Spinning
Do you ever find yourself spinning when an unexpected situation pops up? This was my experience earlier this week.
I received a heads-up that an issue had occurred with some data that wasn’t easily explainable. I became frustrated that the vendor involved couldn’t immediately address the issue or tell me why it was happening. I started spinning, wondering how this had happened, what the potential consequences were, how we would address it, and a bunch of other questions. The swirling clouded my ability to think through the best next step, and the day went by with a high stress factor regarding how this would be resolved.
After I had walked away from the situation for a while to focus on other priorities, I started to get some perspective on what I could have taken as first steps and how I could have handled things more smoothly with the vendor.
When we’re in a stressful moment, we often don’t realize that we’re not doing our best thinking. We’re in a reactive and sometimes defensive mode, which clouds our ability to see all the options.
Two things that would have helped me immediately would have been:
Stopping and taking some deep breaths before jumping into problem-solving mode
Stepping away from the situation earlier so I could get some perspective
If we're prone to " spinning " mode when unexpected situations arise, we're less likely to be perceived as effective leaders. In stressful situations, the best leaders stay calm, assess the situation, and create a path forward. They don’t allow the situation to take control; they continue to own it.
This situation (and another recent one) reminded me of the work I need to continue to do for myself as I take on responsibilities where the unexpected is likely to regularly reprioritize my focus for the day. My key takeaways:
Leave enough space in my calendar for the unexpected
Breathe
Remind myself of the intentions I have for myself as a leader.
What strategies work for you?
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