Mar 58 min read

When workplace fear is ferocious: Practical Strategies for Cultivating Courage

"Organisation is the key to success."

I heard this saying - or I read it in my Filofax - in my twenties and it stuck with me like some kind of mantra. Now no longer in my twenties, I know that it takes a little bit more than organisation to be successful. Courage is often portrayed as a majestic virtue possessed by heroes and leaders. The pinnacles of our society have this innate trait that takes them to places the rest of us can't go. But is that really true, or is courage a skill that can be cultivated and strengthened over time?

I say yes - courage is the willingness to confront fear, uncertainty, and adversity even when there might be risks involved. In people professions like change management and leadership, cultivating courage is not just a desirable attribute but a necessity for personal growth and success.

An image of a professional man in a suit looking down at the shadow of a bear. He is standing on the edge of a financial chart, indicating he is experiencing fear at work.

Our fear responses were evolved within us from primitive threats and survive deep into the gene pool. The people most successful at dealing with physical risk lived the longest, producing more offspring. Now, our fear responses are still exaggerated for the survival of the human race but the same reactions are not as applicable to messing up a speech as they are to avoiding an apex predator.

Cultivating courage when workplace fear is ferocious can be broken down into practical strategies. When practiced over time, these strategies will help you undo your instinctive reactions to fear and bring you instead to a place of thoughtful response.

Practical Strategies for Cultivating Courage

Face Your Fears Head-On

The first step in cultivating courage is to identify your fears. This might be as easy as, "I'm afraid of spiders so I don't like working in our un-renovated office, it puts me on edge thinking there's going to be a spider around every corner". But chances are, it may involve some deeper thinking.

Find some time to reflect on situations you felt anxious, and make a list of what it was about that moment that was intimidating. Next time you notice you're feeling anxious, intimidated or fearful, make some brief notes about the circumstances, who was present, where you were, what was happening in the environment around you, what was unique about that day.

After identifying the things that intimidate or scare you - e.g. public speaking, confronting a difficult colleague, or pursuing a new career path - you can confront them. This should happen gradually. Find a way to firstly expose yourself to small amounts of these fears in controlled environments. Start with small steps and gradually increase the level of difficulty as you build confidence.

For example if you find it intimidating confronting a difficult colleague, try first spending time with them socially - attend a work function or team lunch with them and socialise. Next you could try offering a counter-opinion in a non-work related conversation. Another step could be to send an email with both positive and negative feedback. Eventually you want to work your way up to being able to confront someone directly but maintain your composure so that your own fear doesn't lead you to derail the conversation.

I have applied strategies similar to this in a complex strata scheme where key staff were suspected of corruption and gross misconduct including, bullying, deceit and financial misrepresentation. The confrontations were difficult but through gradual exposure, my recovery time got shorter and shorter after each time dealing with the individuals concerned.

Set Meaningful Goals

Courage can arise from having a clear sense of purpose and direction. Set meaningful goals that align with your values and aspirations. Break them down into manageable steps and create a plan of action to achieve them. Having a sense of purpose can provide the motivation and determination needed to overcome obstacles and face challenges head-on.

Imagine a child scared of stepping over a crack in the footpath. If there is a goal they're heading towards, like walking to the swimming pool or going to get an ice cream, they will be far more motivated to step over the crack, because they see it as an obstacle to something they want more.

Expand Your Comfort Zone

Growth only occurs outside of your comfort zone. Challenge yourself to try new things and embrace uncertainty. Learn a new skill, travel to a new branch or office site or initiate conversations with colleagues you haven't met before. Stepping outside of your comfort zone helps build resilience and adaptability, essential qualities for cultivating courage.

One proven antidote for feelings of failure is to find situations and people in your immediate environment that you can praise and have positive, uplifting conversations with or about.

Seek Support and Perspective on the Risk

Build a supportive network of colleagues, mentors, and peers who believe in you and your abilities. Share your goals and aspirations with them, and don't hesitate to ask for help or encouragement when needed.

Ask your support network to help you analyse the risks you're facing, and provide perspective on what might be in your control to manage and mitigate. Having a support network can provide the reassurance and motivation needed to take considered risks and move past fear to pursue your dreams.

