LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE FORCE

Part 6 of 6

What is the biggest obstacle to a leader moving forward? You guessed it, FEAR.

There are many reasons for the fear… They could feel that they are ill-equipped – either in knowledge and/or experience. They could be afraid of failing. Or maybe they are just too “comfy” in their comfort zone to venture out. Whatever the reason, fear holds them back.

Then they simply do not move and stay where they are. In doing so, the people get discouraged. These people could be either in or out of the team. People in the team get discouraged because there is no growth and nothing is happening; the same holds true for the people outside of the team (specifically the superiors) because nothing is happening.

This fear to move forward then breeds anger… The leader is angry because support is being withheld (both from inside and outside). What the leader fails to see is that the reason behind this withholding of support is because nothing is happening; which is caused by the leader himself/herself.

Then the cycle escalates to hate. The leader begins to hate the entire organization and, eventually, everyone in his/her team. This then causes everything to spiral downward faster. And lower. And faster.

The end product is suffering – suffering for everyone involved. The leader, the people under the leader, and even the entire organization are all losing at this point. This is the Dark Side of leadership because, at this point, there is very little chance of positive movement.

Fear is either Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise. The choice is yours. One leads to the Dark Side. One leads to the light.