How African Leadership Principles Helped Me Unmask Fear – African Business Innovation

By Christopher O. H. Williams, business transformation consultant, and author of C.O.U.R.A.G.E.

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” 

— Franklin Delano Roosevelt

In the late afternoon of March 16, 2020, I went for a short walk around the grounds of African Leadership College in Mauritius, the maiden campus of African Leadership University. This was my favorite time of the day when at school — the students were the most relaxed, having finished classes and ready to enjoy dinner. 

It was a perfect scene—Africa’s bright future against the backdrop of Africa’s incredible beauty. On any other day, the scene would have brought me peace, and I would have paused to take it all in. But on this day, it tied knots in my stomach as I continued my walk without stopping. As President of the university, I was about to make the biggest decision of my tenure, and one that would shatter the beautiful and tranquil picture and significantly impact the lives of the unsuspecting students…and I was afraid.

The COVID-19 virus had been in the global news for a few months, and since the start of that year, my leadership team had watched its progress with growing apprehension. I had just left an all-day meeting of the full university management team, where we had spent hours discussing the risks and what-ifs. 

At first, it seemed like every option was equally bad. Every path seemed to lead to an unfortunate outcome. But I could not hide from the decision that needed to be made. When I examined my fears more closely, I quickly realized that it was the enormity of the decision and the burden of making it without conclusive information one way or the other—the uncertainty—that scared me. What if I was wrong? How would I face our students and their parents? Would I lose credibility with the university community?

Regardless of my own concerns about disrupting people’s routines and the beautiful experience that was the university, safety was far more important. We could not and would not lose anyone to the pandemic. It was my responsibility as President. My fear could not stand in the way of doing my job, especially when the welfare of over two thousand students was at stake.

So we took the leap and sent everyone home. The reactions were passionate and varied.

It turned out to be the right decision; just as the last students were arriving home after a hasty but orderly forty-eight-hour evacuation, the government of Mauritius announced an outbreak of COVID-19. The nation locked down, banning all travel and public gatherings, including those relating to educational institutions. Rwanda shut down a few days later. Had I allowed fear to paralyze me for even one more day, our students would have been stuck in limbo, unable to stay on campus or go home, struggling to access essential daily campus services, or, much worse, possibly exposed to the virus.

That wasn’t the first time I felt gripped by fear, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. When I feel fear, I find it helpful to examine it by working through the following steps.

STEP 1: NAME THE FEAR

What exactly is the negative outcome you’re expecting? Sometimes, simply naming the fear makes you realize how ridiculous it is. Or if it’s a legitimate fear, it helps you see more clearly whether the negative outcome is something with which you could live. I can’t count how many times in my life the fear was just about being wrong and the assumed consequential bruise to my ego. Over time, I grew to see being wrong as nothing to be ashamed of.

STEP 2: IDENTIFY ITS SOURCE

The feeling of fear can be potent, but is its source as credible? Is the fear just based on a feeling you have or something someone said – and if so, who? Are they the person you would trust with something else that was important to you, such as medical advice or where to send your kids to school? Is the fear based on facts – if so, from where? Again, is the source credible? Is the messenger objective? Many of my fears have collapsed under this scrutiny.

STEP 3: ESTIMATE ITS LIKELIHOOD

Research has repeatedly shown that the human mind gives more weight to losses than gains—we feel them more, remember them more vividly, and overestimate their likelihood. So it helps to put a probability on the negative outcome you’re anticipating, ideally one based on evidence, not just your gut feelings. You’ll probably find that the chance of a bad outcome is much lower than you first thought. Many people are afraid of the dark, but how many documented cases are there of the dark attacking someone? None.

STEP 4: VISUALIZE THE BEST CASE

What if everything goes right? What do you stand to gain? What would this outcome mean for you, a goal that you have, a cause that you believe in, or the people you care about? Don’t simply answer these questions; imagine your dream in as much detail as possible. Visualize exactly how it will happen and how you’ll feel when it does. Visualization is a powerful tool for calming your fear, boosting your confidence, and focusing your mind. Many times, our desire to achieve something meaningful is far greater than our fear of failing.

STEP 5: IMAGINE RETREATING

This is the antonym consideration to the point above. What if you run from this fear and choose the comfortable path or popular decision over the courageous one? What would you gain in the short term, and would that gain sustain? What would you be giving up? Who would you let down? Would you regret it later? What would this say about you and what you believe in? These questions help you realize that retreating from fear isn’t a neutral choice – it comes with its own risks, consequences, and implications.

To conclude 

Fear will always be present in the moments that matter most. It arrives when the stakes are high, when the next step feels uncertain, and when growth demands that you leave the safety of what you know. The wrong choice is to allow apprehension to rule, to let fear dictate your movements, and keep you stuck in hesitation. That choice shrinks your world and silences your potential. 

But there is another way. When you unmask fear, you begin to see it not as a stop sign but as a signal. Fear is simply an indicator that you are moving into unfamiliar territory—the very place where learning, impact, and transformation occur. Acknowledging it allows you to strip it of its power. Instead of controlling you, fear becomes a teacher, sharpening your focus and reminding you that you are alive, engaged, and stepping toward growth.

About the author

Christopher O.H. Williams is the best-selling author of C.O.U.R.A.G.E., and a former Fortune 500 executive who serves as a business consultant, executive mentor, board director, and public speaker on strategy and transformation. His career has spanned four continents, with senior corporate and management roles at Nike, Adidas, Goldman Sachs, Gap, VF Corporation, and Lehman Brothers. Williams was also the first President of African Leadership University, an institution dedicated to creating ethical leaders, entrepreneurial managers, and problem-solvers, with campuses in Mauritius and Rwanda. As President of Custament Partners, he specialises in helping teams and businesses drive and weather transformational change. Williams earned his MBA in General Management from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Morehouse College.