Teach & Serve III, No. 30 – Leading from Fear
March 7, 2018
When we find ourselves responding too frequently from a place of fear, perhaps our most effective window as leaders has closed.
There are good places from which to lead, good places of the heart and the soul. I am a better leader when I am rested, when I am centered, when I am in touch with myself – with my weakness and my strengths. I can be a much more effective leader when leading from a place of good will and understanding.
Likewise, I am conscious of when I am a weak leader, when my judgment is compromised and when I make poor decisions and choices.
Typically, I am a weaker leader when I am leading from fear.
Fear comes in many shapes and sizes in our institutions. We can be afraid of parents, afraid of students and staff, afraid of change, afraid of rocking the boat we have carefully tried to keep from sinking. Recognizing about what a leader should be afraid is not the same thing as leading from fear.
Leading from fear often restrains a leader and, ostensibly, an institution, from making bold choices and from innovating. Fear holds us back.
If we stop ourselves from making challenging decisions or from empowering others because of fears of whom we might offend or the impacts our decisions may have, we must consider the relative good. Is the offense outweighed by the positive results we anticipate resulting from the decision? If we are reluctant to lead because there are informal forces which will push back against us, we must ask a similar question. If we shy away from issuing clear statements or taking stands which we believe are important for our schools or our students out of concern for the reactions these statements or stands might draw, it is likely we have not considered them well enough in the first place. If they have been thoughtfully considered, and the students or school will benefit from them being made, good leaders move forward.
Yes, there are fears to which we should respond. Yes, there are times when what concerns us must inform how we proceed. Perhaps there are even times when our fears ought to stop us in our tracks.
But not always. When we find ourselves responding too frequently from a place of fear, perhaps our most effective window as leaders has closed.
A good leader recognizes fears, analyzes them and acts.
An excellent leader understands when fear is nothing to fear.