A question came my way from a senior manager in a big and well-known business.
“How would you deal with this?”
Her problem: Middle management colleagues were driving her up the wall.
Serous heel-dragging was rife.
Directives from management were slow to be implemented.
The frustration with their lack of progress was causing her great stress.
She asked, “Why are they not getting with the programme?”
After a bit of discussion, I suggested the main reason was fear.
Fear of screwing up. Fear of doing something new that goes wrong and, ultimately, the fear of losing their job.
That last one was not unfounded.
There had been layoffs in the business.
Fear was the cause of the slow and massively frustrating lack of progress.
And for her, the worry she’d be in trouble through no fault of her own.
Managers will rarely admit to fear.
They don’t want to look bad or, worse, replaceable.
I advised her to see herself as a consultant to them and the business.
Doing so would remove the destructive emotions she was now dealing with.
It would not be personal.
If she used the thinking and language of an external advisor, she could facilitate fixes for the things that scared her colleagues most.
In short, she could support them and the business more effectively.
She’s now a lot less stressed.
She’s also focused on moving those managers in shorter steps to where she needs them to be.
One proven way to remove the fear of failure is to provide team members with knowledge and skills.
And, if your business exhibits regularly, it’s where our Trade Show Stand Mastery Part 2 training can help.
Banish fear and increase knowledge with this in-depth and (dare I say) friendly approach to improving trade show marketing skills.
You’ll find the details on what’s covered here.
Very best,