role”
She continued, “What happens if I do not succeed?”
The incumbent leader, whose position she was taking, had done an excellent job
And now, she was afraid whether she will be able to fill in those shoes or not
She was scared to step into her new power
“If I am not able to do justice to this new role, it will impact my credibility, my reputation and all the hard work I have put in over past so many years” she said
You see….
When we see successful leaders, we only see the success, the aura, the fame
But the truth is..
Success can sometimes be intimidating
Success can create all forms of fear and doubts
..Fear of failure
..Fear of what is on the other side, if you become successful
..Fear of not meeting the expectations of people around you
It can sometimes cause you to question your own self worth “Do I even deserve this?”
Success creates so many new challenges for you
And the more successful you are as a leader, the bigger challenges lie ahead of you
We are always talking about fear of failure
But we NEVER talk about fear of success
And these fears, these self-doubts can stop you from showing up powerfully as a leader
They can stop you from taking bold action and playing full out
Look....
Fear of success can be a good sign - it means that you are thinking BIG
But allowing that fear to move you into a state of inaction and indecisiveness is not healthy
And just a word of caution....
Fear of success and fear of failure can seem to similar in nature
But they are NOT
Both come from different places
Fear of failure assumes that you will fail in your endeavors
Fear of success, on the other hand, assumes that you will succeed, but you are afraid of what will happen after that ?
And interestingly, both can prevent you from taking action
So instead of fear of failure, I want you to go back and reflect :
Are you actually afraid of success ?
The answer may not be intuitive to you - you need to really think this through
Think about the biggest aspiration you have ahead of you - something big and bold
Then, reflect on what might happen if you are able to achieve it
You can complete these sentences
My biggest aspiration is___________________
It scares me because_____________________
I would be interested to know what came up for you as you read and reflected on this email
Do share your thoughts and feedback
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