4 Common Barriers to Cultivating Audacity as a Leader

Speaker, author, and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Anne Marie Anderson spoke about shutting down your inner critic, recalibrating your relationship with “no,” getting leaders to say “yes,” and, ultimately, cultivating audacity during Women Leading Travel & Hospitality’s Virtual Exchange in October.

“Audacity is a mindset, it’s a behavior, until finally, it’s your identity,” said Anderson. “The audacious mindset is just based in optimism. [The idea that] no matter, things are going to work out at some point. Maybe not the way you want it, but it will work out.”

Anderson said there has to be action behind that optimism; you can sit on the couch and be optimistic all day, but nothing is going to happen if you don’t take action.

“When you marry those two things together — the mindset of optimism and the action of behavior — that’s when you get that audacious identity,” noted Anderson.

Anderson said in her experience there are four common barriers that stand in the way of cultivating audacity:

Fear

Fear of failure, embarrassment, rejection, judgement, being exposed or not being valued can stop us in our tracks. The negative thought is around being afraid to take risks because “what if it doesn’t work out?” However, with an audacious mindset of optimism, “it’s always going to work out,” Anderson said.

Time

Anderson shared a story of how at one point in her career she was a full-time sports broadcaster, a full-time speaker, a mother of three, and she decided to write a book. With no other time to do it, she got up at 4:30 a.m. every day to write. “I was exhausted,” she said. “I realized I was just on this hamster wheel all day long.” Anderson then discovered the urgency fallacy — this notion that we think we need to take care of the urgent things before the important ones. “I think there are some things that can wait 15 minutes while you prioritize important,” she said, adding it was important to evaluate how much freedom your team has to be able to set aside the urgent and focus on the important once in a while.

Money (Energy)

Like time, you have to know how much of it you have before you can budget it well, Anderson said. Like energy, you have to know how to use it in the most efficient ways. Anderson recommends taking the same approach to money or energy that you do with time and examining whether you’re spending both on things that are urgent or important.

The Inner Critic

We all have an inner critic — that voice in your head speaking negatively and hindering your confidence. If you or a team member are doubting themselves and listening to their inner critic, Anderson suggests trying to separate the voice from yourself. Give the inner critic a fictional name — Anderson used the example of her 12-year-old daughter giving her inner critic the name Jerry — and tell it to shut up every time it says something negative. That’s applicable to your team members’ inner critics as well.