Leader's Compass 33 - Be The Captain...How To Keep Your Head While Others Are Losing Theirs

You've heard the analogy before. A great captain keeps their head while all others are losing their own. The storms wage, the fears grow in the hearts and minds of the crew and the captain, the seasoned leaders shaped by time and experience keeps his calm and steers the ship through the storm to calmer waters. "Calm waters not a good captain make" the old adage was coined.

 

What is it that keeps these seasoned leaders so calm, emotions in check and focused? What do they know that you may not?

Author Mario Alonso Pug wrote that "whether we like it or not, someone who is overcome with emotions is intellectually at a dead-end." The ability to keep your head when the challenges seem to be mounting can be the tipping point of your success or failure.

So how do keep calm when deadlines and pressures mount? One of the crucial skills in developing your EQ or emotional intelligence is the skill of self awareness. Being self aware is the first step to ensuring your plan execution is cognitive and not emotive in nature. When stress builds up taking the time to stop and ask a few questions may prove to provide a more solid base from which to execute from. Let's take a look at a few:

• "What are my current top stressors?"
• "Why am I feeling the increased stress?"
• "What beliefs, what paradigms have led me to this point?"
• "Ultimately, what are the MOST important items for me to focus on right now?"

Anyone who has read Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People will remember that in order to get moving in the direction we want we need to classify our stressors and action items into 4 quadrants (see below).

After identifying the quadrant breakdown you can slow down and take action on the items deemed most important. This requires a little bit of patience and some skillful kindness when you may need to tell someone who has brought you the latest gossip, their own pressing problem or the latest waste of time that you simply don't have time for it right now.

History has shown that acting when emotionally charged we make more "I'm sorry" moments than when we chose to pause, evaluate and act out of intellect, principle and independent choice.

The storms of life and business may not always be fun, but they can be a solid testing ground for our ability to remain calm when the waters are rough. Slow down, evaluate and gain perspective. Great leaders have a habit of looking, observing and then acting.

Take a deep breath, take time to evaluate and lead on.