Staying Sane when Things Go Wrong

Posted on July 11, 2007

All CEOs are confronted with tough situations from time to time. But keeping a productive mindset is a big step toward solving – or even dealing with – your problems.

Let me go on record as saying that I am against hard times. That I believe that we should pass a law that forbids things going wrong. Smoking cigarettes and eating trans-fats are bad for your health, and so are hard times. Let’s start a petition…All right, enough of the whining.

Tough times are part of life, and we CEOs and leaders get the big bucks in part because we lead our followers through tough times and back out again. Plus, without challenges, we’d never get the gratification of triumph.

Know thyself.

What happens in a leader’s head during tough times? How did the military leader ride his horse at the front of the charge, knowing the risks he and his men faced?

The biggest and most fundamental truth is that the leader must know himself or herself.

You must consciously examine what activities or thoughts have helped you in the past overcome things like despair, immobilizing fear, unproductive angry thinking, panic, and other harmful mindsets or actions.

After honest and regular introspection, you’re ready for the next step. You must lead yourself. It’s the same as leading others. You decide what needs to happen, and you ask, challenge and direct yourself to do it. For me, the deeper, more strategic version of self-leadership happens at quiet times, such as before bed or in the shower. But the tactical applications of leading oneself happen throughout the day – like putting on a smile before charging into a meeting with a customer.

Sounds like mind control? It is. But hey, it’s your own mind.

I do think that the CEO has to see reality, no matter how ugly it is. He or she has to grapple with it and struggle to find a way to make the outcome better. But once a good path through reality has been found, the focus must change.

Start moving.

The new focus is moving the company along the path you’ve defined. On day one (after being confronted with a problem), it may be true that the situation is horrible. Most can’t function well while dwelling on “horrible”, and that includes me. Instead, I dwell on what I must do today to move down the path. By the end of the day, if I’ve moved forward on my path, I’ve had a good day and I take pleasure in that. True, if I stopped and looked at the big picture again, I might see that it’s only a tiny bit better than horrible, which is still horrible. But doing that hurts me:”it takes away the sense of opportunity I gave myself when I focused on seeing how far down the path to survival I could get each day.

Yes, I am suggesting that you stick your head in the sand for short periods of time. It keeps you from panic and other non-productive emotions. A short period of time might be a few hours or a day or a week. Never keep it in the sand for too long, lest you fail to change course when it’s essential.

Now the “path to survival” doesn’t always mean the path to unfathomable riches. Depending on how horrible the situation is, it might be the path to keeping your house and car while the business is liquidated in bankruptcy. That would be a step up from losing your house, car, and business. I am absolutely a realist, and I do fully believe that when the chips are down, you must fundamentally make a go or no-go decision, then carry it out. Being “Pollyanna” about a crash-and-burn situation will only make the wreckage worse.

The truth is, in tough times, it often looks worse than it is. A business can survive amazingly bad situations if the leader and his or her team keep working to fix it. If you really have assessed the situation and can see the light at the end of the tunnel, then go for it, and have faith in yourself and your team. And it really is faith. Without that faith, you’ll lose many battles you could have won.

Take time to refocus.

Personally, I have very good stamina in a struggle. I can work very hard for very long periods of time without wearing down. Often, a vacation feels like I’m not working, not making progress on my path to success. But I’ve learned over the years that time away from the battle on occasion does move me down the path, because I always return to the fray from a different mental and emotional place, on a different trajectory. It’s as though my mind had the time to float up to the 10,000-foot view and the space to reanalyze the situation. Be sure to use getting away as a tool to help you in tough times.

I am a big advocate of focusing your energies, especially in tough times. But sometimes the way out isn’t the apparent path – it’s a surprise “win” that offsets the problem. So be open to serendipity (making desirable discoveries by accident). Allocate a small portion of your time to chasing down opportunities that might be long shots or good in the long term. Chances are significant that you will survive your current crisis and will be needing and wanting rich opportunities when the future arrives. So keep planting the seeds that will grow into your future. And tending those seeds – gardening just a little each week – can be a welcome respite from the daily grind of tough times.

Takeaways:

• In tough times, look for the things that helped you overcome problems in the past.
• After deciding on a path, move forward. Avoid reminding yourself how horrible things are.
• A vacation -”or just getting away”- can be a great way to gain perspective, refocus and reenergize.