Leadership is a skill set. For some it comes very naturally and they make it look so effortless. Born to lead. Always composed, confident, and knows exactly what to say and do to seemingly fix any issue.
A fearless leader.
It is a myth. No one is without fear, hesitation, doubt, and anxiety. Every decision made comes with a multitude of consequences; both known and unknown. If you are the person making those choices, for your team or the organization, doubts will dutifully linger in your head, “Did I make the right decision?”. You need to have those doubts. It helps you continue to contemplate all the potential issues and consequences that could arise in the future. Looking back and analyzing your previous decisions’ outcomes will help you even further; by putting a spotlight on what went right or wrong. You cannot allow those thoughts to stop you from making decisions though.
Problems arise when these doubts and anxiety affect your mental health. When they paralyze you from making decisions at all. When they make you question your abilities. When they pull you away from networking or socializing. I wish that we could remove the stigma of dealing with mental health and anxiety but I do see changes as of late. We have more resources that we can use to help ourselves; therapy, medications, support groups, mental health days off at work, practicing selfcare. For purposes of this blog, I will not discuss the systematic lack of access to these resources that many people have; but we do need to acknowledge the gap. We need to normalize that anxiety can happen to anyone; even the most outwardly confident people that we work with and look up to. And we need to normalize the process of seeking out help.
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