If you’ve achieved anything in your life, you know that facing the fear and doing it anyway is part of the process.
But when we hit a blind spot, fear can suddenly seem very real.
FEARFUL FORTUNES
A friend who is a Fortune 500 executive decided corporate America wasn’t for him anymore. However, he feels paralysed. His father had taught him he needed to stay in the game or die. As a black man with a family to care for in the USA, this feels very real. Even I struggled not to believe he had only one option: to fight his way up the corporate ladder.
3 WAYS TO MAKE FEAR YOUR FRIEND RATHER THAN YOUR ENEMY
In times of fear, I often look to those who came before me so that I could be here. I imagine how they faced difficult choices and did their best. They didn’t give in to fear but they also honoured the information within it. I also rely on mindfulness meditation to understand the fear and how to respond to it. Fear isn’t the problem; it’s what we do with it that has an impact. Here are 3 additional practices:
1) Fear-setting: What You Do About Fear
Write down all your fears. Let them reveal themselves on the paper. Then take them one by one and question or mitigate them. Here’s a previous Wise Wednesdays on Fear-setting and getting past ‘I don’t know what I want’ stuckness.
2) Fear Archaeology: Understanding the Origin of Fear
Take one of your fears that holds you back and explore if it’s true. Ask: How does this fear not serve me? How does it serve me? What if the opposite were true? See what happens. Use the HAPI tool to help you.
3) Tiny Experiments: Breaking Free One Step at a Time
They say fear is a mask for desire. Like my friend, whose fear is rooted in his desire to provide for his family while doing meaningful work. The way out of fear and towards what you want doesn’t have to be a drastic move. It can be a small experiment, such as a secondment, volunteering, taking a course, or having regular conversations with interesting people who can support you. What’s a tiny step you can take towards what you really want right now?
[LEGEND IN THE MAKING]: Celebrating Dr. N, a highly respected partner in an international consultancy known for combining high-impact work with revenue generation. Despite initial concerns about offering leadership coaching, we mindfully explored underlying fears and designed practical steps to launch a pilot programme. Within two weeks, Dr. N started coaching a group of leaders and other partners, marking a significant step in an exciting career evolution. Congratulations to Dr. N and the team!
I don’t know what my corporate exec friend will do. But I know that breaking free of the mental prison of fear releases energy and creativity. It refocuses your attention on where it is most useful – your next step.
Have a great week,
Amina
P.S. Wise Wednesdays will be on a little break until August.
P.P.S. Two years ago, I tried a little experiment to see if I wanted to do more academic work. I took on two writing projects on topics that inspired me. The conclusion? I’m not returning to formal academic work. The byproduct: two book chapters: 1) on leadership in climate change and health; and 2) on group coaching. They’re summarised below. (Note: I don’t receive any remuneration from any book sales :)
1) Climate change, health, and leadership: Four principles for responding to complex challenges in Health and Climate Change: Unraveling the Connections (Elsevier, 2025 - in press)
This chapter uses an integral theory based approach - I called 4M (Multidimensional, Multidisciplinary, Multilevel, and Multisectoral — to explore how to achieve the large-scale system and social transformations required for global reductions in carbon emissions that will preserve human and planetary wellbeing. Conclusion: we need to emphasise the ‘interiority’ of complex problems and leadership i.e. do the inner-work as well as the outer-work to achieve sustainable, systemic change.
2) Designing Group Conversations for High-Quality Insights: Application to Mentoring in the book Mentoring in Health, Social Care and Beyond: A Handbook for Practice, Training and Research (Pavilion - available to buy).
This chapter, co-authored with Cathy Presland, explores how to create a 'generative space'—the opposite of a high trauma, low trust environment—to foster insights for group participants. Based on my 8 years of leading coaching groups and events, it covers:
Setting context without agenda
Creating safety and openness
Allowing for disintegration and reintegration
Inviting diverse voices
Owning and letting go of experiences
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