Challenge Your Doubts To Be A Better Leader

In this three part series, Facing Your FUD, we acknowledged that a certain level of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt impacts all of us, but it’s what we do with those thoughts and emotions that either moves us forward or holds us back. Today, let’s discover how to challenge our doubts to be a better leader.

Imagine a leader with no doubts. A confident leader who always knows what to do. Sounds like something to aspire to, right? Maybe not. Confidence and competence are distinctly different and confidence without true competence is dangerous. When we doubt our own knowledge base or abilities, we can and should assess why we doubt and work to gather the information and skills needed to eliminate or at least mitigate the basis for our doubt. This is not the same as a pervasive doubt even when you have the competence to succeed—to defeat this type of doubt see my article, Developing the Mental Toughness That Can Defeat Doubt.

In The CEO Report, Embracing the Paradoxes of Leadership and the Power of Doubt, of the 150 CEOs interviewed, 71 percent answered “Yes,” to the question, “Do you ever doubt yourself?” And most of them saw doubt, not as a weakness, but a strength to be harnessed.

Through the analysis of these interviews, The CEO Report delineated the power of doubt into four quadrants: Preparation, Challenge, Awareness, and Validation, all of which intersect on the axis of feelings of Fearlessness and Anxiety and the axis of knowledge of Not Knowing and Knowing. The key, as is true in most aspects of leadership, is finding the right balance.

To move forward fearlessly while in a state of not knowing leads us back to the dangers of confidence without competence and the resulting unmitigated risk factors. To know and be fearless can lend itself to leading through a narrow perspective. If you “know” and therefore do not actively encourage others to challenge your thoughts and ideas, how can you be sure you are aware of all risks, opportunities, and innovations? A combination of not knowing and anxiety will often stop leaders in their tracks, negating the company’s chance for innovation and forward momentum. And the final quadrant, Validation, sits between knowing and anxiety—competence with questionable confidence.

“If you don’t doubt yourself in a constructive, positive way, you are borderline dangerous for your company.”

Let’s look at how each of those quadrants can help you utilize the power of doubt to lead with competence and true confidence.

When in doubt …

Prepare. Strategic, scenario, and contingency planning are just some of the methods leaders employ to mitigate their doubts.

Challenge. While you are responsible for making the final decision, it’s imperative that you not only surround yourself with others who have the expertise in areas that you do not, you must also openly encourage the free exchange of ideas and the opportunity to push back on your ideas and opinions. Engaging with a diversity of voices will provide a wider perspective and help you see things you doubted were possible.

Practice Awareness. Leaders must be aware of their strengths and their weaknesses. They must recognize what they don’t know and seek the knowledge, skill, and experience needed. Continuous learning is key to turning your doubt into useful information to either confirm your doubts so you can set yourself on a new course or invalidate your doubts enabling you to move forward with confidence.

Validate. You’ve prepared, challenged yourself, and practiced awareness, and yet, while tempered, some doubt still exists. Consult with peer-mentors and engage in the benchmarking processes as appropriate.

When properly harnessed, doubt can motivate us to continually learn and challenge ourselves in new ways.