Guiding people through fear, not forcing them

You cannot rush someone through fear. Push a frightened kid off the edge and you don't get a swimmer, you get a kid who's now also afraid of you.

What works is slower and quieter. Small steps. Letting them set the pace and meeting them just past it. Being calm so they can borrow some of it.

I've come to think that's most of what good leadership is too. Not motivating people past their limits, building enough trust that the limits move on their own.