Do you suffer from "confrontationophobia?"

Through coaching presidents, owners and CEOs I have observed that the successful business owners and executives have one thing in common - the courage to face the brutal facts and also the courage to bring the brutal facts home to the individuals they are working with. I just googled "Fear of confrontation" and stumbled upon a very interesting website called "dailystrengths.org" where one of the readers described her phobia of confrontation as below: "I am terrified of confrontations! I just freeze, and stop thinking. I put them off and put them off, knowing I am just making it worse in the end. I can't seem to help it. I just cannot instigate a discussion that I know will end in a confrontation. It terrifies me. So, when there is something going on that I need to talk about, I just keep my mouth shut, and let it get worse. When the confrontation comes, I just let it wash over me, until I can get away from it." At least she has a clear idea of what ails her. Most people are not even aware that they have a fear of confrontation and will not even admit to it. Now, why is the ability to confront facts and people such an important skill for business owners and executives to have? Well, for one, running and growing a business is a constant daily struggle to keep things real: •keeping projections of future growth real •keeping sales forecasts real •keeping conversations with employees, partners and customers real •keeping products and services real There is a constant battle raging between facts and fiction. It is not always clear if the big fire you are getting ready to fight is a real fire with real smoke or a figment of someone's imagination. To make matters more complicated, business realities are always changing and businesses and business owners are under a constant pressure to respond appropriately to changing customer needs, wants and preferences. Given this dynamic nature of business, the ability to see and confront brutal facts and the ability to bring brutal facts home to employees, customers and partners in a clear, firm and yet compassionate way is a critical leadership skill that you simply cannot afford not to have. In coming blog posts I will talk about how you can identify if you have a fear of confrontation and what you can do about it. "To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." - William Shakespeare