Taming Fear: A Leader’s Job

In his article, Cognitive Therapy for the Country, Dr. Friedman highlights some of the most recent events of violence and social unrest here and abroad. It’s a provocative article with equally thought-inducing comments.

Dr. Friedman advocates that Obama uses the technique of Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to calm American’s fears. CBT is a process where you analyze your irrational thoughts and replace them with rational thoughts, to better manage your emotions.

There is a lot of research that supports managing the mind and perceptions can be a helpful approach to not allowing fear to overcome you. At the same time, some of those thoughts may be accurately based in reality. It’s important to also assess the events that are causing the fear, and get at the root cause of these events, to minimize or eradicate future such events. Another important question to consider is to what degree is the fear fed and escalated? Who benefits from this fear? So, this is a complex equation.

A job of any leader is taming the fears of it’s constituents in times of uncertainty, insecurity and unrest. A leader’s job is to protect, provide comfort and engage people in a hopeful vision for the future. There is a lot more I can say about this article and the political events happening today, but my intent is to use it as a prompt for reflection on your own leadership.

Who counts on you to lead them to a better future? What fears do they carry? Get clear on their thoughts and emotions – and speak to, and act on, those concerns in an honest, rigorous and authentic way. People know the difference.

At Sage Leadership, we support leaders in times of transition and challenge to get clear on their next best move. We are living in an era where sometimes, all you can discern – is your next best move to stay directed and focused on the path to making your vision a reality.

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