Main Idea
What do you do when good or bad things start happening? How do you handle unforeseen events? Do you panic, or do you engage? Are you the “go-to” person or are you running down the street in a panic?
Expansion of Idea
I was watching a documentary the other night about 9/11. The poise and heroism that people exhibited are unbelievable. As I was watching the stories, I started asking myself whether or not I would react the same way. I can handle a fair amount of pressure. I would like to think I would react positively, but I don’t know for sure how I would react unless I was in the exact situation.
At a less extreme level, how we react on a daily basis to the challenges and struggles in our businesses can determine our future. A critical piece of success is maintaining poise while under pressure. This can be extreme pressure like 9/11 or just an upset customer or coworker that catches you off guard. Some people naturally handle themselves better than others in critical situations.
However, this is a skill that can be improved. First, you need to know how you handle pressure. You need to get feedback. You might be good under certain types of pressure and bad under other types. Get a baseline so that you know what you need to improve. Then you have to develop a training program. This might be doing skits with other customer service representatives. It might be learning your products and services or your customer’s applications. Sometimes it is just a matter of practice. You might have to get very creative to improve in this area. The point is that you can improve. There are certain people that think quicker than I. If I have something critical that needs to be discussed with them, I rehearse it. I can eliminate some problems by prior rehearsal. In addition, another big thing that can be introduced to help you with your poise is the core values of the business and your own core values. If those are clearly defined, communicated, lived and in general are real, then those determine your actions. Deciding what to do when something blows up is a lot easier in those situations.
Questions to Ask Yourself
How do I handle pressure?
Do I react negatively when confronted with problems?
Can I get feedback on my poise under pressure?
What am I going to do to improve?
What are the core values of the business?
What are my core values?
Are there conflicts?