How Leaders Overcome Fear and Win: Get Your Advantage

4 min readAug 17, 2022

“I feel the fear. If I make the wrong decision I’ll torpedo the project,” my client, Amanda, said. She was torn between choices related to her new company.

“Watch out that you don’t let fear have too big a voice,” I said.

This started a valuable conversation about creating responses to fear.

The idea is to reduce fear to being a voice on the committee. Your heart and courage are the CEO of your journey. Take action and discover your path.

When coaching a client about overcoming fear, I say, “You need to ‘dig deep.’”

The courageous leader D.I.G.S. deep.

D — detach from a surface identity
I — invent responses to criticism
G — go to your heart, not others’ approval
S — say, “We’re not going backwards”

1. Detach from a surface identity

Fear and my identity as a filmmaker massively slowed me down. How?

I applied my level of “perfectionism” in filmmaking to making videos (as an information-entrepreneur).

One of my coaches told me this phrase: “While you’re editing one video, you could have made 6 more videos.”

This one idea served as a turning point for me.

I created an online course seven times faster than prior courses.

As an information-entrepreneur, I create hundreds of videos.

My solution was to detach from my identity as a filmmaker. Instead, I say that I am “creative energy.” When I direct a feature film, each edited moment and line of dialogue is perfect.

On the other hand, when I create a brief video as an information-entrepreneur, I’m doing a different task.

The viewer just wants the information — in bite-sized chunks. The viewer wants the information now. Not two months from now.

I talk about a person’s surface identity versus their essential identity.

My essential identity is creative energy.

What is your essential identity? How can that empower you?

2. Invent responses to criticism

One of my clients, Sam, felt concern about someone criticizing his earlier videos. With my coaching, he came up with responses including:

· “Did you laugh?”
· “Then, some parts worked for you.”
· “I like my recent project. I’m applying what I learned from the past videos.”

Several people fear and dread criticism. The truth is: The doers tend to get criticized. The solution is: Prepare your responses.

Don’t let yourself fall into reactions.

Instead, prepare your responses ahead of time.

The point is to step out of fear and dread.

Empower yourself. Focus on what you’re learning on your path. Keep expressing yourself.

3. Go to your heart, not others’ approval

Some people cannot give you approval. It’s a waste of time to seek such approval. Also, what does it mean to have the approval of strangers?

The adventure of life blossoms when you follow the call in your own heart.

4. Say, “We’re not going backwards”

A friend, Stephanie, found that she had a typo in a title in the middle of her video. She thought about tearing the video off YouTube . com, going back and redoing it. Then she noticed that she had 1600 views and 1200 “likes.” Stephanie decided to avoid redoing the video. She realized that the video served viewers in its current form.

Redoing projects may be a manifestation of fear. Fear of criticism. Fear of scorn.

Instead, view your journey and projects as a body of work.

In summary…
You can overcome fear with the D.I.G.S. strategy:

D — detach from a surface identity
I — invent responses to criticism
G — go to your heart, not others’ approval
S — say, “We’re not going backwards”

Replace your reactions and limitations caused by fear.

Invent your responses. Choose focal points that empower you.

Many great moments to you.