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One key to effective leadership is to know when to stay calm and when to get excited.
I was reminded of that reading the newspaper today. One journalist advised that investors stay calm during this currently crazily declining market. Getting worked up will most likely cloud your thinking and acting rashly is never a good idea.
Staying calm is more about your inner peace and demeanor. If you’ve prepared, studied the situation thoughtfully and done your work, calm is a natural result. While the outcome isn’t guaranteed, you have the assurance you’ve done all you can.
Staying calm also creates confidence for your team, both in your abilities as well as their own. The ability to be calm means you trust them to meet whatever challenges as successfully as possible. A leader who doesn’t stay calm suggests that their anxiety is due to their team.
It pays to get excited about things that matter. It is difficult to lead if you have a monotone personality. If you bring the same emotion (or lack of it) to everything, nobody ever really knows that is important to you.
Of course excited isn’t the same as worked up. The latter suggests someone who is upset rather than just passionate (and sure, there are times when we ought to be upset, but they are far fewer than the times we actually are).
Get excited when you want to share positive energy. Get excited when the outcome is critical and everyone on your team needs to focus. Get excited when you appreciate the good job a colleague has done.
Funny how excited some people get about professional sports teams in which they have no direct involvement, but how reluctant they are to get excited about anything else.
Stay calm in challenging times and excited when it matters. Knowing when to do which is a nuance of good leadership.
What an excellent writing and perfect tip for those wanting to be a more effective leader.
Those times seeming to build the most anxiety appear to be the very times that require the most calm.
Glad to see this lesson written so clearly.
Dear Sir,
Thank you for clearly delineating the difference between situations which call for calmness and excitement. I wonder whether this is where eustress and distress come into the picture? While the former energizes, the latter enervates.
And knowing when to get excited gives a leader the energy and the edge to execute perfectly with passion.
Tbanks and regards,
Geetha
Sage advice amidst the chaos that we see stretching from Capitol Hill to Wall Street.
This advice hits the nail on the head! Coming up as a leader, I have learned this lesson the hard way sometimes. Now, as I develop leaders in my work area, I explain to them the benefit of keeping cool when things heat up, and heating up when things cool off.
Thank you,
Sean C.