INTHEBLACK Mental Health 2021 - Magazine - Page 13
AT A G L A N C E
Fear is said to be among
the most contagious of
emotions, with the power
to filter down through the
ranks of an organisation.
Operating in unprecedented
levels of uncertainty may
have created a climate of
fear, and the advice for
leaders is to focus on core
values and principles.
In difficult times, the
expectation of leaders is
not the ability to predict
or control the future, but
a sense of reliability and a
focus on making decisions
that are in the best interest
of everyone.
I N UNCERTA I N TI M ES, IT IS ALL TO O EASY TO FEEL C R IPPLED WITH
I NDECI S I ON DUE TO F EA R O F WH AT LIES AHEAD. H AVING C O U R AG E D O ESN’T
M EA N DI S P EL L I NG F EA R, B U T AC KNOWLED G ING IT AND TAPPING INTO
S EL F-CERTA I NTY WH ILE PLANNING FO R TH E FU TU R E.
STORY ENGEL SCHMIDL
E
nglish philosopher Thomas Hobbes
wrote, “Fear and I were born
twins together”. This is a sardonic
reflection on the circumstances
of his birth – Hobbes was born
prematurely to a mother supposedly panicked
by the menacing news of the Spanish Armada
approaching British shores in 1588.
Hobbes’s exploration of the concept of fear,
as well as the role fear plays in shaping society
and ways it can be manipulated for political
and social gain, is central to his influential
body of work, which is still relevant more
than four centuries later.
Fear has played a starring role during
the annus horribilis that was 2020. Raging
bushfires, geopolitical tensions, climate
anxiety and the spread of the COVID-19
pandemic, with its health and economic
consequences spilling well into 2021, have
stoked dread, anxiety and uncertainty for
individuals and businesses.
From small business owners through to
heads of state, leaders have been facing thorny
questions that many have struggled to answer,
let alone sugarcoat.
Leaders have had to step up in a big
way, and with the end to disruption and
uncertainty nowhere in sight, the only way
forward is to learn to live with – and lead
through – fear.
LOOKING FEAR IN THE EYE
For much of 2020, John Karagounis had
a close and personal view of how business
leaders dealt with staring into the abyss.
Some were paralysed by fear, while others
were energised by the challenge.
As CEO and managing director of The
CEO Circle, roles he has held for the past
12 years, Karagounis has close daily contact
with CEOs and other C-suite executives
from across Australia and from all types
of organisations.
The Circle holds regular meetings
with groups of no more than 12 leaders
confidentially discussing the issues and
challenges they are facing, from professional
to personal. The small size and intimacy of
The Circle groups mean that many leaders
can let down their guard.
Karagounis says fear of the unknown
consumed many leaders he talked to last
year, especially during the early days of the
pandemic.
“We’ve never faced these times before.
We’ve never gone through a pandemic
that has impacted business and stopped
economies overnight,” he says.
Leadership expert Margie Warrell has
also carefully observed how different leaders
reacted and handled the situation as the
COVID-19 crisis unfolded.
The author of several books on leadership
and maximising human potential, Warrell
says the COVID-19 pandemic has been
such an unsettling experience because it
upended certainties.
The existential nature of the crisis, which
ranged from anxiety about personal health
through to the potential collapse of the global
economy, allowed fear to creep into the darkest
corners of our minds, she says.
This highly personalised manifestation of
fear led to doubt and insecurity for even some
of the most resilient people. For that reason,
Warrell advises that, before leading others,
leaders manage their mindset by homing in
on their core values and principles.
“We must lead ourselves first, and how
well we do that will impact how well we
can embolden others to take the courageous
actions that their fears would rather they
didn’t take,” says Warrell. “With so much
outside our control, we have to double down
on focusing on what lays within it.
“A leader’s ability to embolden others to
be braver is directly proportional to their
willingness to take action in the presence
of their fears and misgivings. The essence
of courage is taking action amid the
risks, uncertainty and ambiguity. We’ve
been dealing with that in unprecedented
proportions throughout 2020.”
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