In addition to managing a hybrid workplace, executives and managers must balance growing pressures on the workforce and market like tackling issues such as global warming through workplace practices, persevering in times of uncertainty, etc.
In addition, the rise in social instability, political upheaval, and violent crime indicates that employees are being impacted in a variety of ways by global issues.
Analyzing the pressure of these issues, almost every coaching conversation with the CEOs of the company reveals a common emotion rising on the surface: FEAR.
Fear makes people paralyze and thus leads to making them ineffective and inefficient. Generally due to fear people stop taking action out of concern that they’ll make things worse. So, they start concentrating on immediate needs because they don’t want to face long-term obligations in the future and thus these behaviors allow us to hide from our true feelings.
These fear responses generally have one thing in common: they are anticipatory. We convince ourselves that if we plan for the worst, we will be better prepared for it, but in reality, our bleak outlook makes us hesitate to make risky decisions.
- Scarcity to Abundance
Most of the executives worries that there won’t be enough of anything including:
- Customers
- Employees
- Money, etc.
As a result, they tighten their belts and squelch innovation. An attitude of scarcity prevents creative, expanded thinking.
- Closing-in to opening-up
Our horizons have been widened through remote work, which enables international collaborations.
It’s unfortunately simple for us to prioritize our connections with individuals we deal with most closely because working remotely, frequently asynchronously, can take more time and need more meetings than in-person work.
We are prevented from utilizing remote work’s opportunity for diversity by this inward focus.
- From freezing to moving
We might believe that taking no action is the wisest course of action when we are afraid of the repercussions.
Making no decision, though, is also a choice. Movement unlocks progress if stasis stymies it. Begin with modesty.
Decide on one next action to start moving rather than rejecting calls to make a decision, assign resources, or commence a project.
Reference: https://hbr.org/2022/10/how-to-move-forward-when-you-feel-frozen