You have been recently promoted head of a department for the first time in your career. Of course, you are excited. After a while, however, you start experiencing some fears. Do you know what you're doing? Do you have enough knowledge and experience? Your doubts arise. If you know this feeling, then you should know that every good manager - even after years of performing his job - can experience panic attacks caused by the volume of work, lack of knowledge, anticipated problems and inability to solve them. That is at least what Jack Welch thinks.
Jack Welch was a long-time CEO of General Electric (1981-2001), is an expert on leadership development and founded his own business school, the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University in Virginia. He regularly publishes his reflections on LinkedIn. This time, he focused on how to manage the fear that is naturally associated with performing a managerial role.
Fear is actually a good thing
Leaders can't act like they do not feel ready and would like to run away. They must remain calm and under control so they could earn the respect and trust of others. This does not mean, however, that a leader could not ask other professionals about stuff he does not know. When you show that you want to learn and you are interested in all the aspects of your job, it will not undermine your authority.
So should you pretend to be self-confidence? Jack Welch says no - just change the way you think about yourself. Stop telling yourself that you're not ready. Realize that your feelings are normal. Learning to live with the ubiquitous, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach is an integral part of any leader's job, according to Welch. Think of it as an advantage for you as well as for your company. Too much confidence leads to arrogance and stagnation. Mild uncertainty helps in the discovery of new ideas and ways to make things better.
If you are interested in Jack Welch's ideas more in more depth, read more about his books in this article.
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