Do you have a fear of success?

Yesterday Steve entered a blog called "Act On - Don't Just Talk About Changing" and he said he believes two of the major impediments to change are fear of failure and the fear that acting on a commitment to change would then require an amount of work. I agree with this and also believe that "fear of success" plays a big role in holding people back.

James W. Newman talks about fear of failure and fear of success in his book "Release Your Brakes". We understand fear of failure immediately but fear of success might require a little reflection. Do you hold back or, more importantly, do your employees hold back because of a fear of sustaining the new standard? And - once you have been successful in doing something new or to a new standard - will you be expected to do it again and again and even better the next time? Not only will people start expecting more, they might actually depend on you for more and your radius of responsibility will increase.

In the spirit of continual learning and growth it is worth thinking about the fear of success and the impact that might be having. Are you holding back or causing others to set the bar a little lower than they could?