Raise Your EQ Culture: Courage to Define
Jun 22, 2025
What are you afraid of?
Snakes? Aliens? The number 13? (Hey, that’s a thing!)
Okay, what about at work?
Failure? Layoffs? Rejection?
I talk almost daily with coaching clients who fear something. Their chosen fear circled their amygdala at least three times. Their brain no longer separates the fear from reality.
Their fear is their reality.
Ed Friedman in his book, Generation to Generation, mentored me early in my positive culture architect calling. I learned four great truths about how to create a positive work culture. The first one we talked about is how to separate yourself from the anxiety at work. The second was to commit to goals beyond the horizons that everyone else sees.
The third truth is to have the courage to define yourself within your work community.
Fear can neutralize courage, if you allow it. Courage is required to risk self-definition at work. And yet, we know from countless studies that when team members authentically show up for work—whether in-person or virtual offices—and can credibly be themselves, productivity, innovation, and engagement soar.
Psychological safety is a hallmark trait of a positive work culture.
The key is to vanquish fear. How do you do that?
Try these three ways to raise your EQ culture:
Courage When You Can
It’s a challenge to act courageously when so many around you are fearful. What Friedman calls self-differentiation is necessary to raise your EQ culture.
Self-differentiation shows up as courage at certain moments; times of high-influence opportunity when the team is fearful with no relief in sight.
That’s when you Work Positive and in a break room, recall a similar intersection of danger and opportunity that turned out well. Or, on a Zoom call remind everyone how acting on the corporate mission and vision steered the ship around the mines of fear previously.
Differentiate yourself away from fear. Lean into courage.
Courage when you can and raise up your EQ culture.
Control What You Can
Fear runs freely like a runaway toddler on a playground. It makes work feel out of control, or at least on a collision course with disaster.
In such times, do one thing to create a positive work culture win. One action that results in a positive, visible outcome.
I conclude every episode of the Work Positive podcast with this question for my guest: “What’s one thing Work Positive Nation can do today to create a positive work culture?” Check out some episodes.
Pick one thing. Do it today.
As you do one thing, you discover that others ask, “How did you do that?” Fear narrowed their mental range of options to what they can’t do.
Tell them, “Hey, just do one thing you can control to fight the fear.”
Control what you can, inspire others to do the same, and raise your culture’s EQ.
Community Where You Can
Your teammates’ reactions to fear vary greatly. Some receive your self-definition with relief and join you in stepping away from fear. Others choose to follow fear further and disbelieve your positive outcomes.
Create community among those who join you in migrating away from fear. Your courage inspires their courage. Your actions encourage their actions. Both define a new community; a critical mass of folks who team to Work Positive and dispel anxiety, lengthen short-sightedness, and vanquish fear.
Rally this community committed to a growth mindset. Invest your relationship capital in them. Allow the others to self-select. Work Positive with those who will.
Raise up your EQ culture as you courage when you can, control what you can, community where you can as you Work Positive in this fearful world.
Ready to Transform Your Team Culture?
Set a reminder for Tuesday, June 24th at 11AM ET. Bring your biggest distributed team challenge and be ready to engage.
Together, we'll coach through the specific obstacles keeping your team from reaching their full potential and give you a clear path forward.
This is your opportunity to move from managing distributed individuals to leading a connected, high-performing team that grows both people and profits.
See you on June 24, Tuesday at 11AM ET for Marco Polo Culture coaching that will transform how your distributed team operates. Register here to save your spot and join the conversation! https://www.linkedin.com/events/7335672676918714373/comments/
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