DON'T LOOK DOWN!

In our small town of Corner Brook, we did have an excellent community centre. It provided among many things an Olympic size swimming pool and accompanying diving platforms. As a kid, I had no fear of climbing the tallest platform, taking a good run for it, and diving into the water below. But that was not always to be. Corner Brook welcomed its first “skyscraper.” A twelve-story building, which for me, was amazing. My friends and I decided to climb its stairs to the top for a city-wide view. As I approached the top of the landing, I looked out the side window, then I looked down, and it happened. My fear of heights was born. A tightened stomach, wobbly legs, the sweats, and imaginary frights, became the norm. Gone too were my high diving days. To this day, I am paralyzed with the fear of falling. Watching simulated TV or CGI created scenes always reminds me of my fear of heights. I do not like it.

Most of us are afraid of something. Taking risks is a scary concept. We avoid the possibility of great relationships, profitable financial investments, exciting career opportunities, unbelievable personal achievements, and simply basic fun activities. As we age, the fear of declining health overwhelms us.

As a leader, an influencer, a role model, I must be able to cope and mange my own fears to help others deal with theirs. I have learned after twenty-five years as a President/CEO in for profit and not for profit organizations, there are three critical factors to understand.

 The FEAR FACTOR

What are you afraid of? For the past two to three years, we were all afraid of being infected of COVID 19 virus, becoming sick and/or dying a slow death, loosing a family member to the pandemic. We were afraid to travel, meet with family and friends, ride the train and/or bus, shake hands, or have someone breathing just a little too close to us. As the economy sputtered, we were afraid of losing our employment situation, incurring significant monetary loss, and watching our careers stall. As a leader, I was responsible to realize and understand these fears, especially in my employees, and offer them hope that all will be ok, even if I did not have the solutions completely defined and ready for implementation. If I do not understand their thoughts, their emotions, their responses, I risk losing my most valuable resource. As leader, a person of influence, we all must recognize what our followers are afraid of. We must then be able to give them hope.

I had procrastinated long enough. It was time to paint the top deck railing at the cottage. The railing had become very shabby. A real eyesore. As a new retiree, the cost of external help was prohibitive. But it meant climbing a twenty-foot ladder with no ground to base it on.

The HOPE FACTOR

The Holy Scriptures tell us to “Fear Not” (or some variant of the same). The command is recorded over one hundred times. The intent of the message is to give hope and may often be read as:  ″Fear not; for I am with you; be not terrified; for I am your God. Do not be afraid, nor be discouraged.” It has been said, “without hope we will perish.” As leader, to calm the fears of those I influence, I must provide hope, a solution, or solutions to their fears, hope that is realistic, achievable, and sustainable. If I understand the fears of my followers, but do not offer hope, those looking for leadership from me will be lost, discouraged, disenchanted. They could perish because being so encumbered by fear, they are paralyzed, unable to move forward, stuck on a ledge looking down instead of up and not wanting to move for fear of falling. My leadership role demands I provide hope, realistic hope, hope that will give them freedom from a prison of fear and set them on a journey of opportunity, realizing their full potential.

If I secured the ladder to the bottom deck, the risk of it slipping and me falling, would be extremely low. So that is what I did. Using many, and I mean many, bungee cords, and ropes, the ladder was as secure as one could make it. There was hope; I could do this.

The TRUST FACTOR

As a leader I may recognize my followers’ fears. I may even be able to offer them hope. But if I do not have their trust, all is lost. The TRUST FACTOR is fundamental to effective leadership. It is too late to ask followers to trust if we have not been trustworthy. If we do not have a record of trustworthiness, there are no words that will calm the fears of those we need to influence even if our message of hope is encouraging. Can you be trusted? Trust is measured against these critical elements:

Competence – Character – Conviction – Courage - Commitment – Consistency

As a leader, I must be competent. Simply stated, competence is just being able to do something well. It includes a list of technical and personal skills that can be drawn upon and applied to any given situation. Competence though is more than just knowledge. Knowing is fundamental. How to apply that knowledge to a particular situation is key. Joining knowledge and understanding together gives us wisdom. Competency then is the use of wisdom to deal with the fears of our followers so that they believe in you and trust you to take care of them, and they never lose hope.

What defines a good character? Jim Rohn in his article for Success Magazine outlined 6 Essential Traits of Good Character:

https://www.success.com/rohn-6-essential-traits-of-good-character/#:~:text=Rohn%3A%206%20Essential%20Traits%20of%20Good%20Character%201,Self-Sacrifice.%20...%205%20Accountability. %20...%206%20Self-Control. %20

·        Integrity-an undivided life.

·        Honesty-telling the truth.

·        Loyalty-stays with their friends.

·        Self-Sacrifice-always walking along side.

·        Accountability-allowing others to have a say in your life.

·        Self-Control-what we will do and not do with our actions.

If you miss any one of these character traits, you may find you just will not be able to lead.

Our convictions reflect our values. To compromise our values will certainly lead to failure (overall), emotionally and spiritually. Is it worth doing so? In the short term, it may well be. The reward of financial success, certain friendships, physical pleasure, professional appointment, and similar gratifications are indeed alluring. Good leaders, no let us say great leaders know their values and are led by their convictions. Those types of leaders have a more positive influence on others.

 One cannot lead without courage. Brené Brown - Leadership Courage - Strategies for Influence tells us: “Leadership courage is about leadership’s ability to choose courage over comfort. To choose whole hearts over armor, and building an organizational culture based on bravery and vulnerability. Some people think of courage as a lack of fear, but it is not. Courage is about accepting fear and the vulnerability that goes along with it, yet acting based on one’s beliefs, even in challenging or frightening situations. It is not always easy to recognize courage in leadership, particularly during mundane or unchallenging times. Without courage you cannot make a difference. Without courage you cannot have the right conversations that lead to change. Without courage you will not even get off the starting block as a leader. But it is how you show courage that is the crucial point here. Aristotle said that “courage is the first of human qualities because it's the quality that guarantees the others.”

A leader must be committed. Leadership commitment is about modelling the same behaviors you would expect in and from others. We will be effective leaders if we expect from ourselves what we expect from others. Leadership experts, Kouzes and Posner identified ten leadership commitments. For example:

·        Find your voice by clarifying your personal values.

·        Set the example by aligning actions with shared values.

·        Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling activities.

·        Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.

The tone from the top, or the example set by leaders, determines the success of any action.

Leadership consistency is a critical factor. Do not start, then stop then try to do it again. Lack of consistency destroys our leadership effectiveness.

How do you, how do I compare? Am I the go to leader people seek? It is time for critical self reflection.

What of the ones we follow? Should we follow them? Should we support their leadership role?

We need a few good leaders; those who understand our current fears, those that can give us realistic hope of a better tomorrow, those that can be trusted to act with wisdom. Is this too much to ask and expect? I think not!

 Very slowly, very carefully, rung by rung, I climbed the ladder. As I stood at the top of this aluminum stairway, there was only one thing left to stymy progress. ME! My fear of heights. To overcome that fear, I decided I must not look down. I knew the ladder was secure. I knew it was possible to paint each section of the sixty-foot-long deck without mistake. I knew the key to my success was the trust I had to place in myself to do the right thing. With hope, with discipline, with confidence, with trust, after a week of painstaking work, the job was complete. “Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it, I asked myself?” And it was not.

Merv Hillier