Ways to Be Decisive Under Fire
Stressful situations in the workplace and in your personal life are inevitable. As a matter of fact, if you aren't experiencing at least a little bit of stress, then chances are you are not challenging yourself enough to reveal your growth edges. For example, if your parent who lets your kids do whatever they want, then you might be avoiding some of the difficult conversations that go with raising kids. If you're a “laid-back” boss, then you probably have issues with authority. Somebody along the way was either too harsh or did not set good boundaries with you as a parent or parental figure.
That pressure you feel in those tense moments isn't there to build character, it’s there to reveal it. If you don’t know how you respond when you are under stress, here’s how to change it.
1. Name the pressure out loud or even silently. “I’m under pressure right now” creates distance between you and the reaction. To take it a step further would be to be able to trace back to the source of the pressure. For example, if my boss wants the first draft of the proposal turned in by 5 o'clock today, then I might feel like I'm under pressure. When I can step back and realize that I have all of the knowledge, skills, and abilities to get the job done between now and then, I can relieve the pressure. It would also be good to recognize if I created the pressure by procrastinating rather than planning my work so that the draft is turned in without worrying about the deadline. Now I am taking ownership for my results and making sure that there are less situations where I have unknowingly created pressure.
2. Separate urgent from emergent. Most crises feel urgent. Few actually are as important as they feel in the moment. Make sure you are honest with yourself about the context of your stressful situation. I had a client the other day that got a phone call from a job site saying that they had given the wrong company credit for the construction work. He was very stressed because he was worried about the fallout. When we processed the possible consequences, he was able to realize that most people don't even read those signs or care who was doing the work. I would imagine that less than one percent of the people walking past that job site would notice that there was a mistake, and yet the reaction would lead us to believe that the company stock is going to drop the next day or the client was going to cancel the contract. Neither one of those scenarios was realistic, given the fact that one of the front line workers had made a simple mistake and grabbed the wrong sign from the two piles.
3. Get one more data point, not ten. Perfection is a stalling tactic. You're not going to get it all right the first time. Even if you think your work is impeccable, your boss is going to feel the need to correct something so that they are doing their job. Just turn it in and be ready to accept the feedback. It would be good to be mindful of any reasons why you are dreading the feedback or where it lands with you when you receive it.
4. Decide and Commit. Indecision under pressure is its own decision and usually the worst one available. Just because you are deciding on a particular way of doing something, doesn't mean you can't reevaluate and adjust your decision in real time. It actually shows more open-mindedness and self-awareness than if you just closed your eyes and hoped for the best outcome. The trick here is to be humble enough to admit that the initial decision needs to be altered or corrected. Your biggest enemy in this moment is going to be your ego.
5. Debrief after, not during. Save the analysis of what went right or wrong for after the moment has passed. In the moment, you act. You need to be patient when it comes to doing the debrief after the event. Some of the snap decisions in the moment will alter the outcome, but when it comes to stepping back and looking at your overall results, it's going to take a deeper dive, and you don't want to do that during the event.
None of this makes pressure disappear. It makes you the kind of leader who performs when it matters instead of freezing when it counts. I invite you to utilize this exercise even with low level tasks so that you get the practice necessary to be comfortable making decisions that are highly efficient and effective.
Remember to be your best self!
Coach Ghaz
