What, exactly are you afraid of?

Here's another snippet from the Big Moo that resonated strongly with me...

What, exactly are you afraid of?

Here's a list. You pick:

• getting yelled at by the boss
• getting fired
• having your company close down for lack of business
• your company gets acquired and you get fired
• not getting promoted
• making promises you can't keep
• doing the wrong thing
  
• getting caught using the copy machine after hours
• not knowing the right answer

Here's the big news: If your strategy is to lie low, do your job, follow instructions, and hope that nobody notices you, (a) nobody WILL ever notice you, and (b) you're actually increasing the chances of something bad happening.

If, on the other hand, you develop a reputation as the person who is always pushing the envelope, challenging the organisation to go to the next level, and using your influence to get good stuff done, you've got the world's best job security. If you never pretend to know all the answers, nobody will hate you when you say, "I don't know." And if you surround yourself with a team that depends on you to lead them to the next big thing, you all benefit.

You can't shrink your way to greatness. 

-- Extracted from the Big Moo, Seth Godin