As your responsibility and leadership increase in an organization, it's natural to feel pressure to move faster, create urgency, and make hard people decisions—all while carrying the weight of whether the company is performing.
The danger isn't feeling fear. It's when fear-driven decision-making disguises itself as good judgment. Fear-driven decisions often prioritize ending the feeling of uncertainty rather than getting to its root. Fear pushes us to seek relief over resolution. It motivates us to make the uncertainty or discomfort disappear instead of solving its source. Good judgment often requires sitting with the ambiguity and acknowledging what you are afraid of.
Don't interpret this as an excuse to "slow down" or "avoid urgency." You can push the organization hard once you've decided where to go. But don't use intensity and urgency to resolve your own internal uncertainty. As a leader, your job isn't to absorb every problem and force resolution. It's to build an organization that can surface bad news, tolerate uncomfortable facts, debate them quickly, make a sound decision, and then execute with intensity.
Examples of Fear-Driven Judgment and How to Question Yourself
| CHALLENGE | FEAR MIGHT SAY | BETTER LEADERSHIP QUESTION |
|---|---|---|
| Company isn't moving fast enough | "We need more urgency." | What is preventing velocity? |
| Someone is underperforming | "We need to upgrade the talent." | Have I made expectations clear enough that they know exactly what success looks like? |
| You feel responsible for everything | "I need to take control." | What actually requires me, and what requires a better operating system? |
| You want a promotion | "I need to prove I can fix this." | What would I do if I weren't trying to prove anything? |
| A project is struggling | "We need to change direction now." | Did the facts change, or am I tired of the uncertainty? |
| Team pushes back | "They don't have enough urgency." | Is this resistance or information I don't want to hear? |
| Too many priorities | "Everything is P0." | What am I afraid will happen if I explicitly deprioritize this? |
When you feel an urgent need to make an uncomfortable problem go away, ask yourself first whether your solution is about resolving the root problem or your own anxiety about it. Here's a five-question fear-driven decision check:
- What am I specifically afraid will happen?
- If that actually happens, what will I do?
- Am I solving the business problem or trying to make my discomfort go away?
- What evidence would change my mind?
- Who disagrees with me that I should hear before deciding?
Sources:
[1] This article was inspired by Chase Murdock and his article, Fear Corrodes.