Have you ever been in a situation in which you are either going down in flames or winning beyond your wildest dreams?
The fear of failure can be overwhelming. Your vision can narrow, and your brain literally stops working. You just want to run away.
But if you can harness that fear, it can become a powerful motivator. The trick is to use it as an engine for a "no choice but victory," all-out campaign.
In the late 1990's, Don Peppers and I took turns delivering two- day Building Share of Customer workshops at HP locations around the world. This led to my giving a speech at HP that, well, flopped. My client was quite upset but gave me one chance to redeem myself... by giving a much bigger speech to over 200 marketing executives, with the #2 HP executive sitting in the front row.
I was terrified. What if my client was right? Maybe I just didn't have the juice to perform at this level. More than once, the impulse occurred to me to run away. Although I don't remember the details, eventually, it dawned on me that I had no choice but to blow the doors off that venue.
I worked harder on that speech than any before it, by far. I thought not only about the intellectual side of my presentation but also about the little details: how to walk onto the stage, how to interact with the top executive, and how to strike the right balance between being informative and entertaining. I even thought of a way to mask my fear in the first minute or so, by "pretending" to be nervous.
As you have guessed by now, my second speech was a big success. But it wasn't because I was naturally talented. It was because my client put the fear of God into me. My guess is he made a calculated bet that I wouldn't panic under the pressure, but instead, I would rise to the occasion.
When you end up in a similar situation - and you will - the trick is to let panic run its course, and then, take charge. No matter how much effort it requires, give yourself no choice but to win. Make a list of the things you can do to ensure victory, and then, methodically and relentlessly pursue them.