Worldwide Success

Many CEOs seek adventures outside of work that test their fears and their ability to take risk.  They try to get past what is called the freakout point.  The freakout point is when you are so filled with anxiety that you can hardly breathe.  For first-time parachuters that happens when the doors of the airplane open and you hear all the noise and feel the pressure drop.  Hayward Putnan, former CEO of Southwest Airlines calls it the moment of truth and total focus. “It really makes you focus at the moment and forget all your other stresses or problems.” 

The USA Today reported that many CEOs and other accomplished individuals seek the freakout point outside of work.  But seeking the freakout point does not require that you jump from airplanes or climb Mount Everest.  The freakout point can happen for example when you have to give a speech to hundreds of listeners.  Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems got his thrill by being one of the first CEOs to write a blog inviting comments from critics.  For all the bloggers out there, does this sound familiar?  Although blogging does not reach the level of the freakout point, many CEOs are very afraid of facing criticism.  For these CEOs, writing a blog inviting comments from the general public is almost as scary as jumping from an airplane.

Alfred Edmond, the editor of Black Enterprise magazine believes that what may separate leaders from other talented people is the willingness to go through the freakout point. “If you don’t test the muscle by putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, the muscle doesn’t grow.  It shrinks”, says Edmond.

Fear paralyzes many people from reaching their potential.  Many times people keep doing things the same way just because they are afraid of change.  Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting to reach different results.  People understand this intuitively, and yet they keep on doing things the same way when they know that what they need is change.  Fear is what keeps them from changing and achieving success.

The idea that you can train yourself to deal with fear by putting yourself in fearful situations is intriguing.  Can you truly overcome fear by seeking freakout points in areas that have nothing to do with a specific fear?  If you have a very specific fear this kind of training may not help you overcome your fear.  But if you are constantly bombarded with situations at work where you must make quick decisions and take risk, but you feel paralyzed with fear, seeking the freakout point outside of work may be just what the doctor ordered.

Dan Eagan, the author of the book Courage to Persevere takes skiers of all skills level to the freakout point by using a rubber band where he can bring them back to safety.  His clients tell him that when they face a difficult and fearful situation at work they often recall the experience on the slopes to help them deal with the fear.   Michelle McTiernan, a CFO at DDB Health is one of his clients.  “I see bright people every day at work who are rigid in their approach.  It’s a huge barrier to success in a fast moving world.  Pushing your limits helps with being comfortable under pressure.  This is a great asset for any leader”, says McTiernan.

Certainly having the ability to focus on the task at hand or an immediate threat is a great skill to develop.  Being flexible and knowing how to read the signals around you to a make a quick decision even though you don’t have all the information needed to make the decision is also a critical capability for executives that deal with an ever increasing competitive environment.  But perhaps the biggest skill that you can develop by seeking freakout points outside of work is to overcome the fear of making a decision.  As many successful people will tell you, not making a decision is sometimes more risky than making the wrong decision.

In you quest for success it is very important that you conquer your fears.  Whether you develop this ability by seeking freakout adventures or through some other means is up to you.  The most important thing is to never let fear keep you from reaching you true potential.

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