I have just returned from an enjoyable family holiday in Sardinia where we rented a villa with two terraces, a swimming pool and stunning views. Our only real challenge was when we first arrived in the evening in a rented minivan, late and tired after our flight, the instructions on how to find our residence were anything but clear, not helped by a recent change of street names which seemed to fool Google Maps.
We ended up all marching around a housing estate getting increasingly annoyed and agitated with the situation and with ourselves for half an hour, discovering our villa did not seem to exist. Eventually we contacted the people who were meeting us to give us the keys and introduce us to the villa and found our way there.
It struck me how easy it is to be calm and collected and “cool” when things are going easily – and by contrast how hard it can be in those tougher situations where things go wrong. When you get to the airport and your flight to a key business meeting has been cancelled. When it is late at night in a negotiation and the tired participants are almost at each other’s throats and the deal is breaking down before your eyes.
It’s about our reaction to managing under pressure and still performing well. I recall a professional tennis player saying that they would pretend a real match was just a practice one and so manage the otherwise inevitable tension and nerves that inhibited their best play.
This articlehas some interesting thoughts on how sports players still perform to their best in pressure situations, relating this to the business world. Its theme is that dealing with pressure is all really a state of mind, quoting the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
This interviewfrom the Harvard Business Review suggests stress is good up to a point – it originates from a natural reaction of the body to danger – but go too far and it has a negative effect.
And we can all worry too much and inhibit our performance. As Winston Churchill once said When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.
The book Performing Under Pressure: the Science of Doing your Best When it Matters Mostby Hendrie Weisinger proposes that The difference between regular people and ultra-successful people is not that the latter group thrives under pressure. It's that they're better able to mitigate its negative effects.
I agree and think it comes back to anticipating times of stress in our business and personal lives if we can and then being able to react and manage the situation, not panicking or getting annoyed or frustrated.
As Ernest Hemingway said Courage is grace under pressure.
We ended up all marching around a housing estate getting increasingly annoyed and agitated with the situation and with ourselves for half an hour, discovering our villa did not seem to exist. Eventually we contacted the people who were meeting us to give us the keys and introduce us to the villa and found our way there.
It struck me how easy it is to be calm and collected and “cool” when things are going easily – and by contrast how hard it can be in those tougher situations where things go wrong. When you get to the airport and your flight to a key business meeting has been cancelled. When it is late at night in a negotiation and the tired participants are almost at each other’s throats and the deal is breaking down before your eyes.
It’s about our reaction to managing under pressure and still performing well. I recall a professional tennis player saying that they would pretend a real match was just a practice one and so manage the otherwise inevitable tension and nerves that inhibited their best play.
This articlehas some interesting thoughts on how sports players still perform to their best in pressure situations, relating this to the business world. Its theme is that dealing with pressure is all really a state of mind, quoting the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
This interviewfrom the Harvard Business Review suggests stress is good up to a point – it originates from a natural reaction of the body to danger – but go too far and it has a negative effect.
And we can all worry too much and inhibit our performance. As Winston Churchill once said When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.
The book Performing Under Pressure: the Science of Doing your Best When it Matters Mostby Hendrie Weisinger proposes that The difference between regular people and ultra-successful people is not that the latter group thrives under pressure. It's that they're better able to mitigate its negative effects.
I agree and think it comes back to anticipating times of stress in our business and personal lives if we can and then being able to react and manage the situation, not panicking or getting annoyed or frustrated.
As Ernest Hemingway said Courage is grace under pressure.
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