The Thinking Side of Leadership in our Down Economy

Next month, on April 22nd, I have the honor of addressing the IBA (Independent Business Association of Wisconsin) at their IBA Roundtable, at the Brookfield Sheraton. In several articles I've written in the last few weeks and months, leadership in our financially challenged economy has been a popular topic that seems to change and grow with time, research, and experience.

With this article, and three that will follow, we will look at different approaches to not only surviving our current challenges, but to our emergence as a stronger and more vibrant organization. As thoughts & plans form, there seem to be two distinct components of a sound approach: the Thinking and the Doing. Though this may sound elementary, it ends up being rather complex.

Let's look at the thinking first. Form a mental picture of what you've seen & experienced about our financial woes in the last few months. Think about words that would describe our attitudes, thoughts, and approaches to the meltdown. How about fear, reluctance, & depression, or even panic, paralysis, or hopelessness? How we emotionally react outwardly determines how we respond to, and lead, others.

So let's break down the Thinking into observations, emotional reactions, and appropriate attitudinal responses.

An observation is when we see something. We cannot control it. It is what it is. And even our initial emotional reaction is not controllable; it is a stimulus and a feeling.

How we choose to respond to that feeling IS up to us; we make a choice. To lead well is to choose well. So we override our negative feelings and choose to think about what we saw in a positive light.

We don't pretend it never happened, but rather evaluate it with confidence that together we will do what is necessary. We have the God given intelligence to competently handle a variety of challenges, when we are humble enough to involve others and forge a mutual decision. A curious blend of confidence and humility, don't you think?

The point is that before we ever take action, we need to already have decided to be cool under fire, and thoughtfully consider anything in a realistic but positive light. This Thinking side is commonly called EQ; it prepares us for the proper Doing side. More on EQ in the next post.