No one can solve problems of any significance when they’re looking over their shoulder and waiting for the shoe to drop. Morale plummets, creativity is extinguished, and flush productivity.
Your bosses, your direct reports – they’re terrified. The ambitious ones are way too scared to be productive. Their ambition is quashed and you’ve lost your competitive edge. Without ambition there is no life, no progress, no productivity, no company, no you. Continuity becomes an intractable inertial morass.
You’re scared too. No hat, no rabbit, no clue. Tread lightly, second guess the boss, don’t make any mistakes – a mistake could cost you, big. That lump in your gut is weighing you down, slowing you down. It may as well be a ball and chain.
Now is no time to play small. What makes you think that rewards come from small actions? What makes you think that security sprouts from small thoughts? Mother is the necessity of invention, was your need for creativity ever greater?
Fear kills ambition, that is until you’ve had enough (more on that). Whimper for a while, be pathetic, wallow in self pity, then look in the mirror. Look and decide that you’ve had enough; you’ll reach down and figure out where you live – or not. When you know, you’ll be able to show your direct reports where they live. They need you to show them.
Get your life back and you can give them their lives back, not before. When you get your corps back, you can get your company back. Make your boss proud, make your troops proud, make yourself proud. Pride is the key.