Listen In -> Avoiding Success. Four Fears That Hold Us Back #4: Fear of Harm
“They’re looking for a fall guy. I’m going to be given the responsibility of turning around the division without the necessary resources and support and then blamed for not fixing what they prefer would stay broken.”
The third ordinary fear that we try to mask when avoiding success is the fear that we are being used or taken advantage of.
Exploitation is a management reality. It happens. We use our executives. We take the credit when they perform and point the finger when they fail. I’m not excusing the practice. But it takes place. To deny it is both foolish and dangerous.
We can choose to step into that reality and treat it as one of many challenges to be faced, or we can avoid that reality and protect ourselves from being harmed.
The problem with going through our careers protecting ourselves from harm, is that we also protect ourselves from opportunities. In this week’s show, Claudia and I look at how fear of being harmed becomes an excuse for some to avoid new professional challenges. What about for you?
Listen in.
