When Jessica*, then 26, spent over £500 of her own money on replacing missing stock at her London fashion job, she did it out of fear of getting in trouble. It was like a scene out of The Devil Wears Prada – sourcing a dress that needed to be sent out to a client, Jessica found it missing, panicked, then asked her friend working at Net-a-Porter to share her discount code so she could buy a new one to replace it. Jessica even had to ask her parents for £100 towards the dress.

Nine years later, Jessica chalks her bizarre response up to fear. “My boss was so good at making you feel stupid, and every time I saw an email from her I’d feel sick,” she says. “I didn’t have the guts to own up to the fact that the dress I had stored under my desk was gone.” Even before this incident, Jessica would routinely cry after work, and says she was often “screamed at” in that job.

At Stylist, we’re calling the fear of getting in trouble ‘FOGIT’ - and more of us are experiencing this at work than we might realise. Liz Sebag-Montefiore, CEO of HR consultancy 10Eighty, says FOGIT “often shows up less as obvious anxiety, and more as behaviour changes”. Common signs include over-preparing, second-guessing decisions, avoiding speaking up in meetings, excessive apologising and constantly checking for approval.”

“People may become highly risk-averse, stick rigidly to rules or avoid visibility altogether,” Sebag-Montefiore adds. “Over time, this fear can drain confidence and energy. Instead of doing their best thinking, they focus on not making a mistake, which can lead to reduced creativity, slower decision-making, burnout and a feeling of being ‘on edge’ throughout the working day.”

Although fear is an evolutionary function designed to keep us safe, at work it does the opposite. Fear narrows behaviour, Sebag-Montefiore says. This means that while your FOGIT might be stimulated by bad management, an unprofessional colleague or other reasons external to you, the fear only harms your career potential. “The tricky part is that people with FOGIT often don’t fully recognise what’s happening. They may tell themselves they’re being ‘careful’ or ‘professional’, when in reality fear is quietly shaping how visible or ambitious they feel able to be. Over time, this can stall careers and reinforce a belief that they’re not capable, when the real issue is the environment they’re in.”

Sign up to our How To Work newsletter: a curated, intelligent careers guide filled with advice and expertise for every working woman.

Get unlimited digital access from £3.49/month