The Leadership Power Of Managing Emotions
Three days ago, A friend of mine rang me up and said,
Listen, brother, I want your help. I am feeling demotivated. I know I am in the right business, but I am not feeling the internal fire anymore. Since this is where you are a master, can we speak?
The next day, we got on a 40 min call, which seemed like one entire decade of wise talk, because at that moment, he realized my life’s mission: facing the fear and stress head-on every time their false face shows up.
You don’t know yet that this friend made a $2.8 Million exit in February 2020 (just before the pandemic) and secured a job paying him Rs. 10 Lakhs/month as a leader during the pandemic, yet: he felt fear and stress.
What was happening in his mind, and how can such a successful leader like him experience this?
One wise man told me,
99 percent of humans and 100 percent of animals operate from a place of fear. The remainder 1 percent from adventure, and those are the ones who change the world.
Believe it or not, almost everyone you know, including those who look positive, confident, financially successful, and seem to be physically fit, is operating from fear.
The stress of losing out or the next thing going wrong drives their decisions as people, leaders, family members, and ‘responsible’ members of society. All these demands for what I call ‘Fear Spirit Leadership.’
What is Fear Spirit Leadership?
Picking some wisdom from my friend Akshay Nanavati’s successful and life-transforming book, ‘Fearvana,’ our brains are made of two kinds of pieces: the human brain (front brain) and the animal brain (back).
Most of us instinctively operate from the animal brain because it is the part of the skull responsible for keeping us alive. But, unfortunately, we are past the jungle’s fears, and if you knew how much life that part of the brain sucks out of you, you probably would want to rip it apart.
The problem is that you can’t. Nobody can. So, what can you do? Learn to live with it and harness the power of facing it because that ‘space’ is where eventually success as a leader and a human lies.
Fear Spirit Leadership is a state of being which operates from the soul vs. the human brain as its ‘guiding force.’ This kind of thinking calls for taking risks, failing, exploring, and enjoying the ups and downs of decision-making.
How To Lead While Facing Fear And Stress To Positively Impact Your People?
You must do three things if you want to conquer your mind to dent this universe with the most powerful and humbling position a human can have: Leadership.
Many say you don’t need a title to be a leader; I agree. But what they don’t tell you is that the ones with the label have eyes watching them. Even if they are not appropriate or don’t understand fear and stress, especially NOW during the pandemic, just the mere titles give them enough authority to destroy lives.
Here are the three golden tips to help people’s minds and spirits frequently face their darkest of fears and deep depression:
1. Fear is the ultimate success weapon if you face it
When your mind is under stress and anxiety, it is a sign of its current capacity to deal with life. It is your mind telling you, ‘this is it for me; and now all these thousand things can go wrong.’
It is tough not to agree with it, especially when this tool called ‘mind’ is fitted in the body your soul rests in. But, mistakenly, most people give in, thinking it’s them when it is just this ancient tool. But, once you realize this, you break the false reality that limits your brain.
The final step is to push head-on, and when you do, somehow, just like steam, it evaporates. You experience that ‘second wind,’ which motivates you to get the results you aim for.
2. Stress is a privilege when you convert it into pressure
Tim Grover, the personal trainer & coach to icons like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, writes in this all-time super intense and mind transforming book Relentless that pressure is a privilege.
I agree. It is a sign that the company believes in you to get the job done.
Look around at any sport, family, society, or business; best leaders love a pressure situation and take it to accomplish previously thought impossible missions. To do so, you need to run towards stress, eye to eye, and treat it as an adventure sport; once you do so, that feeling that you get is called pressure.
Once you are under stress, you often come up with your best work, which is why it is, as crazy as it may sound, a unique gift.
3. Positivity is not a destination; it’s a daily fight
Most people who refer to motivational books feel further dejected because they forget this last crucial point: Positivity. It is not something you achieve, and it lasts forever; it is a state that you will have to earn every day by following tips 1 and 2 as a positive challenge.
You may also read: 9 Leadership Styles With Their Pros and Cons
Finally
Combining these three strategies, you as a leader will be tapping into one of the most vital mindsets, but, mistakenly, few accomplish.
And, if you are crazy enough like me, not willing to settle for average, not worried about the status quo, or pressed by fear of bad decision making. But instead, driven by the adventure of exploring what can go right by those constantly calculated new decisions, then you will find anxiety and stress to be minor hindrances that you will surpass every time they show up to achieve an astonishing career.
This article is written by Ashish Janiani. He is a Transformational Coach and Sales leader with 12+ years of experience in management training, consulting and sales. Ashish now mentors Individuals, Business Owners and Organizations across verticals to help them reach their business and personal goals. Ashish has successfully conducted 700+ training and effectively transformed more than 25000 lives. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com
