From the heart, from the hip
In our first newsletter of 2022, I wrote about taming your animal brain. I want to revisit the idea, and nudge our efforts along, now we're at the end of Q1.
After a few years of crises, I said, many of us leaders are in shoot-from-the-hip problem-solving mode — but this isn't healthy or sustainable for the long term.
Shoot-from-the-hip reactions and decisions are emotional, rather than rational, and are likely to lead to suboptimal results. Also, an instinctive emotional reaction from us can trigger emotional reactions from others, leading problems to escalate rather than evaporate. What we thought would be a quick decision turns into a 'situation'.
So, now the initial crisis has passed, we need to gently guide ourselves back into calmer, more considered, thinking — getting more decisions right, and avoiding conflicts. Slow down to go faster.
To take us further along this road, my colleague Joe Baker has reviewed expert advice on this topic, and written this five-part series of short thoughts and ideas for you:
- What have emotions got to do with leading an agency?
- Reappraise your emotions and give them some spin
- The super-power of putting your emotions into words
- The profound power of acceptance to regulate emotion
- Our emotions are the ultimate leadership power-up
This week, have a read and see how you might coach yourself to take a few more steps out of crisis mode to be a more mindful, wise leader of a healthy agency.