Fear can be contagious. Read enough articles that tap into deep-rooted fears and before you know it – BAM! – you’re feeling fearful and you may not even know why.
We see it every day in business and in the workplace. People make decisions, or not, based on what falls inside or outside their comfort zones.
Complacency is a form of fear – frozen into doing nothing – and when something bad happens, it’s easy to write it off as “Why me?” thinking.
I can pinpoint the times in my own career (spanning more than a few decades), when pain came about because I failed to take action. Worse, yet, is when I saw it coming and still took no action!
CNN Money recently published an article based on a 1,000 person, twice a year survey conducted by Right Management Consultants (subsidiary of Manpower). It appears that U.S. workers are now feeling less secure about losing their jobs than our Canadian and European counterparts.
The U.S. may be in the running for this year’s fear award – what the consultancy calls its Career Confidence Index – only ahead of Switzerland and Germany. Phew. Glad to know that we haven’t hit rock bottom yet.
Turning the Tables
When my clients say, “I don’t have a choice,” regardless of what the object of their dissatisfaction may be, I suggest reframing the situation by asking themselves five “what” questions:
- What could happen if they took no action?
- What short-term actions could they take to influence a different outcome?
- What long-term actions do they need to take to turn the tables on this fear?
- What long range possibilities do they have at their disposal?
- What additional skills or information would they need to bring long range into focus?
This exercise is a great way to get out of “stinking thinking” and into action that puts the responsibility and fun back into choice!
© 2006 DA McCrorey
Fear needs an object. So, the fastest way to turn the tables on fear is to remove the object or face it and do something about it.
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