As the speed of change in our increasingly complex world accelerates daily, leaders are tasked with performing outside of their familiar zones both in their personal and professional lives. This requires us to adapt. Yet, the same conditions that make adapting so important can also trigger fear, leading us to resist change and default to reactive behavior. This is referred to as the “adaptability paradox”: when we most need to learn and change, we stick with what we know, often in ways that stifle learning and innovation. To avoid this trap, leaders must become proactive so they can lead ahead of the curve.

The good news is there is a way to interrupt this cycle, make better decisions under stress and lessen the experience of burnout: deliberate calm. “Deliberate” refers to the choice you have in how you experience and react to any given situation. “Calm” refers to staying focused and present under pressure, amidst volatility, without being swept away by your instinctive reactions. Deliberate calm improves your ability to rise to the occasion and act with intention and purpose during the most stressful, unfamiliar situations we can imagine.

If you learn to practice deliberate calm, you’ll learn to:

  1. Achieve dual awareness—an understanding of what you’re thinking, feeling and experiencing on the inside and what’s happening around you, on the outside. You’ll learn to read situations objectively to determine what’s most needed in each one and avoid falling into your reflexive traps.
  2. Build emotional self-regulation skills and learn agility, even during periods of high stress.

This approach goes beyond the familiar and important idea of resilience (bouncing back). It fosters adaptability, which is more about taking a challenge and turning it into an opportunity to advance (bouncing forward). In the workplace, higher levels of adaptability are associated with greater levels of learning ability and better performance, confidence and creative output.

Would you like to learn how to demonstrate calm and optimistic leadership in a crisis? Deliberate Calm promises to teach you how and is available through your favorite book retailer.