With sickness in my family and terrorism stalking the streets worldwide, fear is on my mind. On a lesser scale, an imminent solo adventure to Central America also brings a degree of anxiety. And so I find myself sitting with the question of fear, holding it in my hand and turning it over with curiosity and trepidation.
My last three years have in some ways been one long experiment in developing a different personal relationship with fear. Rather than let it hold me back, I have started to walk towards it and then through it, and the doors that have opened up as a result have been and continue to be, a source of wonder and exhilaration to me. I think skydiving in Africa during my sabbatical in 2009 started a trend. Then resigning in 2012. Then getting up every day throughout my first year of self-employment. Now it’s travelling far afield on my own, without the support of a companion or an organised trip or activity. Just me, my spirit of adventure and my desire to be as free from fear as possible. I continue to learn so much about myself and what it takes in me to to feel fear and then to walk towards it.
And as I ponder upon this and relate it to leadership, to personal and organisational transformation and to all that Neon represents, I feel very clear that our individual or collective relationship to fear, is key to the extent to which leadership, change and transformation are possible at all. Fear can be such a blocker to creativity and to connection (two core aspects of Neon leadership), if we let it. What is possible depends so much on how we choose to respond to it.
So I ask you:- What relationship do you have with fear? What are the sorts of things that make you fearful? How does it impact your ability to lead your life according to what you value and hold dear? How and where does it show up in your organisation or team? And what one step could you take that might enable something different to emerge?
I will update you on mine post-Nicaragua in January. Until then, I am wishing you all a beautifully lit, Neon end of year and a peaceful Christmas.