July 2, 1863. A college professor from Maine stands on a rocky hill at the far left end of the Union army, nearly out of ammunition, with another charge coming up the slope. Every leader ends up somewhere like it: scared, short on options, and a team watching your face. The question Joshua Chamberlain answers is how to overcome fear when you cannot make it go away.

The moment

On July 2, 1863, Colonel Joshua Chamberlain commanded the 20th Maine, roughly 385 men, on Little Round Top at Gettysburg. His orders from Colonel Strong Vincent were to hold the extreme left of the Union line at all costs. If it broke, the army could be hit from behind. Confederate regiments, including the 15th Alabama, attacked up the slope again and again. The Maine men were nearly out of ammunition and could not turn back another charge. Chamberlain ordered them to fix bayonets and charge downhill. The attack broke and the line held. Source: American Battlefield Trust.

He did not pretend it was better than it was

Here is what I want you to notice. I do not know what Chamberlain felt. History does not record him saying he was afraid, and I will not invent it. What the record shows is a man who looked straight at his situation. Almost no ammunition. Shrinking numbers. Orders that did not allow a retreat. One option left. He did not dress that up. He named the facts, and he acted on them.

Every leader runs the same loop. Something happens. A feeling shows up. Most people go straight from the feeling to the action, and the fear picks the move for them. That is how good people freeze, lash out, or quit. The leader’s job is to put one step in the middle. Trigger. Emotion. Think and decide. Then act.

How to overcome fear: name it, then decide

You do not overcome fear by waiting for it to leave. It does not leave. You overcome it by putting it in its place behind the mission. That starts with saying what is true. In my own training the lesson was the same: you cannot fix what you refuse to see. The man who says he is not scared is not calm. He is unaware, and unaware men make the loud mistakes.

This is Element One of the Ice Cold Leader model, Emotional Awareness and Recognition. It is not a soft skill. It is the half second between the trigger and the action, and it is the only place you get to choose.

Apply it this week

1. Run the emotion log. Four times a day, stop and write down what you are feeling. One word. No judgment, no fixing. That is the Element One homework I give in the course.
2. Find your trigger. At the end of day three, read the log. Which events set off the same feeling? Circle the one that shows up most.
3. Say it before you act. The next time that trigger fires, name the feeling out loud or on paper before you reply, decide, or walk into the room.
4. Tell one person. Pick someone you trust and tell them what you found. Naming it to another human takes the power out of it.

Take it to your team

Three questions to read out loud Monday morning. Let the room answer.

1. Question one. Where are we out of ammunition and still acting like we are not?
2. Question two. What decision have we been putting off because the honest version of the situation is uncomfortable to say in this room?
3. Question three. If we said the facts out loud right now, which option would we be forced to pick?

Chamberlain’s hill was a long way from your office. The loop is the same. If you want to know how to overcome fear as a leader, start by being honest about the situation, then decide. This is Moment 09 of Leadership Moments in History. Last week: Apollo 13 and how to prioritize tasks.

Keep your eyes on the target. — Errol