Practice Self-Compassion and Reframe the Fear

Cultivating courage requires being kind and compassionate towards yourself, especially in the face of setbacks or perceived failure. Acknowledge that it's normal to feel fear and vulnerability but don't let them hold you back. Treat yourself with the same empathy and understanding that you would offer to a friend facing a similar situation.

You can talk yourself through reframing the fear you're facing. If you felt like a failure because you were nervous to deliver a work presentation and it didn't get the response you were hoping for, remind yourself that fear is real but it's not logical. Therefore, you don't have to feel this way if you don't want to. Challenge yourself to see the fear logically.

Working in publicity, I was once taking an afternoon nap and woken by a phone call from a newspaper journalist very friendly to our cause and always willing for the copy we could provide. As I was caught off guard, I felt foolish and wasn't really concentrating when answering their questions. As a result, the answers I provided were vague and silly and one in particular was printed as a quote from me. I felt so ashamed of this public failure that I avoided being their spokesperson for all future events, and I kept beating myself up about it for years after the situation had passed. I continued to do so until I realised that it was just a mistake. My mistake was that I didn't offer to call the journalist back after having some time to prepare my thoughts. Everyone makes mistakes and in the scheme of things, I didn't need to feel ashamed, I could just shrug it off if I chose to.

Celebrate Your Successes

No matter how small they may seem, acknowledge and celebrate your achievements. Each success, no matter how insignificant it may appear, is a testament to your courage and resilience.

Fear and avoidance go hand in hand. Our brains are so good at remembering risky situations - time seems to slow down, we become hyper-focussed, our heart starts to thump, we might sweat. After the situation has passed we often feel compelled to talk to others by way of warning about the risk, and we will avoid getting ourselves into that situation in future.

On the other hand, if we can 'pass through the fire' and realise we came out unharmed, we need to add this information to our threat assessment for next time. This will help us to not retreat into avoidance, because even though we experienced fear, threat or anxiety, those feelings did not amount to any physical harm.

Take pride in your progress and use it as fuel to propel you forward in your journey towards personal growth and self-discovery.

Embrace Failure as a Learning Opportunity

Failure is an inevitable part of the journey towards courage and success. Instead of viewing it as a setback, see it as an opportunity to learn and grow. Reflect on what went wrong, extract valuable lessons from the experience, and use them to refine your approach moving forward. Remember, every failure brings you one step closer to your goals if you're willing to learn from it.

Learning from failure is how you not only cultivate courage, but you also cultivate your personal brand. Mistakes are unique to us, and so is the way we resolve our errors. Don't fix your mistakes in a conventional way just like everyone else - reach into your strengths and the skills you enjoy applying. Find a way to use those and build a system around this mistake that's based on dealing with future episodes proactively in a way that you enjoy.

A past client really enjoyed administrative organisation - files, folders, tabs, colours, written notes, everything pristine and lined up. When they were confronted by chaos, they started to feel fearful like they weren't able to manage their workload. This lead to a sense of being an impostor because they felt they couldn't work well in the chaotic environment. After applying the advice to slow down responses to the chaotic environment, and start to build structure that worked for them, they felt more in control. They were unique in their work environment, no-one else tried to structure the chaos in the same way, and they became known for their sense of calm efficiency.

Presence and Resilience

Because of all things wonderful about our humanity, we're able to experience the past (memories) and the future (aspirations and dreams) almost as tangibly as the present moment. However what can end up happening is that we spend our present moments in the past and in the future rather than being present right now.

The only real moment we have is what's happening right now, and generally speaking, right now is more likely to be a safe moment. Our bodies and brains don't always know the difference between our imagination of the past and future, and our experience of similar events. By leaving a safe moment in the present to worry about risks that haven't occurred yet, we may be literally and unnecessarily scaring ourselves.

Cultivating courage requires a strong mind-body connection. By focussing on the present moment, we can enjoy the calmness and note the lack of threat. This builds resilience. Other practices such as meditation and yoga can help you stay grounded and focused, even in the face of adversity.

During a very stressful time, I was taking daily yoga classes. The warrior is a pose that can be built up over time to be held for minutes. In a standing position, step one foot back into a lunge, bend the front knee to a 90-degree angle, extend the arms overhead with palms facing each other, and gaze forward, holding the position - eventually with strength and stability. This particular pose became a great metaphor for me during this stressful peak, to endure, and to counter the stress by focussing on my physical stance and stability in the present moment.