I saw the movie “Coach Carter” and am pretty impressed. The coach kept asking the tough rookie – “Cruz, what’s your deepest fear?”. At one point Cruz finds the answer:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

That’s something too philosophical to come out from the character. It’s a quote from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles by Marianne Williamson. May be coach Carter taught him on that eventful night. Anyway!

Talented people are hard to find. They are hard to manage as well. But the biggest problem with the talented lot is to make them one with a team. In the height of their abilities, the biggest fear they face is that they are “powerful beyond measure” and they should not “shrink” in front of others. As their team-mates catch up with them, they start building a fortress around themselves or start building insecurity in others. They just can’t afford to lose the top spot.

Once Cruz realized that his fear is in not being able to let go, he was able to work on it and identify himself better with the team. He was okay to abide with the contracts and the rules.

Are you talented and take pride in your abilities and do you tend to bend the rules? Well, think twice. What’s your deepest fear?