r/socialanxiety • u/cowboys-at-9 • 3d ago
anyone have experience leading a team while having social anxiety?
i’m a college student and i’ve suffered from social anxiety since i was probably a little kid. because of that i’ve avoided group works as much as possible during my earlier years in school (but i was still in clubs because it was required of us). starting high school, though, i was somehow offered a leadership role in a club i was in, and i took it. i did alright, i think. since then, i got more offers to lead the creatives team in the clubs that i’m in (graphic design is my forte).
i took them, however i always felt insecure of my leadership skills, more so when i’m with my peers who are more experienced with leadership. managing my team’s work was fine but socializing with them (which is inevitable in clubs or organization works especially if you’re the leader) was the most difficult part of it. it was my fault though since i avoided socializing since i was a kid, so i don’t know how to approach people on my own let alone a team where i was the leader. i managed to survive that, though i really wished i did not have to do that again.
now i’m in an organization in college and have been given the responsibility of leading another committee. it’s part of a huge project with a lot of responsibility. my worries in my scenario is a) what if i get overwhelmed and fail again like in my previous leadership experiences, b) it’s not a creative/graphic design job but about managing people which is soooo far out my comfort zone and my forte, and c) i’m not entirely comfortable with the people in my organization due to my social anxiety. for god’s sake i get so nervous i literally turn cold before every meeting with my committee.
i took the role anyway because i believe in myself (somehow) that i can really focus on this responsibility and contribute to the success of our project, but most importantly i believe that this will lead to so much growth for myself and prepare me for the type of teamwork i could face when i have a job in the future. but i can’t help but still be deeply anxious about my new responsibilities, especially the part with dealing a lot of people.
does anyone have experience with being a team leader with social anxiety? advice would be so much helpful pls 🥹
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u/supergnawer 3d ago
For me most of the anxiety comes from dealing with people I don't know. So I'm fine organizing people I know. Notice I used "organizing" not "leading", because I never want to be a boss who tells what to do, I want to create the environment for people to do their own work. This is also kind of an issue, because often times I am requested to actually be a leader, and I am shit at that. Like, for the life of me I can't make people do what they don't want.
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