Good outcomes and the processes they require take time, patience, and determination. Learning new ideas, establishing new habits, building relationships, creating a high-performance team and the like don’t occur overnight. They take energy, time, and commitment.
Bad things, on the other hand, happen quickly, often by surprise. They unfold and raise their ugly heads with unearthly speed. Leaders are often caught unprepared or unaware of just how quickly a negative situation can materialize and spin out of control.
Once they recognize that a bad situation has popped up out of nowhere, they too often match the velocity by reacting quickly. Of the many signs a leader is allowing a bad event to get out of hand, reacting too quickly stands out as the number one culprit.
The speed of bad things must be matched by a slowness in response.
When confronted with a bad situation, a leader’s natural tendency is to jump in and move quickly to resolve the issue. Leaders are often reluctant to slow down and assess the situation before reacting because they want to fix the problem and stop the bleeding.
The inclination to act, which normally serves them well, gets in the way of making the best decisions. Taking the time to gather all the facts surrounding the situation is the better call.
Assessing what occurred, what relationships are impacted, and what options exist for addressing the situation is of the utmost importance. Any response prior to completing this assessment will likely blow up in the leader’s face, as new facts will continue to materialize that reset the appropriate action. Good leaders slow down when things are bad.
The best leaders recognize their credibility is always defined by their response to the situation, not by the event or episode itself. By gathering all the information surrounding the situation, they know how to respond with integrity and competence. Without a complete assessment of the facts, leaders often must respond multiple times, reducing their credibility with each response.
Bad things happen. They often unfold with remarkable speed. There is no way to prepare for every contingency or possibility. For leaders, being well-prepared for bad things is about knowing how to gain control of any situation by slowing down and resisting the urge to act. This requires gathering all the information required to respond once to resolve or remedy the situation. As one comedian puts it: “For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.”
A Daily Dispatch from the Front Lines of Leadership.
