The Opposite of Fear

‘What is the opposite of Fear?’ so asks Dienekes, one of the 300 Spartan warriors on the eve of the battle of Thermopylae in Stephen Pressfield’s novel Gates of Fire. The younger warriors that are gathered around, all living in the shadow of almost certain death in the battle against vastly greater numbers of Persians, respond with a few options, and most agree that Courage is the opposite of Fear.

Dienekes shakes his head. “Where does Courage come from?’ he asks.

“It is when a warrior fights not for himself, but for his brothers, when his most passionately sought goal is neither glory nor his own life’s preservation, but to spend his substance for them, his comrades, not to abandon them, not to prove unworthy of them….”

“The opposite of fear” Dienekes said “is love”.

Why does this matter?  If you’re not about to face an army, why should you care about fear. Well fear manifests itself in many ways in modern life – fear of job security, fear for loved ones, fear of failure… As a leader you may only see one aspect of your team members life – their work.  You will not see the fears that lurk and eat away inside them.  So what can you do? If you want your people to be best they can be, then help them to overcome their fears. There are many fears that you will have no control over, such as fears about family and loved ones, but you can fight fear with love.

Compassion is a key leadership quality – when storms rage around you can be the anchor in someone’s life. Providing a tribe, a home, a place of refuge for people, treating them as a human not just an operator. The Spartans would protect their shield above all else. The spear, sword, and helmet are to protect the individual, “but the shield protects every man in the line. For the man that stands at your shoulder is everything”

Love thy brother, love thy neighbour – phrases that have almost become meaningless through overuse… but compassion is the fundamental bedrock of any team, be it in an office or a battlefield.