Taking on Doubt

It's been an interesting few weeks from both a personal perspective and as it relates to delivering value to my clients.  On the one hand, I've been working diligently to further develop the strength and depth of my executive coaching practice for some months now and this has had me contemplating additional certifications, partnerships and business development strategies.  I've found myself in almost parallel discussions with more than one of my coaching clients who in similar fashion have been looking to take the next strong steps in achieving their goals either in developing their own business or making a transition to a new career.  In all cases, one of the common subjects for discussion has been in respect of taking on doubt.

In these conversations one of the phrases used was "mastering self-doubt".  To me that sounded like a very grand idea but not necessarily an achievable goal.  Perhaps I'm overly pessimistic or have been raised or experienced too much self-doubt in my lifetime to truly believe that one can master such a beast.  I've never lived without some measure of self-doubt - whether in career, academics, athletics or even personal relationships (never was a lady's man so count myself extremely lucky to have found my soul mate!).

Now if you don't take quite as extreme a view as to what "mastering" implies for me at this point - complete lack of doubt for example - then there is a middle ground to taking on doubt and that implies application of some personal strategies in recognizing doubt when it shows up, assessing the degree of reality that this doubt does or does not represent, and then taking determined action to mitigate the potentially paralyzing impact of such doubt.  So rather than mastering doubt, I propose to confront it and put an action plan in place that helps me - and you - manage through it.   

And let's be clear.  You may know those that state they don't suffer from any form of doubt.  I don't believe them for a second.  This perspective demonstrates to me a lack of thoughtful insight and self-awareness.  So, needless to say, I'm not addressing myself to those who are in denial about their personal challenges.

So whether you have doubted yourself, doubted some of the people working for you or doubted whether your company could succeed in meeting a particular challenge, there are strategies that I have offered and have worked through with many of my clients that helped them move forward effectively, productively and successfully.

One - Own your Past Achievements.  All too often too many of us focus on what we have not yet done, what we have "failed" at, and what remains unaccomplished.  We do a great job of owning "failure".  In contrast we lose track of or readily dismiss the accomplishments and successes we have experienced that have actually got us to this point in our lives, our careers or our organizations.  Most of us did not become leaders by default.  Nothing has been given to us.  Own your past achievements and recognize that they set a pattern or base for you to take on the next impossible dream.

Two - Own Your Strengths.  In similar vein, I find that if I were to ask anyone what their weaknesses were they would respond without hesitation and rapidly and completely fill a page with perceived and actual shortcomings.  Flip the coin and ask for a similar listing of strengths and hesitation would take over with results far less expansive.  Often then I push my clients to look back on their past accomplishments and experiences and be honest with themselves about what it really took to achieve success.  I also suggest or recommend they get some perspective by asking others they trust and respect for their assessment of strengths.

Three - Set a Plan.  Self-doubt seems to be particularly magnified when we think about a long-term goal but fail to establish the small steps and actions that will progressively move us forward.  We become overwhelmed by the enormity of our grand goal or vision.  Setting the grand or compelling vision is something I DO advocate but similarly work that through with my clients and identify the small steps they can take in the next week, month, quarter or year to ensure movement to the long-term goal.  In the absence of that we easily fall back on "documenting" failure in becoming an overnight sensation, give up the ghost, and move back to mediocrity or the next big thing.

Four - Phone a Friend.  As one of my coaching colleagues south of the border said to me "Your mind is a dangerous neighborhood to go into alone."  This reflects the danger of merely having ourselves to rely on and the many voices in our head that conjure up images and the potential for harm and failure that subsequently paralyze us to the real opportunities that lay ahead of us.  So get the plan and the fears out of your head.  Write down your goals and plan.  Share them with your team of trusted advisers - an executive coach, a peer advisory panel (e.g., TEC Canada CEO group), other trusted colleagues or peers.  Talk it through, walk it through, make the possibilities real and wipe away the cobwebs of your mind.

Five - Work the Plan, Evaluate, Recommit.  Setting the plan and visualizing success is one thing but we all need ongoing motivation and encouragement to keep moving forward.  Ensure that as you set the plan and get feedback from your advisers that you also establish milestones and metrics for yourself to monitor progress for yourself.  Seeing and experiencing tangible evidence for yourself on progress on your plan will keep you motivated as you put in the hard work to achieve your impossible dream.  And make sure that you celebrate - in some small way - each milestone achieved.  Reward and recognition are just as important as the sacrifices you are making on your journey.

One final word on doubt.  It's not all bad.  Doubt can also serve you well if only to have you appreciate that you alone are not infallible and all-knowing.  Doubt serves to remind us that our perspectives, decisions and actions are subject to the limits of our own knowledge, experience and biases.  Doubt at some level should compel us to continuous learning, ongoing engagement with others, and appropriate analysis of options presenting to us.

In my estimation, leadership should come with a good mixture of confidence, ability, experience, challenge, hard knocks, humility and self-doubt.  When lacking this balance we are more prone to hubris and spectacular failure.

Don't let yourself be paralyzed by doubt, going into the dark alleyways of your mind whistling a hopeful tune, but rather seek to manage your doubt so as to afford yourself the greatest possible opportunity for success. 
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Greg Hadubiak, MHSA, FACHE, CEC, PCC
TEC Canada Chair/Executive Coach/Senior Consultant
hadubiak@wmc.ca

Helping leaders realize their strengths and enabling organizations to achieve their potential through the application of my leadership experience and coaching skills. I act as a point of leverage for my clients. I AM their Force Multiplier.