Feeling the Fear and Doing it Anyway

When we started LINIAN, it was all so new and rosy so I had loads of confidence. I almost didn’t think about it too much. But when we started to grow and develop rapidly, then came the procedures, growth strategies... it was what the business needed, but in my own mind thoughts started creeping in of ‘I don’t know if I can do this’ and ‘I don’t know if I can get the business to where it needs to go’ — ‘how will I juggle everything?’.

Running any business is difficult, but I was surrounded by peers and family who appeared to know what they were doing and seemingly had no issues with confidence — they came in and delivered. You forget in that moment that you are only seeing that snapshot of them at their best.

A lot of people think that working in a family business is the safest environment you can work in, but there is a different dynamic if they know you’re struggling — they see you as their daughter, their sister. It got to a point where I said ‘I’m out’ and that I wasn’t the right person for the business. In my mind, I didn’t want to be the one person that held LINIAN back. I felt I was being left behind in my own business and I was at the point that I considered leaving.

On the table, however, was an opportunity to go to Boston with Entrepreneurial Scotland on the Babson Leadership Development programme, so I took the chance…

I remember sitting on the flight to Boston reading the case notes and struggling to understand them. I thought to myself ‘I can’t even do this’ — completely forgetting I was going to Boston to learn. In Boston, I learned so much — ironically it was just being there, seeing different people as leaders and dispelling the fixed images in my mind of what an actual leader is. It was an eye opener and my experience at Babson — no doubt about it — was a catalyst for me, turning fear into action.

The programme and topics at Babson made me realise that the business could be broken down into different pieces and that we didn’t have to tackle the whole business growth in 6 months. My experience on the Saltire Leaders Programme provided lots of tools that essentially gave me my confidence back and I’m delighted to share some of my experiences as a leader and some of the learnings that have helped me navigate fear and uncertainty.

When I returned from the programme, I went on an emotional journey as a leader. I decided that myself and the team at LINIAN really need to look after ourselves a lot more. We had at times neglected ourselves, in terms of wellbeing and health. We implemented a rotational day off — and through this I found other ways to channel my energy and mindset into something else. For me, this was running — which has enabled me to embrace the mindset of small goals, achieved often (something I use in both my business and in my personal life).

In the early days of LINIAN, we did have a lot of success and the milestones were coming thick and fast — including awards — and we were growing super quickly. It had become overwhelming thinking how we were going to feel that ‘euphoria’ moment again. I decided to put that thought to one side and I just went in and did my job to the best standard I could… and the milestones started coming again. Going away and learning to ‘strip it back’ and achieve small goals was the key element.

Being a leader is about having the willingness and openness to listen. It’s about knowing you don’t have all the answers, and that you don’t have to. Accepting this is really massive.

You don’t have to do everything yourself. In doing that, you’re closing yourself off to tapping into some of the best ideas for your business. Your team and employees care about the business — often as much as you do. You will be surprised sometimes at the support and ideas you can get when you just open the door.

The last year has been scary for everyone — everyone has ‘felt the fear’ and worried about what we need to do to overcome this uncertainty.

As a leader, I’ve tackled this by thinking first ‘what do I need to do today’, then ‘what do we need to do this week’, and then what plans do we have beyond this. It’s a psychological thing for me — to break tasks down into projects. Before Babson, everything was my responsibility and I don’t feel like that now — I look to the team and think ‘who’s best to help achieve this?’. It sounds basic in theory, but when your business is running at 5 million miles an hour, a task-based strategy really helps navigate this.

I think the most overlooked thing for a business owner or leader is to acknowledge it can be scary — and leaders need to know it’s ok to feel like that.

My fears were all in my head. If I didn’t speak up when I did, I would have ended up making a terrible mistake and leaving my family business. Whereas I just was honest and open. As a result, I embraced the opportunity to go to Babson to solidify who I was as a leader.

I have a to-do list on my desk everyday and my method is if there’s anything on that list that I’m pushing out — maybe because I’m uncomfortable with it — I do that first. Leadership can be about accepting that there will always be decisions that terrify you. My biggest piece of advice is ‘do it’. You might think you have something to lose, but mentally what you lose being preoccupied with it will be far worse.

One of the most mature emails I’ve ever sent as a leader was to a potential customer in the UAE to say we didn’t have the infrastructure in place to supply to them at this moment, but could we revisit at a later date. I asked the question fully, accepting the worst answer was no, but instead got a great response to say they would be happy to wait. The pressure relief was immense — and I avoided having to carry this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that we couldn’t deliver.

Also it’s important to accept if you make a decision and it's not the right one, that’s OK too. If you have a good team or network around you, they should make you feel supported. At LINIAN, if there is a problem I look to empower the team to propose three potential solutions — I let them work through it, they take ownership and I make them feel supported.

Being a leader can be a very lonely place and I’m sure a lot of leaders will recognise this. It’s good to have a network around you to not only use as a sounding board, but to also share successes with. For me this is massively underrated.

What I’ve found about Scottish business leaders is there is a real eagerness to see others succeed — I find it really uplifting.

I did a panel discussion recently and leading up I had a real feeling of ‘imposter syndrome’. Ahead of the panel discussion starting, however, myself and the other panel members confided in each other that we all had the same feeling. It’s encouraging for anyone sitting at home or at work feeling worried or concerned, that the chances are a large proportion of their network is feeling the same way.

Understand and accept that everyone is ultimately in the same boat, more often than not.

To hear more insight from Lynne Jhangeer on her leadership journey, read her case study.

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