Make Fear Your Tailwind

It was Easter Sunday in 1974, and 21-year-old Jimmy Iovine was getting ready for church when suddenly the phone rang around 10 a.m.

It was his boss, Roy Cicala, John Lennon’s go-to engineer at Record Plant Studios in New York. Iovine was ordered to get to the office to handle the phones, so he ditched his parents’ church plans and dashed out the door.

Iovine was Record Plant’s always-willing gopher and would do whatever it took to prove his worth. If Cicala told him to jump, Iovine would ask “How high?”

Several years later, while working as Cicala’s assistant engineer on a Lennon album, Iovine had something happen that would change his life forever.

Cicala and Lennon got into a heated argument one day about the mixing of the sound. Lennon grew so enraged that he fired Cicala on the spot, telling Iovine he was now the man in charge.

Was Iovine ready at that point? Probably not. But was he going to show this lack of confidence? No chance.

He knew “once-in-a-lifetime” happens only once. He was going to use his fear as a tailwind and rely on what his father called his “magic ears” to prove Lennon right. Iovine trusted his talent and never looked back.

So many of us are just like Iovine, only a single play or encounter away from our once-in-a-lifetime moment. We just need a little luck or happenstance to break our way.

But if we hesitate or allow fear to be the headwind that controls us, we won’t have the career we dream about.

Fear is a powerful motivator if used in the right amount, and Iovine used it to give him confidence and extra incentive to do the job.

He wasn’t going to rubber-stamp everything Lennon wanted or become his “Yes man.” He was going to do what he felt was right because he knew Lennon wanted the truth.

Getting promoted into a bigger role is always frightening. We often ask ourselves questions like “Am I ready?” or “Do I actually deserve this chance?”

When these scenarios come up moving forward, let’s make sure we don’t simply dismiss fear as a bad thing and let it hold us back.

If used properly, it can be the tailwind that helps us reach our destination even faster.