Head: (4.5 of 5)
Heart: (4 of 5)
Leadership Applicability: (4.5 of 5)

Anxiety is not all bad, says Dr. Larina Kase. In fact, until you interpret it as good or bad, it's just another form of energy. Without any anxiety, we likely wouldn't perform as well as we do. But depending on how we respond to the uncomfortable feeling it produces in us, we can either let it motivate us or we can quickly let it escalate to a controlling force that stops us in our tracks. The trick is to allow yourself to experience anxiety while doing the task you are afraid of, anyway. If you try to push distressing thoughts down or avoid the situation that is causing them, the anxiety will only pop back up later, stronger than before.

Instead, confront the situation you fear, starting with easier scenarios and working your way up to more difficult ones. Stay with the uncomfortable situations until your anxiety subsides, and repeatedly confront your fears until you are no longer fearful. If you can't readily identify a specific situation that is causing you anxiety, try to identify when and how you are pushing distressing thoughts and feelings down, only to have them pop back up. The key is to interpret discomfort as helpful energy rather than a hurtful hindrance, and challenge yourself to do what you tend to want to avoid.

This process, turning anxiety into optimal energy, is actually the fifth step in what Dr. Kase considers the six steps used by leaders to effectively face fears and gain confidence in any area they choose to improve or change. Using the acronym GROWTH, the steps are:

(1) Get Your Exceptional Vision: What change do you want to make, and why is it important to you?  To be a great leader of a company, a field, or anything else, you first need to be the leader of yourself.  It is always easier to avoid discomfort and continue doing what you've always done-especially when external circumstances like a failing economy seem to be limiting your options. But how, exactly do you push yourself outside of your comfort zone to grow yourself and your business? The first step is naming the change you want, with great specificity: what does it look like? Feel like? How will your days be different? How will YOU be different? How will the change benefit you? How much do you care about it, and why? 

(2) Realize Your Commitment: Be honest. Are you ready to make this change right now?  A fundamental error when you embark on change is to assume you-or the people you manage are coach-are ready for it. A key reason most people don't achieve the change they want to make is that they are not fully committed to it. Based on key research, Dr. Kase lists five stages of readiness for change, from pre-contemplation to maintenance, and action steps to address each one and move to the next. Don't just say, "I'll try," or let your employees make promises, without developing a specific plan based on your vision and the level of motivation you or they currently hold.

(3) Organize Your Team: Whom do you know and what resources do you need to help you make the change?  Some people feel uncomfortable asking for help, others over-rely on others and start to doubt their own abilities. But if you want to do the tough things that lead to the best results, you need support. But it can't all go one way. The way to strike a balance is to ask your team members, how can we provide mutual benefit and value to one another to make all of us successful. Whom you ask and how you do it makes a huge difference: to create buy-in, listen to what you don't want to hear, don't try to persuade resisters that your idea is a good one-let them ask the questions that will lead to learning. Once your team is on the same page, make sure everyone knows what is expected of them and has the right tools, and be generous with praise and gratitude. 

(4) Win With the Right Decisions: Make those tough choices that lead to your best results. Uncertainty can be paralyzing and cause you to base decisions on things that aren't even related. Dr. Kase recommends questioning your attempt to find certainty before making decisions, because you may be lulled by a false sense of security.  To figure out if your apprehension is about avoidance (meaning you should ignore it and move on) or about intuition (meaning you should listen to it and stop), weigh your options when you're in a calm, positive frame of mind. Ask yourself, is the challenge worth it? Don't wait until after the decision is made to measure its results. Instead, be proactive and ask yourself this question first, conducting a cost/benefit analysis that includes your feelings, what could go wrong vs. what could go right, changes in schedule and resources, and effects on your relationships as well as on the bottom line.

(5) Turn Anxiety into Optimal Energy: Keep yourself moving ahead even when you want to stop. (See beginning of review).

(6) Harness Your Strengths and Release Control: Make the change stick by using your natural strengths instead of overcompensating for your weaknesses. Most people encounter difficulties in making important changes because they become focused on their weaknesses, Dr. Kase says.  This causes two serious hindrances to change:  you tend to overcompensate for your weaknesses, and you forget about your strengths. Dr. Kase provides several methods of dealing with trying to over-control situations and counter-intuitive strategies to use when sheer will doesn't seem to be working: try taking an opposite approach, or try a ninety-percent experiment--purposefully slack off a bit to see if you can become unstuck. Play around with your level of focus, and make regular lists of your strengths and how you can use them. 

In the second half of the book, Dr. Kase uses this simple six-step model to tackle a large number of common leadership problems, showing how to "convert them into dynamic opportunities."  She applies the GROWTH model to examples such as getting caught in the daily grind and losing focus, procrastination and other drains on productivity, lack of motivation in yourself and/or in your team, losing composure, feeling inauthentic or unlikable, conflict and difficult interpersonal situations, barriers to self-promotion, and ultimately, how to master being a champion of powerful change and innovation-how to make a real difference in your team, your company and your life. Buy it.