Organisational Fear

Hi Leaders

During a debate between my partner and I on the reasons why Nokia failed, it was evident that perspectives were divided. On one hand the technology was inferior to Apple, and on the other the business model that was flawed.

But, I couldn't help inspecting it from an operational view. A company's success is directly related to the leadership...and there is was...organisational fear!

What is organisational fear?

Fear is the ultimate culture killer. Most organisations have some level of fear that holds back the potential of their organisation on many fronts.It’s not always a major incident that thrusts the subject of fear and unacceptable behaviour into the limelight. Fear at some level and the lack of full alignment around values and expected behaviours is rampant in many organisations today.Fear slows organisations down, causes hesitation, drives stress, and keeps literally millions of individuals from reaching their potential in effectively supporting their organisations.

Signs of fear in the workplace

• Everyone is focused on their daily goals. They have to be because if they miss a goal, they could lose their job. You won't get collaboration or innovation out of people who are scared to death!
• Managers and HR people specialise in assigning work, measuring results, punishing infractions and maintaining order. 
• People are afraid to tell the truth because they already know no one wants to hear it. How do they know this? It's obvious, because the biggest truth of all - namely, "Our culture is horrible, but bad things happen to people who say so" is never acknowledged. It is the elephant in the room.
• People talk incessantly about who's up and who's down in the company stock index. 
• Employees wonder whether they'll still have a job next week. People work under a cloud of fear and suspicion. Managers are afraid to recognise and reinforce their teams, because they might get in trouble for doing so.
• Following rules and avoiding blame are every team's top priorities. Collaborating, experimenting and having fun do not make the list. If there is a company mission statement on the wall, no one cares about it: the only mission employees can focus on is "Don't screw up!
• Managers talk about collaboration and out-of-the-box thinking but no one takes them seriously. You cannot get collaboration or new ideas from beaten-down employees.
• In a fear-based culture, employees disappear without warning. When someone disappears, people speak their names in whispers if they mention them at all.
• The smartest and most capable employees don't get promoted. The people who get promoted are the ones who most wholeheartedly embrace the fear-based culture.
• The hardest thing to do is to stay human. When you keep your sense of humour, your warmth and your confidence despite the cloud of fear, you can expect to be labelled 'unprofessional' or worse.

How to decrease Organisational Fear

• Increase, Enhance and Model Self Awareness – Unless we are enmeshed in self-deception, it’s difficult for fear to dominate our thinking, feelings and behaviour when we are truly self-aware.  Awareness and honest self-reflection can act as an antidote to engaging in fear-based behaviours.
• Learn, Practice and Promote Emotional Intelligence – There is simply no excuse for leaders in the 21st century to dismiss the value of emotional literacy and competency. Fear’s an easy and primitive emotional response to elicit. Inspiring and influencing others through passion, enthusiasm and courage should be the true calling for leaders.
• End Conflict Aversion – Too many people are too afraid to have the critical conversations they need to have to make real progress. Most of the carping, bullying, gossiping and congealed old feelings that keep conflict alive are the result of people being fearful of honest confrontation.  Lack of skill plays a big role in conflict aversion and fear is the glue that holds it together.
• Leaders – Loosen the Reins of Control –   A common theme for many groups we work with is still delegation – essentially the fear of letting go of control.  In many cases, structural impediments (practices, rules, norms) impede managers from relinquishing control, but often this is a personal limitation imposed on others because of fear.
• Overcome Your Resistance to Change – If you haven’t noticed, nothing is standing still anymore – not that it ever was – but it seems to be going faster today.  Unless you come to terms with the ways you avoid, deny and resist change, you are going to lock fear tactics into place – for yourself and others.
• Stop Trying to Control Information, Resources and Decision Making – This item relates to all the other points above (well – actually they are all inter-related).  Regardless of your position within an organisation, you have the opportunity to share your knowledge and model trust in your handling of these important organisational currencies.
• Model “Transparency” – Transparency is one of those buzz words that’s losing its meaning.  Honesty, reliability and integrity are in such short supply that many of us have become understandably cynical about the possibilities of real transparency in the workplace.  The reality is we cannot sustainably accomplish what we need to accomplish without it. When you model these rare qualities you strike a blow against the domination of fear.
• Reduce Work Load – What’s fear got to do with workload? Everything. 

Here is a link to an article on Nokia: Why did Nokia fail?

The most important message I want to leave you with, is that organisational fear is not a death sentenced. It can be remedied by taking the necessary action, and effort. Once the change has been made, not just your people, but you yourself, will thank you!