Can't A Little Fear Be A Good Thing?
Raise the topic of fear and pretty quickly you discover that our relationship with fear is conflicted. On the one hand, after the last two years of the pandemic, or after years of living with system racism, or after a stint working for a bullying manager, many people are all too keenly aware of just how harmful and exhausting fear can be. And yet, thinking about the workplace and team performance, you may also find yourself asking, “Can’t a little fear be a good thing?”
We hear many people say, “I seem to perform better when I’m on edge and working under pressure,” or, “A small jolt of fear wakes me up and makes me sharper.” Why is it that this is a familiar experience? Can threats and fear actually be useful?
The bottom line at the top is yes, helpful fear, in a loving workplace can be a good thing. But let’s unpack what this means to be clear about the edges of what is helpful and what most certainly isn’t.
The Hallmark of Helpful Fear
Perhaps you learned early in your elementary school years that fear is a helpful response to keep us alive in threatening situations. This seems to be general knowledge. But the fact is, we don’t experience life-threatening situations every day, though we still experience situations that trigger our fear response. So while we aren’t risking our lives, we can experience the side effects like heightened awareness of our surroundings and feeling energized thanks to our helpful hormones. This is where you get the feeling of being ‘on your toes’ or ‘ready to perform’.
For example, when we take on new responsibilities at work, learn a new skill, or present in front of a group, we may experience these challenges with a tolerable level of risk and a low level of worry. But these challenges can still trigger the kind of fear response described in my last blog (Did you miss it? Catch up here!)
You know the drill. When you stand up to give a status report or make a proposal in front of your division, you experience a mini fight or flight response. You sweat, your heart races a bit, you focus on your notes, you become hyper-aware of your boss’s body language, and those butterflies start working away at the inside of your stomach. Though uncomfortable at the time, this kind of low-grade threat produces a helpful fear response that is beneficial and spurs our growth as we are working to achieve some of our proudest accomplishments.
What Does The Research Show?
When I ask people in my research interviews to share an experience of fear at work, I hear varied responses and some people share stories of these “helpful” fear situations. This discomfort is often depicted as stepping to the edge of current knowledge or a big stretch for a current role. The beautiful thing is that the low-grade fear-inducing experience typically leads to accomplishing a challenge or goal, shifting our sense of self and doing more than we thought we were capable of.
These stories shared some things in common:
The individuals chose or actively said “yes” to the fear experience. The threat and fear weren’t being done “to” them; rather, they chose the challenge so they could learn, advance, and contribute. They chose to work through the fear that came with the challenge and kept a strong sense of agency.
The fear lasted for a relatively short time, perhaps a few hours to a few weeks depending on the situation. Whereas, in high-stakes harmful fear situations, the threat and fear that came with it often went on for months or even years.
The situation often took place in the context of a loving workplace with a caring leader or a supportive team. A loving workplace makes it possible for people to safely take on performance risks and face the helpful fears that go with them.
My research interviews showed that caring leaders and teams that have a sense of acceptance and belonging put people at ease. They create trust, security, and greater tolerance for the discomfort of performance pressure. People know they can try, stumble, and safely recover without being rejected. They know, they will be supported if things don't go as well as hoped. And they know others will celebrate with them when they succeed. With this alchemy of performance challenges, helpful fear, and a caring workplace, team members are golden and supported to achieve performance breakthroughs.
What we need right now
Helpful fears that come from performance challenges are not the kind of fears that leaders and employees should want to eliminate. It's natural to be uncomfortable at work when we step to our edge and face a new challenge. A safe, loving workplace supports us through the discomfort of helpful fear to reach new levels of achievement.
Right now, as we are recovering and re-define our sense of self post-pandemic, as we heal from the isolation, loss, and disruption, we face a whole new set of challenging moments. These include the discomfort of coming back together in person, re-learning how to be social, adjusting to new work patterns, and creating new cultural norms. These changes and adjustments are uncomfortable. They invite us to stretch and grow in ways that maybe we haven’t since we entered the workforce as a young adult. This is positive when we make the choice, have belonging, and are in the context of a loving and healthy team. Then facing these fears and edges of discomfort can be a positive move forward to create this new way of working together that works for everyone.
So, yes, a little helpful fear, in a loving workplace can be a good thing! And, in our next blogs in this series, we will explore how to actually create that loving workplace environment.
When have you experienced helpful fear? Have you been part of a team or had a leader supportive of your performance edge? What was that like? What did it mean to you?
