Success - Reacting Slowly and Deliberately

Photo: Hung Nguyen

Mature leaders know that some problems go away if ignored for a while. They also know that there are very few times where putting off sending a scathing email or administering a harsh verbal rebuke will give you cause for regret.

There are some situations that call for immediate swift attention. You should strive to identify these situations ahead of time and determine your response in a carefully planned way. This allows you to respond quickly but not be reactive—you’ve spent the time contemplating about it ahead of time.

The ability to identify potential problems before they occur is very important for anyone in leadership. In order to develop this skill you should constantly look at situations and ask yourself, why you didn’t see it coming. There are some things you can’t predict, but with practice you should become more familiar with your team and better and spotting problem areas before it happens.

Some of the situations where a swift response would probably be necessary are extreme insubordination, breach of ethics, etc. Occasionally a delayed response would give the wrong impression to your subordinates or others. Most of the time a delay in order to act wisely will be to your advantage. Careful thought should reveal the important areas where you should respond rapidly and with no delay. The other areas should be safe areas for a delayed response in order to give yourself time to think and choose the best approach.

Having the proper response in every situation is not something that happens on its own. It is something that requires careful planning ahead of time to make sure you’ve thought through the ramifications of different actions. You must plan ahead based on achieving the desired results and choose a path accordingly.

Source: forbes.com
Source: http://www.navigossearch.com