When one is born, we have no idea what it is to be happy, sad, angry, or to feel fear. We learn all of this from our caregivers. As our children grow up we teach them emotions and some we put in them. We have to remember that children are fearless. They want to do everything and have no idea of the consequence. Us, grown ups, know what can happen if they take a wrong step, or at least we think we know. So what do we do? We input fear. “Don’t do that your going to fall!” “You can’t climb those stairs yet.” “Your not ready.” “Your going to fail.” All these things we say to protect them from failing or getting hurt and we forget that we keep them from performing at their best because we just made them doubt themselves. As we grow up that fear is left inside of us, the fear to fail, the fear to disappoint. We hold back from performing at our 100%.
Managers need to learn to “drive out fear” from it’s employees. They must encourage them to take action and not be afraid to fail. Fear holds people back from performing at their very best. They are afraid to get fired or get scold at so they do the average minimum work because it’s “safe.” But being in the safe zone won’t show others and it won’t show themselves what they are truly capable off. Managers need to extend an employees power and tell them that they won’t get fired, or criticized for making mistakes. According to Brian Tracy, “[In order to maximize performance, leaders] need to create an environment where people feel free to be the best they can be.
