New team members can feel intimidated when they join a new team. They want to fit in and contribute right away.

However, fear of failure can rear its ugly head and cause them to second guess themselves. Fear can be brought on for many reasons:

• Having critical parents
• Experiencing a trauma
• A bruised ego
• Worries about what others think of you
• Being a victim of a bosses perfectionism
• Low self-confidence

Your team may not even be aware they are self-sabotaging themselves by embracing these fears. One of the most common fears we deal with focuses on external forces: fear of what other people think. Holding on to their image or reputation will prevent them from taking big risks and delivering big results.

You can identify this problem on your team by looking for these signs:

• They foreshadow failure by lowering your expectations of their performance
• They are reluctant to take on new challenges or projects that aren’t in their wheelhouse
• They procrastinate and are non-starters
• They have high levels of anxiety
• What others think of them is more important than what they think of themselves

Excellent communication and a positive culture can go a long way in helping employees with fear of failure. But first, you have to identify the root of the fear.

Schedule a free strategy call.