Inspire Confidence
As a leader, how often do you find yourself using fear as a motivator for change? It’s an easy trap to fall into. We think about the negative consequences of failure, and then put those in front of our teams. And while we may think that’s simply being a realist or pragmatic, science tells us something else: that it’s not effective.
The instinct makes sense on the surface. If people understand what’s at stake, if they can see the cliff edge clearly enough, surely they’ll change course. Leaders have been operating from this assumption for generations, and it gets reinforced constantly because fear does produce short-term movement. People respond and they react. But reaction and sustained change are two very different things, and confusing them is one of the more costly mistakes a leader can make.
What the research actually shows is that when people are confronted with fear-based messaging, the brain doesn’t lean forward into problem-solving mode. It retreats. The cognitive resources that should be focused on creative thinking and strategic action get redirected toward managing anxiety instead. You end up with a team that is busy surviving the message rather than acting on it.
This plays out in meetings, in performance conversations, in the way organizations communicate during difficult periods. The language of consequence and failure feels serious and honest, but it often produces paralysis dressed up as caution. People become reluctant to take risks, reluctant to speak up, reluctant to act boldly because the dominant signal they’re receiving is that wrong moves carry heavy costs.
What Tali Sharot’s research points toward is a fundamentally different approach, one that most leaders haven’t been trained to use and that feels counterintuitive at first. The path to real behavioral change runs through expectation and possibility, not through threat. And once you understand the neuroscience behind that, it’s very difficult to go back to leading the old way.
You see, the most natural, biological reaction to fear is to freeze, not fight. And then we justify our reaction with reasons why we don’t need to change…until it’s too late. For example, when smokers are exposed to dire warnings, they are actually less likely to stop smoking.
What Drives Change
What works? According to Sharot, successful change is driven by social initiatives, immediate rewards, and progress monitoring.
Leaders need to be aware of the science behind what drives our teams’ behaviors. This research provides a compelling reason to motivate people towards a more desirable state, rather than trying to scare them away from the “bad thing.” So, to discourage smoking, don’t raise the specter of cancer, emphasize that people who don’t smoke do better at sports.
How can you work this into your leadership practice? Before going down the path of fear when initiating change, challenge yourself to imagine what success looks like, and paint that picture. Your people are more likely to actually do something about it.
