Lead Calmly in a High-Stress Situation

For all those leading a team, a company, or people who follow your thoughts and ideals, now is a particularly stressful time. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed things drastically for everyone which makes it challenging to lead calmly. And for those who have a team or company relying on them for guidance and leadership, the stress is multifold.

According to the Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends survey, 2019, 81% of the respondents who believe that organizations have new leadership needs said that the ability to lead through more complexity and ambiguity was the primary need.

Now, even more so than any other time, it is important and even necessary for leaders to keep calm and guide your teams, who are probably stressed themselves. So if you don’t remain calm, neither does your team. Your behavior in times of stress is what reflects on your personality and that’s what people will recognize. But that’s easier said than done so here’s a little help.

How to Lead Calmly in a High-Stress Situation?

Think first, act later

As humans, it’s easy for us to simply react to a situation. Our reaction is the first feeling we have towards that situation. But as a leader, you must not instinctively react, because as humans when we feel attacked we become defensive. And that’s not ideal in a stressful situation. Instead, you need to spend some time evaluating and thinking about the situation in its entirety and then act according to the best course of action. You need to remain calm and spend time on coming up with a well-thought-out plan, with extra attention to all your decisions and then put that plan in motion. This is the first step to lead calmly.

Develop a supporting team

While this is more of a preemptive measure, it is a valuable thing to have even when the world is not fighting a deadly virus. As a leader, develop a few team members around you who not only share your vision, but are also capable of providing their perspective and opinions on the matter at hand, and who can also stay calm during times of stress, so that you have a support system when the stakes are high and you can lead calmly as a result. They might even have expertise in an area you don’t. While they might give you their viewpoint and broaden your perspective just a little, you will still take the final call and the onus of the project still falls on you, the leader.

Understand the reality

Before making any moves or any decisions, it is important to first understand the situation so that you can lead calmly. See it for what it is and analyze all the possibilities as well as the limitations. Make sure you understand and are aware of all the facts. Keeping the facts in mind can help give you a better sense of the situation overall. You also need to understand how to manage yours and your team’s expectations from the outcome of the situation. The reality check is one that everyone needs because unrealistic expectations can also increase the stress level of the team. Once you have understood all of the details of the situation, only then can you create the best possible plan to move forward.

Don’t ignore a messy situation

It is human nature to avoid the unpleasant. But, in a high-pressure situation, that’s the worst possible decision you can make. If a situation is ugly, it will only get uglier if you ignore it. And then it may get to a point where you will not be able to do anything to rectify it. So rather than sweeping it under the rug, address it and solve it as soon as you can. This will also help get the problem areas out of the way and allow you to focus on the plan that helps you move forward.

Practice being driven by purpose rather than by pressure

This is something that will help you throughout your life, and not just through a crisis as a leader. Being someone who is motivated by purpose is far more valuable and productive than someone who only reacts under pressure. Being driven by purpose means there is a search for growth, knowledge, and well, purpose. While being driven by pressure means there is no preparation, no preemptive planning, and no deep understanding of a situation, which can lead to bad decisions and bad outcomes. You also need to have the courage to lead calmly in an unexpected situation. But this comes with some amount of care and caution. Your courage will stem from knowing the situation so well, that you almost know what is going to happen.

If you’re in a situation that demands a lot from you as a leader, try going by these points to help you through a rough phase. Being a leader needs constant work. It needs you to keep working on your leadership skills and keep working on your ability to tackle high-pressure situations to develop a personal leadership style. It takes practice.

FAQs

Q. Why must you think first and act later?

A. While simply reacting to a situation might come easy to us, it is important as a leader not to instinctively react, because our first reaction might be defensive and that will not help the situation. Instead, acting after spending some time evaluating and thinking about the situation will be more effective.

Q. As bad as it might be, why is it important to not ignore a messy situation?

A. If a situation is messy, it will only get uglier if left unattended. And then it may get to a point where you will not be able to do anything to rectify it.