One of the biggest blocks to most people stepping into personal leadership and responsibility is that they are so afraid of making mistakes that they won’t take the risk of being responsible and accountable at the same time. Most people inaccurately see responsibility as another way of laying “blame” – or finding who is “at fault” when things go wrong. Combine this with the fear of losing face, and you have people who won’t speak up – even though they know the solution!
Encouraging people to speak up requires building trust and safety. Before people will take the risk of speaking up, they need to know that they won’t be punished for expressing themselves and stating their opinions.
Leadership Advocate and Co-Founder of the Goldzone Group. I help leaders to master the new rules of leadership for the new economy. Over the past 30 years, I have visited more than 500 cities in 54 countries to explore, learn from, and help many of the world’s leading companies, leaders, and luminaries in science, technology, health, finance, and entrepreneurship.