The Hidden Cost of Leading Through Fear
Do you lead through fear? Have you ever been pushed by a leader who used pessimism as a tool?
There’s a reason pessimism spreads fast… it sells. It draws clicks, stirs urgency, and makes people pay attention. As leaders, we’ve all felt the temptation: emphasize the risks, spotlight the dangers, stoke a little anxiety to spark movement.
And for a while, it works.
Fear creates friction, the kind that can ignite a spark in the short term. But if you lead with fear for too long, you don’t just get movement. You get mistrust. Fatigue. Cynicism. Eventually, burnout.
Because fear motivates… until it paralyzes.
I recently read Factfulness by Hans Rosling and loved his take on this issue…
“When things are getting better we often don’t hear about them. This gives us a systematically too-negative impression of the world around us, which is very stressful.” — Hans Rosling, Factfulness
We live in a world with better-than-ever access to news, feeds, images, videos, and sadly, the majority of them are negative. As a result, can we be surprised at how there is arguably more fear and anxiety in first-world countries than ever before, even with more comfort and wealth than ever before?
Why Pessimism Works (At First)
Pessimism plays to our brain’s wiring. The human mind is naturally loss-averse; we notice threats more than progress. Leaders see danger on the horizon and want to prepare their teams. That instinct isn’t wrong and shouldn’t be ignored.
But here’s where things break down: when the tone becomes constantly negative, the signal stops being urgent and starts being draining. I saw this first-hand in an organization I was part of around 10 years ago.
You and I know it, focusing on the urgent works for a time, but only doing the urgent long-term is like running a marathon with a 100-meter dash strategy. It won’t work.
I’ve led through moments where it felt like everything could collapse, global pandemic, financial uncertainty, major restructuring, and I’m sure you have too. It’s tempting in those moments to double down on worst-case scenarios to get people to act.
But fear-driven leadership rarely creates sustainable clarity or courage.
What it creates is chronic anxiety, and quickly puts an expiration date on your team. This is what I call the pessimism loop…
The Truth We’re Missing
Hans Rosling’s Factfulness points to a powerful, often-ignored truth: the world is getting much better in many areas, but we don’t feel it.
- In the last 50 years, extreme poverty has dropped substantially across the world.
- Child mortality has been cut drastically with wider access to healthcare.
- Access to education and technology has expanded dramatically as the internet and smartphones have become mainstream across the world.
- Major diseases from the past 100 years have nearly been eradicated with advancements in medicine.
And yet, when most people are asked whether things are improving, the answer is often a firm no.
That’s not because they’re uninformed. It’s because we’re overwhelmed. Good news doesn’t get the same airtime. We live in a constant drumbeat of crisis.
That’s why I believe one of the most radical things a leader can do today is lead with grounded optimism.
As I write this, I understand that some things are indeed getting worse. One issue that weighs heavily on me is the global displacement crisis. Over 100 million people are currently displaced from their homes. It’s one of the great human tragedies of our time and a major reason I serve at World Relief, which focuses on this historical crisis and has done so for over 80 years (disclaimer: the perspectives shared here are wholly my own). On top of this, federal funding for global humanitarian aid has recently been decimated, resulting in thousands of non-profits around the world now struggling to serve those who need it most.
However, this simply raises the need to lead through hope, to seek the new opportunities that hardship presents, and to celebrate the small wins.
Optimism doesn’t mean ignoring pain. It means refusing to let despair define the whole story.
The Fear We’re Leading Through
Right now, if you’re leading a team, chances are they’re quietly asking:
- “Is my organization financially stable?”
- “Will there be layoffs?”
- “Is a recession coming?”
- “When’s the next pandemic?”
- “Are we falling behind in tech?”
- “Will my job be replaced by AI in the next few years?”
The cultural water we’re swimming in is full of fear, and it’s easy to mistake anxiety for action. But when a leader constantly triggers alarm bells, his or her team stops listening or, worse, starts tuning out entirely.
Because people don’t just want to survive. They want to believe.
Why Optimism Isn’t Naive
Optimism isn’t about ignoring problems. It’s about framing them within a larger narrative of possibility.
Pessimism makes people reactive. Optimism makes them creative.
As leaders, it’s our job to tell the whole truth, not just the hard parts. That means we name reality, but also cast vision.
We acknowledge fear, but also give people hope.
We warn when needed, but build with faith.
It brings me back to 2 Timothy 1:7…
“God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” — ESV
This doesn’t mean we lead with forced positivity. It means we show up with clarity and courage, with self-control.
A Word on tech and AI:
Leveling the Field for Nonprofits and Churches
One of the more hopeful shifts I’ve seen this year is how AI, when stewarded wisely, can help democratize access to knowledge. For leaders and teams in under-resourced contexts, often nonprofit and church leaders, those without the luxury of a team of research assistants, data analysts, or strategy consultants, AI offers a way to level the playing field.
It’s not about using AI to replace thinking. It’s about using it to amplify thoughtful, human leadership, especially in places where access has historically been unequal.
TL;DR — If You Only Remember This:
- Pessimism gets attention, but optimism earns trust. Short-term urgency can’t sustain long-term morale.
- Fear may ignite, but it also exhausts. People can’t run on adrenaline forever.
- Optimism isn’t soft, it’s strategic. Framing progress helps teams see meaning, not just chaos.
- You can name pain without drowning in it. Mature leadership holds tension between what’s broken and what’s being rebuilt.
- AI can amplify wisdom if you stay rooted. The goal isn’t to automate everything. It’s to deepen what matters most. For more on this, check out the full article
I’m convinced we need more hopeful leadership. But I also know the world is heavy, the pressure is real, and sometimes fear feels like the only honest response.
So here’s what I’m wondering:
How do you personally stay grounded in optimism? What’s your approach?
These are the kinds of articles I write about every week. If this was helpful for you, to stay in the loop and share.
