By Dr. Matthew Arau
Leadership is easy when everything is going your way. People are happy and moving toward accomplishing the group goal effortlessly. Everyone agrees with the direction of the organization, and there is no resistance to the leader. But what happens when things don’t go as planned and members of the group disagree with the leader to the point of pushing back? What happens when a member of the group calls out or is defiant toward the leader?
How can the leader best respond to strife, chaos, and uncomfortable situations? To begin with, the leader needs to stay calm and collected rather than contributing to the chaos. The leader needs to be able to respond and make intelligent decisions to deal best with the challenge. And if the leader has a knee jerk reaction or heightens the stress of the situation themselves, they undermine their own authority and limit progress toward finding a solution. In other words, the leader needs to keep their cool.
Here are 5 Leadership Tips to keep your cool as a leader.
- Take a deep breath before responding. Slow down your heartrate so you can make a rational decision.
- Listen first to understand before responding. Be open to other points of view.
- Release your ego. It’s not about you, it’s about what is best for the group.
- Keep the big picture in mind. What may appear to be a big deal in the moment may be less important in the overall grand scheme of things. It helps to keep things in perspective.
- Be mindful of your tone of voice. When responding, let go of any anger or frustration, and focus on the solution rather than the confrontation.
