Do you avoid visibility when there’s a speaking opportunity going a begging – perhaps even encouraging others to speak at an event or a big meeting instead of you?

If that sounds like you…

…Could fear of success be part of what holds you back?

Any chance you worry about what might happen if you put yourself in the limelight – including how people may react to you afterwards?

Do you ever get in your own way, when you know you could help make things happen?

Taking an opportunity to go centre stage and speak to an audience on any topic, even one you may know a great deal about, can seem daunting.

It may seem easier to shy away from drawing attention to yourself in public than to risk the possibility that things could go wrong.

It can take a deal of courage:

• To stand up in front of others,
• To be prepared to even stand out to some extent, or
• To be seen backing yourself or your ideas in public.

And many of our clients freely admit that they can feel quite ‘terrified’ in these situations.

But often when we delve a little deeper, some people find…

…’fear of success’ matches or exceeds that of failure!

Do people really have a fear of success?

Sometimes (consciously or unconsciously).

As a broker in a leading international bank put it to me recently,

“In our place, if you put yourself forward and into the ‘line of fire’ – you’ll need to be ready because you’ll be expected to stay there. There’s no going back!”

Like many of our clients, he felt that once you step onto a public pedestal, you better have the confidence to make it work and know what you’re about – because, having made that bed, you’ll be expected to lie in it.

This is tied into the notion that once you raise other peoples’ expectations of you, you will have to live up these – to take on the mantle of greater leadership.

And sometimes it can hard to make that jump or leap of faith.

It’s a good time to put aside fear of success

As the marketing guru Seth Godin suggests in his recent book Tribes:

In an era of unprecedented change, including the demise of jobs for life or loyalty based on anything other than ‘what have you done for me lately’ –  there has never been a greater need for more leaders to step forward. And there is a shortage of these.

The importance of individuals in the workplace has risen out of the necessity for organisations to embrace and encourage those who are best able:

• to make things happen
• to create more ‘remarkable products and services’

And this requires more people to put aside any worries they may have about what a boss might say or the possibility of getting in trouble – because, it’s all shoulders to the wheel.

He argues:

What people are afraid of isn’t failure. It’s blame. Criticism

I couldn’t have put it better myself!

And the risks of speaking up are less than you may think

In reality, your downside is very low as long as you make sure a number of things are true when you speak:

• You have a point to make
• You know what you’re talking about
• Your audience is better off after hearing you than they were before you stood up.

It’s all about the value you share.

Of course, as I mentioned in a previous article post on The Secrets to Reducing Your Anxiety When Giving A Speech, you also need to put in some hard yards before speaking: researching your audience and topic, honing your message and devoting enough time to practice what you will say.

But the point is this, the capacity to stand up and speak is within the capability of most people and there’s never been a better time to get started. Overcoming fear of success (or failure) is within your grasp – your country needs you.

Over to you.

Are you ready for the challenge?